Injured crewman rescued from drifting ship

The merchant ship "Haci Koksal Mataraci" was adrift 25 miles off the north coast of Menorca after a fire in the engine room early in the morning left her without steerage. The first officer of the bridge was injured in the fire and needed to be evacuated to hospital. The Sea Rescue Service sent two helicopters to the scene but their task was made the more difficult by winds of 62 to 74 kms. per hour and waves of up to 6 metres. The first attempt to winch the crewman aboard one of the helicopters failed but the second attempt was successful and the officer was flown to the Santa Caterina Hospital in Girona.

Two tug boats, the "Punta Mayor" and the "Red Cougar", both based in Tarragona, towed the merchant ship to calmer waters some 10 miles off Favàritx. The Panamanian-registered ship, which was empty of cargo, was en route from Tarragona to the French port of Fos, with 15 people on board, the majority of them Turkish. Authorities stated that the crew were not in danger as the ship still had the necessary services.

While the "Haci Koksal Mataraci" awaited the arrival of a commercial tow boat contracted by the shipowners, the search and rescue vessel "Punta Mayor" kept a watching brief.