“Of the ship’s 10-man crew, two are alive. We have confirmed one dead and two have been spotted lifeless (in the water). We are still looking for five others,” Edmond Doraci, the Durres port captain, told Reuters.
The Reina 1 ship, owned by a Turkish businessman and flying the Maltese flag, collided with the ferry 18 miles off Durres port early in the morning on Thursday. No one on the ferry was reported hurt.
The ship was heading to Montenegro’s port of Bar, while the Ankara car ferry was sailing the Durres to Bari route, Doraci said.
Ahmet Bau, the Reina 1 captain, and his deputy Ahmet Saicip survived and were in Durres hospital suffering from hypothermia, a reporter in Durres told Reuters.
“Our ship went down in 10 minutes,” Saicip was reported as saying.
An Albanian coastguard ship, port rescue boats, an Italian vessel of the Guardia di Finanza and an Albanian army helicopter were deployed in the rescue mission.
The Ankara ferry will continue its journey once the recovery operation ends, Doraci said.
