(Reuters) - A dry cargo ship sank off the Black Sea coast of Turkey Tuesday and eight members of the 11-strong Polish crew were missing, Turkish media said.The Cambodian-registered dry cargo ship Vera was sailing from Russia to the Turkish Aegean port of Aliaga and sank in a storm one mile off the coast of the Black Sea port of Zonguldak, CNN Turk said.
Three members of the crew were saved and taken to hospital, the television channel said, but coast guards and police were still searching for the eight others.
Turkey has been hit by extreme weather and snow storms over the past week. There were gale warnings Tuesday for parts of the Marmara, Black Sea and Aegean, a shipping agent said.
The Bosphorus Straits, a key shipping route passing through the city of Istanbul, was closed to all vessels Tuesday because of poor visibility caused by a snowstorm, coast guard officials said.
(Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Tim Pearce)
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10 missing after freighter ship sinks off Turkey coast
The Associated Press
Date: Tuesday Jan. 31, 2012 3:20 PM ET
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish Coast Guard boats were searching for 10 Polish crew members after a Cambodia-flagged freighter ship sank in stormy seas off Turkey's Black Sea coast on Tuesday, officials said. Two other crew members were rescued.
The ship "Vera" was sailing to Turkey's Aliaga port from Russia when it sank off the coast of Eregli during a storm, Gov. Erol Ayyildiz said.
He said police were also searching the shore for the missing crewmen.
"By the time the Coast Guard arrived in response to the distress call, the ship had already sunk," Irfan Erdem, head of the Chamber of Commerce for the region, told Turkey's NTV television.
He said a storm likely caused the ship's cargo to shift, tilting the vessel to the side and causing it to take on water.
The accident occurred some 10 days after another cargo ship brushed against two anchored vessels during severe weather off the coast of Istanbul, taking on water for hours before authorities were forced to pull it ashore using a tug boat.
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