Indonesian navy ship reported sinking off France

Indonesian navy ship reported sinking off France

PARIS (Agencies): Rescue helicopters plucked 38 sailors from a crew of 52 aboard an Indonesian military transport ship sinking in rough seas off western France yesterday, authorities said.

Naval authorities in the western Brittany port of Brest said the ship, the KRI Teluk Lampung, was sinking rapidly about 230 miles off Spain's Cape Ortegal in the Bay of Biscay between France and Spain, Reuters reported.

"Clearly it's going to sink soon," a spokeswoman for the Brest naval rescue station said, adding the rescue operation was hampered by high winds and rough seas.

In Madrid, where naval rescue services were also involved, a spokesman at the State Rescue Service said 14 crew members remained on board the vessel.

The others were airlifted by two Spanish rescue helicopters to nearby ships or to the airport in the neighboring region of Asturias, he added. The crew is made up of 51 Indonesians and one German.

A Spanish rescue craft was on its way to the stricken ship to help tow it ashore if it did not sink.

The Indonesian ship began to let in water through the main door of the prow and called for help around 4 a.m. (0200 GMT).

The ship is in waters covered by the French Air Rescue Service, but since Spanish services were closer, their help was requested.

Brest naval authorities said a French warship carrying a helicopter was also heading towards the ship.

According to the Antara news agency, the KRI Teluk Lampung is one of the landing ship tanks Indonesia had ordered from Germany.

The ship, captained by Lt. Col (Navy) Tedjo Edhy, set sail from Neustad, Germany, along with a corvette, the KRI Imam Bonjol.