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Four dead, seven still missing from sunken ship in Atlantic
PARIS, Oct 2, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The bodies of three crew members have been
recovered from the Atlantic after a supply vessel operated by a French oil
services group sank in hurricane conditions, bringing the death toll to four,
according to a Martinique government official.
The Luxembourg-flagged Bourbon Rhode, crewed mainly by Ukrainians, ran into
difficulty some 1,200 nautical miles from the French Caribbean island of
Martinique last Thursday as it sailed into hurricane Lorenzo, and was later
confirmed to have sunk.
A major search operation was launched for the 14 people on board the tug
supply vessel. Three crew members who had made their way onto a lifeboat were
rescued on Saturday.
One was found dead shortly afterwards, and another three on Monday and
Tuesday, Martinique governor Franck Robine said late Tuesday.
The Bourbon Rhode’s operator, French marine logistics group Bourbon, which
provides services to oil rigs, said the search was continuing for the seven
missing crew members.
The ship passed near the eye of Lorenzo, a category 4 hurricane that
produced waves as high as 10 metres (30 feet), according to the survivors.
“The chances of survival, even for someone with a wetsuit and life jacket,
are extremely low,” Robine said.
The search area stretches over 130 by 130 nautical miles in the middle of
the Atlantic.
Bourbon has chartered a ship to take part in the search, and military
planes were flying over the area several times a day.
Twelve commercial vessels have been mobilised in the search, and all other
ships in the area have been asked to be on the lookout.
BSS/AFP/RY/1958 hrs