Comments: - This is the MV Arvin, a Russian ship sailing under the Palau flag. It split in two while anchored in the Black Sea port of Bartın and sank on January 17, 2020. As a result of the incident, 6 sailors lost their lives. It should be noted that this ship was designed mainly for river and lake operations. The ship was built in Czechoslovakia in 1975 as a dry cargo transporter for the USSR. It was never designed for any kind of inclement weather or open ocean. Despite this, it continued to operate in the Black Sea, noted for its adverse weather conditions and strong currents, after suffering from poor maintenance and neglect for over 30 years. The entire merchant navy in the Black Sea is known for the very poor condition of their ships and inhumanly bad conditions for seafarers.
For those wondering why there are sailors under deck, tell them they aren't watching TV, running the bilge pumps, fastening the hatches, mixing the bunker fuel with solvents, etc. I'm suggesting that they work. this world makes a beautiful life...it is hard, lonely, cold and dangerous work. REST IN PEACE
Some say in the comments that 6-7 sailors lost their lives. To all those who do this kind of work that many fail to do, I pay my respects to you and pray for your safe return home. I pray for peace for family and loved ones for lost souls.
MAYDAY is the internationally recognized call when your craft is at stake. Early radios had a lot of static, so SOS (Save Our Ship) was often unrecognizable. They decided to use French for Help Me...M'aidez! Broken : -ez is the 2nd person plural for YOU, ..help is for HELP and the front M is for ME. The end of 'ez' is pronounced as 'Y'. M'aidez, M'aidez!
According to Vesselfinder, the MV Arvin was built in 1975. That was 46 years ago. Too old even for a freighter: The average lifespan of a ship in this category is about 25 years. And a ship of this generation was most likely a single hull (the notorious MV Erika tanker was built the same year and was a single hull design)...which doesn't help especially when the ship is a bucket of rust. Unfortunately, 7 crew members were killed or missing.
