More than ten people missing as Ukraine strikes Russian ferry

More than ten people have gone missing as a result of Ukraine's missile attack on Kavkaz Port in southern Russia on August 22.

Photo: flickr.com by Montecruz Foto, CC BY-SA 2.0

According to Baza Telegram channel, the fate of 15 crew members of the ferry, which was moored to the port, remains unknown.

On August 22, the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck a moored ferry at Kavkaz Port. A massive fire started as a result of the missile strike. According to the Shot Telegram channel, the attack was presumably carried out from the Odessa region of Ukraine. The Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a Neptune missile for the attack.

There were 30 fuel tanks on the ferry, the head of the Temryuk district, Fyodor Babenkov said. The ferry was seriously damaged and sank.

Seventeen members of the crew of the sunken ship have been rescued. Two more remain missing, Krasnodar Governor said.

Details

Port Kavkaz is a small harbour on the Chushka Spit in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, on the eastern side of Kerch Strait. It is adjacent to the village of Chushka, which is now largely deserted due to toxic effects of the port. The port is able to handle vessels up to 130 metres (430 ft) in length, 14.5 metres (48 ft) in breadth and with draft up to 5 metres (16 ft). It was the eastern terminal of the railroad and car Kerch Strait ferry line connecting Krasnodar Krai with Crimea (the western terminal of the ferry line is Port Krym). It is served by a railway line and the Port Kavkaz railway station. The southern zone of the port has been under renovation to increase the port's throughput to 4 megatonnes (3,900,000 long tons; 4,400,000 short tons).