A Turkish chief officer has died in an accident on a handysize bulker off Brazil.
Dramar Denizcilik's 28,700-dwt DS Sofie Bulker (built 2007) was en route to Brazil when Erdem Bulat fell from a ladder while the vessel was in the Atlantic, having left Ivory Coast earlier this month. He died on the ship on Tuesday.
Turkish media carried a statement from ship operator Dramar, saying it had learned with regret of the death, which happened when the officer was supervising routine hatch cleaning.
"Our dear colleague Erdem Bulat lost his balance and fell to the bottom of the hatch and lost his life while the ship was cruising to Brazil," the company said.
Brazilian authorities were alerted by satellite phone.
"But despite all the interventions, our dear Erdem was not able to be saved," Dramar added.
"This sad news was shared with his family at night and we would like to express our condolences to his family, relatives, employees of Dramar Denizcilik and the entire maritime community. Let the place be heaven, let him sleep in the light."
Bulat's LinkedIn page shows he joined Turkey's Active Shipping & Management in August 2019 after five years as a second and third officer at Greece's Empire Bulkers.
He was educated at Dokuz Eylul University in Izmir, Turkey.
