Now, it turns out that an inspection conducted by port authorities in the Russian city of Novorossiisk before the ship set sail for Turkey had nailed that fear and named a long list of 37 deficiencies that may have endangered the lives of the crew, The Sunday Express has found. The ship was reported missing on February 18 on a busy sea lane about 120 nautical miles (220 km) from the Turkish coast and two rounds of searches have proved futile. But before it began its fateful journey, the ship was detained by Novorossiisk port authorities for 15 days and asked to rectify its troubles, which investigators “presume” it did.

However, the vessel’s certification agency has revealed that it was allowed to sail despite its inability to fix three vital deficiencies as it could not be done in Novorossiisk.

M V Rezzak, with its heavy cargo of steel billets, was given permission on the condition that it would attend to the three problems in the Turkish port of Bartin, its destination. It never made it to Bartin.

The Sunday Express obtained a copy of the inspection reports which listed the 37 problems with M V Rezzak, which included the lack of proper certification for sailing for sea-farers, six problems with life-saving appliances, five problems with fire safety measures and 11 problems with stability, structure and related equipment.

It also listed three problems with propulsion and auxiliary machinery, which investigators said was crucial since M V Rezzak was carrying a high-density cargo. Besides, it also had four deficiencies in navigation safety areas and one relating to radio communications.

The report by the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Black Sea Region — an international convention that governs the inspection of foreign ships — also says that nine of the 37 problems were “detainable deficiencies”, forcing Russian authorities to prevent M V Rezzak from sailing.

An investigator, who spoke to The Sunday Express on condition of anonymity, said 37 problems was a staggering number as the global average is around 10. An official at Turkey based Cmr Denizcilik ve Ticaret A.S., which managed the ship, refused to comment and said that all information about the ship had been forwarded to government officials and would be able to give more details only on Monday.