MV ''Arvin'' was a Ukrainian

bulk cargo Bulk cargo is Product (business), product cargo that is transported packaging, unpackaged in large quantities. Description Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate (as a mass of relatively small solids) form, ...

ship that ran aground in the south of France in 1999, then in 2021 broke in two and sank in heavy seas off the coast of Bartin,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. A video of the ship breaking apart was posted on

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. Six of the 12 crew aboard survived the sinking, with three dead recovered and three of the six missing but presumed dead.

History

Starting as the ''Volgo-Balt 189'', the MV ''Arvin'' was originally built in 1974 in Czechoslovakia as a lake/river freighter. She was sold and reflagged several times through her life. She was named ''Arvin'' in 1997 by the Delphin Maritime Co. Ltd., the name she kept for the rest of her career. On November 12th, 1999, during a storm, 3 ships, including Arvin, waiting to access the port of Port-la-Nouvelle in France, ran aground on the beach between Port-la-Nouvelle and Leucate-La Franqui. The ''Volgo-Balt'' class were lake/river freighters, meant to sail within generally calm water, and were not intended for the high seas. Nevertheless, many of them have seen use on and around the

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. Several of these have sunk, including the , lost in 2019, killing six of 13 crew. Two months after the ''Arvin'' sank, sank in the Black Sea, with 10 of 13 crew surviving. In 2020, port officials in

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noted severe deck corrosion and poorly maintained weather hatches on the ''Arvin'', suggesting that the ship should be scrapped. Her owner kept her at sea, however. She was due for a major audit in April 2021.

Sinking

On 2 January 2021, the ship left

Poti Poti ( ka, ფოთი ; Mingrelian language, Mingrelian: ფუთი; Laz language, Laz: ჶაში/Faşi or ფაში/Paşi) is a port city in Georgia (country), Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the mkhare, region of ...

, headed for

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. She carried approximately 2,900 tons of

urea Urea, also called carbamide (because it is a diamide of carbonic acid), is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two Amine, amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest am ...

to be used as

fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...

. She sought shelter from adverse weather off the coast of Sinop,

, on 5 January 2021, where she remained for nine days. On the 14th, she again set sail, only to anchor at

Bartın Bartın is a city in northern Turkey, near the Black Sea. It is the seat of Bartın Province and Bartın District. On 17 January 2021, the weather worsened. Heavy seas of with winds at

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5-6 () caused the vessel to pitch and roll. At approximately 11:00 am local time, the captain ordered the crew to provide additional control from the main engines. At approximately 12:20 pm, the ''Arvin'' broke in two amidships. The captain immediately radioed a distress call, and soon after triggered an alarm and sent a message over the intercom to abandon ship. Ten of the twelve crew gathered on the

poop deck In naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that forms the roof of a cabin built in the rear, or " aft", part of the superstructure of a ship. The name originates from the French word for stern, , from Latin . Thus the poop deck is technic ...

, most donning immersion suits and life jackets; the Captain and First Officer could not make it to the gathering but had been helped into immersion suits by the Second Officer before he joined the others; most said only the Chief Engineer was without an immersion suit despite there being enough on board, but the Welder reported that the Deck Cadet also had no immersion suit. As the vessel began to list to port, one or two Cadets fell into the water, possibly including the Deck Cadet who had not yet donned an immersion suit, and within another two minutes the remaining crew began to leave the vessel intentionally. A total of five, including the Third Officer, Cook, Motorman, Third Engineer, and a Cadet made it into a

life raft A lifeboat or liferaft is a small, rigid or inflatable boat carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard a ship. Lifeboat drills are required by law on larger commercial ships. Rafts ( liferafts) are also used. In the m ...

, while several others including the

Bosun A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, or the third hand on a fishing vessel, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of ...

jumped into the sea. The Chief Engineer and Second Engineer jumped into the sea last, of those on the poop deck. According to crew interviews, two pairs of crew members, of the four or more crew members who did not make the life raft, held onto two separate pieces of wood to stay afloat. The swell prevented the lifeboats and swimmers from joining each other. Not all who made it into the raft or held onto the wood survived. The Turkish Coast Guard was on the scene within 2.5 hours, rescuing six living persons and recovering three bodies. The remaining three bodies of the six total who died were never found. Survivors were the Cadet with an immersion suit who had fallen into the water, the Chief Engineer who had gone into the water without an immersion suit, the Second Officer also in an immersion suit, and three of those in immersion suits in the raft: the Welder, the Second Engineer, and the Motorman. The bodies of the Cook, a Cadet and the First Officer were recovered. The bodies of the Captain, Bosun and the Deck Cadet without an immersion suit were not recovered.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arvin, MV 1974 ships Cargo ships of the Soviet Union Maritime incidents in 2021 Ships built in Czechoslovakia Ships of Palau Shipwrecks in the Black Sea Shipwrecks of Turkey Cargo ships of Malta Merchant ships of Cambodia