The general cargo ship Yukka caught fire on 40 nautical miles off Cide, Turkey in Black Sea. The ship was operating on route from Istanbul to Rostov-on-Don, when a fire started from the engine room and caught whole vessel. The distress signal from the vessel was sent to the coast guard and the crew left the ship on life rafts. Two officers were slightly injured during the accident, but their burns were minor and there is no danger for their health. Meanwhile, the Turkish Coast Guard sent firefighting tugs to the scene of the accident, which extinguished the fire on board and towed the vessel to the port. The crew was evacuated and transported to Cide, where the injured officers will have a medical treatment. The port authorities started investigation for the source of the fire, but as preliminary information the reason was technical malfunction.
The general cargo ship Yukka (IMO: 7421095) is operating under the flag of Moldova and managed by the Ukraine company Donbass Transit Services. The cargo ship was built in 1974 in the Russian yard of Krasnoye Sormovo Rybinsk Plant. The vessel Yukka has length of 107.00 m, beam of 13.00 m and summer draft of 2.80 m. The deadweight of the general cargo ship is 3,353 DWT and the gross tonnage is 2,478 GRT.