At least four people died and seven are reported missing after the 48,200 DWT bulker Royal Arsenal collided with Iraqi diving support vessel Al Misbar on Saturday, August 19, while departing Umm Qasr, Iraq.

Due to the strength of the impact, Al Misbar sank taking down 21 crew members with it.

Ten crew members were rescued, while the search for the remaining missing sailors remains underway.

The General Company for Ports of Iraq (GCPI), a governmental company under Iraq’s Ministry of Transport, said on Wednesday that it has detained the bulker in the country’s territorial waters following a court order.

As informed, the Handymax bulker, flagged in Saint Vincent and Grenadines and built in 1999, will stay put off Basra until the completion of the investigation into the incident.

Al-Misbar is owned by the Iraq’s state-run ports authority.

Coastal defence forces, GCPI vessels, divers and a huge naval crane are at the site as activities on lifting the sunken ship for inspection gain momentum. The ministry believes that bodies of remaining sailors might be trapped inside the wreck.

World Maritime News Staff