A Guinea-Bissau flagged Ukraine-bound commercial ship sank off Turkey's Mediterranean coast on Wednesday, killing at least three people aboard, according to Xinhua.
All of the 14 crew members on the "Joe 2" vessel that sank off Kumluca district of Antalya province were Syrian nationals, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported.
The vessel was transporting aluminum from the Iskenderun port in Turkey's southern Hatay province to the Port of Izmail in Ukraine.
Five crew members have been saved by the Turkish Coast Guard Command which dispatched a vessel, several boats and two helicopters to the site, according to a statement from the Command.
Search and rescue work continues for the missing crew, but a heavy storm negatively affects the rescue efforts, Anadolu said.
The Kumluca prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into the incident.