Premium
Ciolacu: It is a deployment of major forces of ministry to find out the truth
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Wednesday that, in the case of an explosion that took place on the commercial ship Seama, under the flag of Togo, "a deployment of major forces" by the Ministry of Defence (MApN) is taking place to establish the truth, told Agerpres.
"At this moment they are looking at what the actual cause is. (...) It is a deployment of major forces on the part of MApN, in coordination with the Ministry of Transport, in order to find out the truth very swiftly," said Ciolacu
The statements were made at a news conference at the Ministry of Transport after Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu mentioned that MApN has deployed a ship with divers to the area to investigate the causes of the explosion. They will establish whether it was a mine or an explosion in the engine room, as Grindeanu showed.
Ciolacu initially said that the first hypothesis seems to be "closer to the truth," but later came back with clarifications, emphasising that he was talking about the possibility of an explosion having occurred in the engine room.
"Let's wait for exactly what the people from the Ministry of Defence tell us. Navigation on the Sulina channel is not endangered. On the contrary, the ship was in deep water, so there are no problems from that point of view. An exceptional real-time response of all those involved," said Ciolacu.
He also congratulated the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Defence on their fast response.
The Seama ship was carrying cement headed for the Bystroye Canal, but an explosion occurred on board near the Sulina area. The explosion was so strong that the captain decided to abandon the ship and asked the Port Authority of Sulina for support.
The ship's crew was brought to Sulina by the Coast Guard and the Life Saving Agency.
The causes of the explosion are not yet known. It could have been a malfunction on the ship or a sea mine.
A minesweeper with a group of divers specialised in searching for mines moves to the area for a search.
An investigation was started into the causes of the shipwreck.
The vessel is half submerged and does not affect access to the Sulina maritime channel.
