The sunken ship RAPTOR was heading to Ukraine with secret cargo

Questions arise about the reasons for the sinking of the cargo ship RAPTOR and why the captain did not seek help in time, since a few hours earlier it became known that due to a strong storm the cargo had shifted, water had entered the holds, and the ship was only flooded a matter of time…

The ship first reported mechanical trouble at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), but by 8:20 a.m. the captain issued an SOS distress call and reported that the ship had begun to list. It soon disappeared from radar. Authorities suspect that a strong storm caused the cargo to shift and water entered one of the holds, causing it to list and sink.

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The sole survivor reportedly told authorities that the ship’s destination was it was Ukraine, not Türkiye. This means that there was something on board the ship other than salt. And this something was clearly a cargo that could not be reported.

RAPTOR was blacklisted

As Vassilis Lampropoulos, editor of the crime chronicles of the newspapers To Vima and Ta Nea, told Live News, an inspection of the ship was carried out in Bulgaria last August, during which a total of 65 violations were identified. The captain, commander and crew members did not have a certificate, and many problems on the ship were not declared.

However, the most important of all: a discrepancy was discovered between the declared fuel and its consumption. This means that RAPTOR had other types of fuel to complete flights beyond those stated.

During the voyage in question to Bulgaria, it was shown that he made other stops and encountered other vessels in the middle of the sea. When the captain was asked about these stops and why he did not immediately call at the stated destination, he replied: “Unfortunately, the buyer of the cargo retired, and we were looking for other buyers at sea.”

Note that the ship of the same company, Manassa Rose, sank in Kissamos-Hania in January 2022. Then the authorities formed a case against the crew members for causing the shipwreck and transporting smuggled tobacco products.

Meanwhile, the search and rescue operation to find the 12 missing crew members continues. The operation involved 5 helicopters, 3 coast guard vessels, and a Navy frigate.

On Monday, Greek authorities announced that the body found at sea on Sunday had been identified as that of an Egyptian sailor after it was identified by the sole survivor of the RAPTOR shipwreck, a 30-year-old engineer, also an Egyptian citizen.

The cargo ship RAPTOR, carrying 14 crew members, sank on Sunday 26 November 4 nautical miles southwest of Lesvos in the eastern Aegean Sea. Twelve sailors are still missing as search and rescue operations resume in the morning.

The only surviving sailor managed to cling to the barrel and was rescued from the rough sea by a Hellenic Air Force helicopter on Sunday at noon. He was taken to hospital in the city of Mytilene.

Coast Guard spokesman Nikos Alexiou said: “He was found alive on a barrel, he was rescued by a helicopter and transported to Mytilene. The rescued man was in a state of shock and was taken to the island’s hospital.”

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On the spot crashes With winds of Force 8 Beaufort and waves reaching 8 metres, the area has been stormy since Sunday afternoon. Life jackets were collected in the water, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

Expert opinion

“The most dangerous thing for dry cargo ships is cargo displacement. When we put sugar in a box, it turns out to be a small pile. When a ship starts and moves left and right, the cargo usually moves in the opposite direction,” said Mr. Grigoropoulos.

Given the extremely adverse conditions with force 9 Beaufort winds and 4 meter waves, the worst case scenario that could happen to this ship, which was already taking on water, was mechanical failure. This is what happened as a result of the fact that the fatal “RAPTOR” became a toy of the waves and then sank.

“The captain is trying to position the ship against the wind. After the engine broke down, the waves began to throw the ship from side to side,” said the NTUA professor.

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