Ukrainian-Crewed Tugboat Sinks in Atlantic; Ukrainians Survived, but No One Is Searching for Them

Shipowner Bourbon Offshore has announced the end of its search and rescue operation, and relatives of the crew members are appealing to the President of Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take action.

On September 26, 2019, at about 12:00, the tugboat Bourbon Rhode sank in the Atlantic Ocean. It had entered the epicentre of Hurricane Lorenzo. There were 14 crew members on board the vessel, 10 of whom were citizens of Ukraine. During the rescue operation, a raft with three surviving crew members was found, and later the bodies of 4 drowned sailors were discovered. The surviving crew members reported that 7 more crew members also managed to escape, get onto the lifeboats and leave the vessel. 

This was reported on Facebook by user Yevgeny Znaiko. Later, the information was confirmed by lawyer of the Berylstone association Konstantin Chetvertak, who noted that relatives of his close friends were on board.

Yevgeny Znaiko
Facebook user

Seven sailors are probably on a life raft, or several rafts. They are exhausted and injured, with limited supplies of water and food, in the middle of the Atlantic! Yesterday, October 4, 2019 — the shipowner Bourbon Offshore announced the end of its search and rescue operation. They have abandoned their employees and our fellow citizens to certain death in the middle of the ocean! I appeal to President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Foreign Ministry: why is our state of Ukraine not providing any assistance and not taking part in the search and rescue operation for our citizens?!

On September 29, the situation was commented on at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which promised to arrange communication with the sailors' relatives. This was reported on Twitter by Deputy Director of the Consular Service Department of the Foreign Ministry Vasyl Kyrylych, who said that the Consular Service Department of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and a representative of the Bourbon company plan to communicate with the relatives of the Ukrainian crew members of the vessel Bourbon Rhode, which disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean the day before. 

“We plan to communicate with the sailors' relatives through the representative appointed by the Bourbon company in Ukraine. This is an important component during the rescue operation. We are waiting for good news from the rescue centre,” Kyrylych said.

Vasyl Kyrylych
Representative of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

We plan to communicate with the sailors' relatives through the representative appointed by the Bourbon company in Ukraine. This is an important component during the rescue operation. We are waiting for good news from the rescue centre

Based on the chronology of messages in an unconfirmed transcript published by the media, the approximate time of the shipwreck was between 12:28 and 12:41. The vessel sank in 13 minutes. 

According to the unconfirmed transcript, at 12:00 the vessel asked the office to specify the exact arrival time of the rescue ship. Five minutes later, they reported that water was rising. At 12:28, the ship reported that the compartments were sealed, but water was still rising. At 12:41, the office demanded confirmation that the emergency and auxiliary generators were working. At 13:32, the office asked the ship's captain, the Croatian Dino Miskic, to report on the situation every 15 minutes. But that message was no longer delivered. At 13:44, the Marlink messaging service lost contact with the vessel. At 16:10, the service reported that it could not deliver messages via the Inmarsat C terminal. And at 17:27, they began contacting the crew's relatives.