Families being informed of missing crew

Brise of Hamburg, managers of the cement carrier Cemfjord, have issued a statement following the upturned hull of the vessel being discovered yesterday.

The company said that no distress call was received from the vessel, and that the missing crew consists of seven Polish seafarers and one Filipino mariner, with the company explaining that it is in the process of informing the families.

The vessel was built in 1984, as a general cargo vessel and was converted in 1998 for the carriage of cement.

The ship had loaded a cargo of 2000 tonnes of cement at Aalborg, Denmark, and was proceeding to Runcorn, where it was due to arrive on Monday.

The company also added that the Cemfjord successfully completed her classification renewal inspections during December 2014.