A tugboat began towing the 3000-tonnes Turkish Pazar ship, which has been stranded in the Black Sea off the Bulgarian coast since Saturday, towards the port of Varna minutes before midday on Sunday.

Bulgarian tugboat Enterprise was deployed in the region of Kaliakra cape, 70 miles east of Varna, where the Turkish ship carrying 14 crew members and transporting sunflower oil to Istanbul has been stranded.

An operation on pumping out water and drying the machine department of the ship has begun, private bTV station informs.

The crew asked Bulgarian authorities for help with the stranded ship on Saturday.

Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev immediately ordered the deployment of Two Eurocopter AS565 Panther and two Cougar helicopters, but no evacuation of the sailors was necessitated in the end.

After carrying out a flight, one of the helicopters established that there are no people in danger and there are no signs of spills in the waters surrounding the ship.

The helicopters have readiness to engage in the rescue of the sailors if the need arises until the towing is fully completed.

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