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2020-2021 · Black Sea, off Karasu, Turkey · status: resolved vessel loss
Extended detail on the Arvin sinking case (initially catalogued as arvin-2021). The Palau-flagged 2,867-GT general cargo vessel Arvin (built 1984) was abandoned by her disputed Turkish-linked beneficial owners in November 2020 at anchor off Karasu, Turkey, with 12 Ukrainian and Russian crew and no valid MLC financial security certificate. Over the following two months the crew endured deteriorating weather at anchor with intermittent food + water resupply coordinated by ITF Turkey + Ukrainian consular Istanbul. On 17 January 2021, a severe Black Sea storm broke the vessel's anchor cable + drove her aground. She broke in two. Turkish Coast Guard rescued 6 crew; 1 confirmed dead; 5 missing presumed lost. Arvin became the highest-fatality abandonment case in the ILO NORMLEX database (per Round X-A cached ILO case detail) + directly drove ITF advocacy for pre-abandonment intervention protocols under MLC A2.5.2 as flag-state fiduciary duty rather than reactive claims-response mechanism.
6 rescued alive, 1 confirmed dead, 5 missing presumed drowned. Post-incident: Palau IRR withdrew several sanctioned flags including the beneficial-ownership syndicate; Turkey tightened anchorage-monitoring on aged foreign-flag vessels.
Resolution / documentation via: ITF + Turkish Coast Guard + Ukrainian consular