Cyprus: all 10 crew rescued from the sinking cargo ship AS Dream west of Paphos

All 10 crew of a sinking cargo ship were rescued in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on the night of 30 October 2026. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Larnaca, Cyprus, announced the rescue on 31 October.

The ship is the AS Dream, which flies the flag of Tanzania. The JRCC said it was sinking about 90 nautical miles (about 167 km) west of Paphos. This is inside the area where Cyprus leads search and rescue. The JRCC did not say why the ship was sinking. The crew were nine Indian seafarers and one seafarer from Cameroon, Baird Maritime reports. Turkish media say the ship was also called Antepli and belongs to a Turkish company.

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) keeps a public list of abandoned ships. As of 31 October 2026, it shows an open case for a ship called AS Dream under the Tanzanian flag, with IMO number 8020123. The IMO number is a ship's permanent ID number. The case was reported to the ITF on 1 September 2026, when the ship was in Alexandria, Egypt. The list says 10 seafarers from Azerbaijan were owed three months' wages. The Cyprus authorities have not said if this is the same ship or the same crew.

The ship also has an open case in the ILO and IMO database of abandoned seafarers, Splash247 reports. That case started in September 2025 in Ashdod, Israel. Eight seafarers said they were owed four months' wages and were short of fuel and food. Three Indian crew were later sent home and paid, but the case is still open. It is not known if any of the 10 rescued seafarers were part of that case.

How the crew were saved

The JRCC got the alarm at 8:15 p.m. local time on 30 October. It started Cyprus's national search and rescue plan, called NEARCHOS.

It sent a search and rescue helicopter of the National Guard's 460 Squadron. It also sent the navy patrol ship Ammochostos and the Port and Marine Police boat Pentadaktylos. The merchant ship MSC Hannah III was passing nearby, and it helped too.

All 10 crew first went safely on board the MSC Hannah III. The police boat Pentadaktylos then picked them up and took them to the port of Limassol, Philenews reported. There, nurses from the ambulance service checked them. All 10 were in good health. They were then handed over to the Cyprus state services.

The Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the embassies of the crew's countries about the rescue.

The JRCC's official YouTube video above shows pictures from the rescue operation. The JRCC also shared videos on its Facebook page.

For crews: if your ship may sink

These are general safety points, not findings about this case. Always follow your ship's own emergency plans and the master's orders.

• Send a distress alert early. A rescue centre can only start to help when it knows you are in trouble.

• Know your muster station and your duties. Take part in every abandon ship drill as if it were real.

• Know where your lifejacket and immersion suit are, and how to put them on quickly, also in the dark.

• Check that the EPIRB is ready and in date. The EPIRB is an emergency radio beacon that floats free and sends your position.

• Know where the SART is. The SART is a radar beacon that helps rescuers find a liferaft.

• Passing ships play a big role. Here, a container ship nearby took all 10 crew on board. Under the SOLAS rules, a master who receives a distress call must go to help if possible.

Cover photo: The container cranes of Limassol port, Cyprus, where the rescued crew were brought, seen in January 2017. Illustrative photo, not taken on the day of the rescue. Photo: A.Savin, Wikimedia Commons, Free Art License (cropped).

Sources: JRCC Larnaca (official YouTube), 31 Oct 2026: Rescue operation coordinated by the JRCC on 30 October 2026, Philenews, 31 Oct 2026: Ten crew members rescued from sinking cargo ship off Paphos, Kathimerini Cyprus (Knews), 31 Oct 2026: Ten crew members rescued as cargo ship sinks off Paphos, Cyprus Times, 31 Oct 2026: JRCC statement on the rescue of 10 seafarers west of Paphos (in Greek), ITF Seafarers: Abandonment list (AS DREAM, IMO 8020123), seen 31 Oct 2026, Baird Maritime, 2 Nov 2026: Containership crew rescue 10 after cargo vessel sinks off Cyprus, Splash247, 2 Nov 2026: General cargo ship in unresolved abandonment case found sinking off Cyprus.