Crew of sunken ship off Somalia took to liftboats

Reported here:

A vessel carrying 20 000 tons of charcoal had sunk off the Somali coast in bad weather, but 18 crew members had been rescued, maritime officials said yesterday.

The vessel, MV Kanaya, sank on Tuesday, but the crew members were believed to have beeen floating on life rafts, said Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarer's Association Programme.

Mwangura said that sailing along the Somali coastline could be risky during June and July because of strong south-easterly monsoon winds that made for rough seas.

There was no evidence that the vessel had run foul of the pirates who had plied the Somali coastline in the recent months, he said.

Initial report of sinking here.