All 10 crew members aboard the Tanzanian-flagged general cargo ship AS Dream were rescued after the vessel began sinking approximately 90 nautical miles west of Paphos, Cyprus, on 30 October 2026. The ship is also the subject of a seafarer abandonment case that remains unresolved in the International Labour Organization (ILO) and International Maritime Organization (IMO) joint database.
Cyprus’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) received a distress report at 20:15 local time and activated the national search and rescue plan, NEARCHOS, to coordinate assistance to the vessel.
The operation involved a helicopter from the Cyprus National Guard’s 460 Search and Rescue Squadron, the naval patrol vessel CNS Ammochostos, the Port and Marine Police rescue boat Pentadaktylos, and the nearby container ship MSC Hannah III.
Under the coordination of JRCC Larnaca, MSC Hannah III took all 10 seafarers aboard. They were subsequently transferred to Pentadaktylos and transported to Limassol Port.
Medical personnel examined the survivors upon arrival and confirmed that all were in good health. The crew members were then handed over to the relevant Cypriot authorities, while their respective embassies were informed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Cyprus authorities identified the casualty as AS Dream. However, maritime reporting has also identified the vessel as Antepli, with AS Dream listed among its former names.
According to Baird Maritime, Turkish reports described Antepli as a Turkish-owned general cargo ship. The publication also identified the rescued crew as nine Indian nationals and one Cameroonian national. The vessel’s registered name at the time of the incident has not been independently established from the official rescue announcement.
A subsequent navigational warning issued by JRCC Larnaca, NW 333/26, identified AS Dream as an unlit, semi-submerged general cargo vessel measuring 82 metres in length.
The warning placed the casualty at approximately 34°53.29′N, 30°25.43′E, with a drifting rescue boat reported nearby. Ships navigating through the area were instructed to maintain a careful lookout and remain clear of the vessel.
Although several media reports described the ship as having sunk, the official navigational warning recorded it as semi-submerged and still sinking. The reviewed official information does not establish whether the vessel subsequently became fully submerged.
Separately, the ILO/IMO Joint Database of Abandonment of Seafarers lists AS Dream, IMO number 8020123, in an unresolved abandonment case dating from 1 September 2025 at Ashdod, Israel.
The case was reported by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and originally involved eight seafarers: two Azerbaijanis, one Georgian, three Indians and two Turkish nationals. The complaint cited four months of unpaid wages and shortages of fuel and essential provisions.
In an update dated 10 December 2025, Israel’s Ministry of Transport reported that all eight seafarers had either left the vessel or been repatriated. The ministry also stated that the ship remained detained by customs authorities at Ashdod and that, to its knowledge at the time, wages were still outstanding.
Subsequent information from India’s maritime administration confirmed that the three Indian seafarers had been repatriated and paid. The administration recorded that the crew members had acknowledged receiving their wages during a debriefing on 7 May 2026.
On 28 October 2026, India again requested an update on the case’s unresolved classification, stating that evidence of wage settlement had already been submitted to the relevant authorities.
Tanzania’s maritime administration had separately reported on 30 September 2026 that it was investigating the matter and intended to request an updated status from the ITF.
Despite the reported repatriation and payment of the Indian seafarers, the abandonment case continues to be classified as unresolved in the ILO/IMO database. That classification does not, by itself, establish that wages remain unpaid to every member of the original crew.
The available official records do not confirm whether any of the 10 seafarers rescued off Cyprus were among the eight crew members involved in the 2025 abandonment case.
The cause of the latest casualty has not been disclosed in the reviewed reports, and no connection has been established between the earlier abandonment case and the sinking incident.
