A crew member has been killed in an explosion on a Greek bulker in the Atlantic off Uruguay.
The blast occurred on the 47,000-dwt Zilos (built 2000) on the night of 1 September, 1,127 km (700 miles) off Montevideo.
The captain reported one crew member had died in the blast, the country's navy said in a statement cited by the El Pais and El Observador newspapers.
The initial alert had come from the US Coast Guard around midnight, but the navy was unable to communicate with the bulker for five hours.
The navy asked a nearby merchant vessel to change its course to provide help.
The Uruguayan search and rescue vessel Maldonado also headed to the scene and re-established communication, and the other cargo vessel was stood down.
No assistance needed
The Zilos' crew told the navy they did not need assistance and that they were going to bring the bulker into the port of Montevideo.
The Panama-flag ship is owned by Karlog Shipping of Piraeus and has protection and indemnity cover with American Club.
Karlog told TradeWinds: "Our company is facing a very sorrowful situation.
"There was an explosion in main engine which led...to death for one of our crew members ," the company added.
Karlog said the remaining seafarers are in good health and the vessel will be towed into Montevideo.
The last reported position of the Zilos was in South Africa in July.
AIS shows its destination as Montevideo, however, with a scheduled arrival of 10 September.
The vessel's last port state control detention was in Indonesia in 2018, when eight deficiencies were found.
The only grounds for detention related to deficient charts, however.
