[190415.EN.SEA] GESTAŞ Ferry "Gokceada 1" Went Aground with 198 Passengers Onboard

Ferry liner between Kabatepe Port at Gallipoli Peninsula and Kuzulimanı Port at the Nort of Gokceada Island went aground with 198 pax onboard and 11 crew.

Çanakkale Gökçeada district with car and passenger ferry between Port Kabatepe, ran aground near Kuzulimanı harbour, in the North East of Gokceada island. Name of the ferry is also Gokceada 1. The ferry has went aground for an "unknown" reason, officials said. Accident took place at 16:09 hrs, on 19 April 2015 (Today)

Canakkale Governor Ahmet Cinar, said in a statement, "Reason for grounding is not clear. There is no hurt, does not seem to be a problem at the moment. There are passengers and vehicles onboard, a tug is proceeding to the accident site from Canakkale. Tug will tow the ferry into the port"

198 passengers on board, was reportedly found 209 people, including 11 crew.

Tug named "Kurtarma 7" belonging to Turkish Coastal Safety Administration, reportedly proceeding to the area.

UPDATE: All passengers reportedly rescued by Monday morning. It was reported that the number of passengers onboard were 188. All 188 passengers were rescued after 14 difficult hours onboard grounded vessels. Some of the cars in the ferry's car deck crashed doe to heavy roll. In evacuating the passengers, Kiyi Emniyeti 9 fast rescue boat, Kurtarma 7 tugboat and one coast guard boat has been used. 

Some of the passengers had nervous breakdown because they were reportedly left without information by the ferry operator GESTAŞ. Experts said that 14 hours were risky for the passengers because the ship was very close to the rocky shore and could sink in the meantime. It was unknown why the passengers were not evacuated before when the accident just happened.

Source : SN-TR, 19.04.15.