Iraq mobilizes rescue teams after contact lost with 2 Bolivia-flagged vessels

Iraq’s port authority on early Friday said that it has mobilized maritime and rescue teams after receiving reports about the loss of contact with two Bolivia-flagged vessels in the Gulf, while stressing that neither ship had entered Iraqi waters.

In a statement carried by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), the General Company for Ports said all personnel in its maritime control and search-and-rescue units had been placed on alert following reports that the vessels Bridge 1 and Bridge 2 had gone missing.

The company said it had not received any distress calls from either vessel and had no information regarding their current location.

It added that Iraqi authorities had received emails from security agencies at ports across the Gulf and from the vessels’ owners requesting any available information after contact with the crews had been lost.

The company said that monitoring efforts were continuing through satellite tracking systems and in coordination with search-and-rescue authorities across the region.