http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1188392502558&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Aug 30, 2007 23:06 | Updated Aug 30, 2007 23:06
Bodies of two missing sailors found by divers in cargo ship's hull
By JPOST.COM STAFF AND AP
Navy divers on Friday morning found the bodies of two missing seamen from the
Slovakian cargo ship that sunk in Haifa Bay on Thursday night after colliding
with a Cyprian passenger liner.
A ship piled high with containers enters the Port of Haifa. (Unrelated to
article)
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski [file]
Army Radio reported that the bodies of the two, one of whom was Indonesian and
the other Ukrainian, were discovered inside the ship's hull, where rescue teams
were still trying to extract them and bring them to shore.
The two dead men were the ship's first mate and engineer, both residents of
Slovakia, according to police.
Magen David Adom said its teams were waiting on the shore for the arrival of
the bodies.
Meanwhile, the Cyprian liner, which has approximately 500 passengers on board,
will not return to Cyprus in the near future after it was made to dock in Haifa
until the investigation of the collision is completed. Reportedly, the police
detained the ship's captain for questioning while the passengers remained on
the boat.
The passenger ship was not seriously damaged in the collision and no one aboard
was hurt.
According to port officials, the accident occurred after the passenger liner's
steering system encountered technical problems. Israel Radio reported that the
passenger liner literally cut the cargo ship in half.
11 of 13 crewmembers, all Slovak nationals, were drawn from the water by rescue
forces as MDA crews were put into high alert. IAF Helicopters were hovering
above the scene to aid the searches.
The Search for the two missing seamen was resumed Friday morning after it was
halted due to the dark late Thursday night.
A few hours before the dead sailors were discovered in the ship's hull, Brig.
Gen. Ram Rothberg, commander of the Navy's Haifa base told Army Radio he was
confidant that if the 2 had succeeded in escaping the ship before it went under
they would be found soon.
"Assuming that the missing persons are on the surface of the water, it is
certain that we will recover them," he said. "But if they are trapped somewhere
within the ship's hull - this is a more complicated scenario."
Satellite?blobcol=urlimage&blobheader=image%2Fjpeg&blobheadername1=Cache-Control&blobheadervalue1=max-age%3D420&blobkey=id&blobtable=JPImage&blobwhere=1154525983844&cachecontrol=5%3A0%3A0+*%2F*%2F*&ssbinary=true
Description: Binary data
