Greek coast guard officials confirmed Wednesday that they successfully rescued all nine sailors from a commercial vessel that struck rocks and went down near the island of Andros in the early morning hours.
The commercial vessel had departed from Albania carrying hundreds of metric tons of soda and was headed to Ukraine when it collided with rocks near Andros and subsequently sank, according to a Greek coast guard representative who spoke to Reuters anonymously due to lack of authorization to discuss the matter publicly.
Rescue teams pulled two sailors from the water while seven others were recovered from a rocky section of Andros island, the representative explained. All crew members were transported to a medical facility on the island for treatment.
Authorities have not yet determined what led to the maritime accident.
The vessel’s captain confirmed that no additional crew members were unaccounted for, according to the coast guard representative.
While no immediate environmental contamination has been observed from the sunken ship, coast guard officials plan to install protective sea barriers as a precautionary measure, the representative noted.
