Ten Crew Rescued as Cargo Ship AS Dream Sinks off Paphos
All ten crew of the Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship AS Dream were rescued after the vessel sank on the evening of Friday 30 October about 90 nautical miles west of Paphos, Cyprus. The area lies in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in open water off the island’s south-west coast, inside Cyprus’s search and rescue region.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Larnaca received the alert at about 20:15 local time and activated the national “Nearchos” search and rescue plan. A helicopter from the 460 Mixed Helicopter Squadron, the patrol vessel Ammochostos and a Port and Marine Police boat were sent to the scene.
The JRCC also asked the nearby container ship MSC Hannah III to divert. Its crew picked up all ten seafarers and carried them to Limassol, where paramedics checked them and found them in good health. They were then handed over to the authorities, and the Cypriot foreign ministry has informed the embassies concerned.
The cause of the sinking has not yet been explained. Reports have not given the crew’s nationalities, the cargo or the ship’s route. Tanzania is on the Paris MoU’s very high risk list, which means ships under its flag face more frequent port state inspections in Europe.
The rescue shows once again how passing merchant ships play a vital part in saving lives at sea. Quick action by the MSC Hannah III crew, working with shore rescue teams, meant that no one was lost.
