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Russian President Vladimir Putin Mikhail Klimentyev/AP/Press Association Images

Russian spy ship sinks off Turkey after collision with livestock vessel

All 78 crew members were rescued by Turkish coastguards.

A RUSSIAN NAVAL spy ship sank in the Black Sea off Turkey’s coast today after hitting a Togo-flagged vessel packed with livestock.

All 78 crew members were rescued by Turkish coastguards.

The Russian military said the Liman — a former research ship re-fitted as an intelligence vessel — had a hole ripped out of its hull in the early afternoon incident.

The collision took place in fog outside the northwestern entrance to the Bosphorus Strait, one of the world’s biggest shipping thoroughfares that passes through Istanbul into the Sea of Marmara.

The Turkish coastguard said in a statement that the collision involved the Togo-flagged vessel Youzarsif H which was carrying a cargo of livestock.

It said that of 78 Russian personnel on board the ship, 63 were rescued by the Turkish coastguard and the other 15 by the Youzarsif H itself.

They were then transferred to a Turkish military ship, it said, without giving further details. “All the personnel were evacuated,” it said.

‘Sad accident’

Turkish media said the Youzarsif suffered minor damage and went on its way after the incident.

The Russian defence ministry confirmed the ship had gone down and said the crew were safe and would be taken from a Turkish vessel back onto a Russian ship.

Turkish news agency Dogan said the area where the ships collided was shrouded in thick fog at the time, suggesting that the incident was accidental.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim spoke to his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev by phone over the incident, describing it as an accident and expressing his sadness, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

It was not known where the Liman was sailing from or its destination.

The ship was built as a hydrography research vessel in 1970 but turned into a spy ship in 1989 and armed with an Igla missile launcher, according to public records.

‘Russia wants it back’

Russian warships have travelled frequently through the Bosphorus Strait to and from the Syrian coast, where a navy presence has been deployed to bolster Russia’s air campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

In February, military sources told Russian media the Liman would be observing Nato’s Sea Shield exercise in the Black Sea.

Cem Devrim Yaylali, an Istanbul-based Turkish naval expert and editor of the Bosphorus Naval News website, said the Liman had previously been to the Syrian coast but it was not clear where it was headed on this occasion.

“A collision is not something that happens very frequently,” he told AFP.

He said the incident was an embarrassment for the Russian authorities as the Liman was likely carrying sensitive surveillance equipment that Moscow would want returned.

“I imagine there will be a salvage effort to raise the ship before anyone else sees it,” he said.

“If the ship cannot be salvaged then Russia surely will try to take away the sensitive equipment from on board by divers.”

‘Syrian Express’

Relations between Russia and Turkey hit their worst state since the Cold War in November 2015 when Turkish warplanes shot down a Russian jet over the Syrian border.

But there has since been a dramatic reconciliation, with Moscow and Ankara now engaged in a joint effort to bring peace to Syria despite standing on opposing sides of the conflict.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to hold his latest talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Russia on 3 May.

As a Black Sea littoral state, Russia is allowed to have its military ships pass through the Bosphorus under the 1936 Montreux Convention on the Straits.

The intense traffic of Russian vessels to and from Syria — known as the Syrian Express — has caused immense curiosity in Istanbul where the warships pass through the heart of the city in full view of ship-spotters.

© AFP 2017

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    Mute Paul Heffernan
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    Aug 26th 2013, 10:20 AM

    Mains pipes in Limerick must be in a bad way. I work on the Ballysimon Road in Limerick and the amount of times the mains pipe on this road has burst is nuts.

    46
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    Mute Antonov Merinov
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    Aug 26th 2013, 10:35 AM

    By the looks of that pipe I bet the Romans had a better water supply.

    48
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    Mute Goebong
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    Aug 26th 2013, 10:37 AM

    Well done limerick country council great work getting the water supply back on do quick

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    Mute Carcu Sidub
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    Aug 26th 2013, 12:21 PM

    Goebong.

    Am I reading your comment correct?

    Are you congragulating Limerick CITY council for actually doing the job they are being paid to do?

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    Mute Goebong
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    Aug 26th 2013, 1:51 PM

    Yes they done a great job water back on within hours great job people could have had no water all day

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    Mute Carcu Sidub
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    Aug 26th 2013, 2:06 PM

    Goebung

    Thanks for confirming that we need to congragulate council workers for actually working.

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    Mute Goebong
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    Aug 26th 2013, 2:27 PM

    So what do want to give out to them for doing a good job stop being so negative

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    Mute Carcu Sidub
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    Aug 26th 2013, 3:40 PM

    Goebung

    Dont worry this time next year when their all transfered to Irish Water they will be too busy fixing water meters to have time to fix leaks, then you’ll be giving out.

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    Mute Donal O Neil
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    Aug 26th 2013, 3:48 PM

    It probably was a roman made pipe from roman times

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    Mute Robert Kelly
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    Aug 26th 2013, 12:10 PM

    Is that a stock photo of some pipe that leaked or a photo of water pipes typical of Limerick?

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    Mute Carcu Sidub
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    Aug 26th 2013, 12:23 PM

    Robert

    That is a stock photo. Howeveer it could also be a photo of typical water pipes anywhere in the country. Some water pipes have been repaired so often the councils would have paid 10 times less to actually replace them altogether.

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    Mute Bluemist
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    Aug 26th 2013, 10:37 AM

    That’s the council “engineers” for you

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    Mute Larry T Bird
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    Aug 26th 2013, 1:16 PM

    The pipe wil need to be fixed and stay fixed, as all the wh0res will need their weekly wash after the weekend

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    Mute Donal O'Byrne
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    Aug 26th 2013, 7:51 PM

    I guess the customers don’t wash at all?

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    Mute Ash
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    Aug 26th 2013, 1:52 PM

    Bit of plumbers mate… She’ll be grand….!

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    Mute Donncha Burke
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    Aug 26th 2013, 12:36 PM

    Do they use wooden pipes as in pic?

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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    Aug 26th 2013, 12:49 PM

    Pipes my side spear to burst a lot as well as the water is often off for repairs.

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