Odesa Sailor Secures Compensation After Bourbon Rhode Shipwreck.

Yevhen Nikolov, an Odesa resident who was injured in the shipwreck of the tug Bourbon Rhode in the Atlantic Ocean, has secured compensation from the shipowner two years later.

In September 2019, the multipurpose tug Bourbon Rhode (IMO 9356359, flag of Luxembourg) was sailing across the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to the port of Georgetown, Guyana, when the devastating Hurricane Lorenzo crossed its path, reports Odessa.online.

On September 26, 2019, the Bourbon Rhode sank in the central Atlantic.

According to Yevhen Nikolov, the vessel was not technically ready for even a simple crossing when it left the dock, but encountered a hurricane.

The sailors were rescued on the third day. Only three of the 14 crew members survived. After treatment, the guy received the second group of disability and was declared incapacitated. The company that owned the ship wanted to send the sailor to Ukraine immediately, but he was left for treatment only at the insistence of the local mayor. Nikolov's fiancée , Victoria Grigorashchenko, said that after the accident, the company contacted her and promised full compensation, but immediately after the sailor returned to Ukraine, they stopped contacting her and only with the help of the seafarers' union did the young man manage to get compensation. By the way, the sailor does not disclose its amount.

A year and a half after the incident, Yevhen turned to the Maritime Transport Workers' Trade Union for help. Only six months later, through joint efforts, did they manage to get the company to compensate the sailors. The other two surviving sailors have not yet been compensated.

As a reminder, employees of the state-owned Maritime Search and Rescue Service provided assistance to the sailing catamaran Ananda 929, which was shipwrecked on August 12.

In July, the Maritime Guard rescued fishermen who were being carried into the open sea on a de-energized vessel.

In June, the MSS MESSINA, carrying Odesa sailors, caught fire off Sri Lanka, killing one of them inside the engine room.

Also, on June 7, after nine o'clock in the morning, a fire broke out on a pleasure boat moored at the pier in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi. A person was injured in the fire.

The Volgo Balt 179 with 13 sailors on board sank in the Black Sea, two people died, and the rescue operation continues, according to Grup Servicii Petroliere, which is involved in the rescue operation.

In January, another Volga-Balt-class bulk carrier, the Arvin, sank off the coast of Turkey.