Winds hampering search for missing seamen
Strong winds are hampering the ongoing search for 12 seamen who have been missing since the freighter they were sailing on went down near the northeastern Aegean island of Lesvos on Sunday.
According to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, winds have already started to pick up in the search area off the southern coast of the island and are expected to reach gale force later in the afternoon.
The search for the missing sailors of the Comoros-flagged Raptor – which was carrying a shipment of salt from El Dekheila port in Egypt Istanbul when its captain issued a Mayday on Sunday morning – is being conducted by the Greek coast guard and navy, with the help of a NATO vessel in the area and a Frontex helicopter.
One seamen was rescued and the body of a second was recovered from the sea later in the same day. The search for the other 12 crew has been ongoing since.
The rescued sailor, an Egyptian national, has been given a clean bill of health by doctors on Lesvos and is expected to be flown home, as will the body of the deceased seaman, also identified as Egyptian.
