A deep-water search and rescue boat will arrive in Cyprus on Tuesday to aid in efforts to locate those who are still missing after a passenger ferry capsized off the coast of Kyrenia, Turkish Cypriot ‘deputy prime minister’ Fikri Ataoglu said on Sunday night.
He said the boat will be used to search for the 18 people who remain unaccounted for, with the ferry having sunk to a depth of 514 metres below the surface of the sea.
Meanwhile, the north’s Tak news agency reported that 13 boats and two helicopters will work throughout the night in the hope of finding the 18 missing.
The presence of helicopters north of Kyrenia have caused passenger flights out of the north’s Ercan (Tymbou) airport to reroute over the south of Nicosia, rather than taking their typical route north over Kyrenia and towards Turkey.
As such, residents of the southern half of the capital have been able to see and hear low-flying passenger aircraft above them.
The ferry had capsized with 259 passengers and eight crew onboard shortly after leaving the new port of Kyrenia at around 12.10pm, having been en route to the Turkish port of Tasucu.
As of 9pm, 241 people have been brought ashore alive, while 18 people remain unaccounted for, and eight people have been confirmed dead.
The ship’s captain and the seven other members of its crew have all been arrested.
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