The captain of the ferry which sank off the coast of Kyrenia was arrested on Sunday evening, Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel said, describing the incident, which has thus far caused eight confirmed deaths, “the worst maritime disaster Cyprus has ever experienced”.

He confirmed that the captain and the eight other crew members who were on board the boat when it set sail from Kyrenia had all been arrested, stressing that “every aspect of this incident will be investigated” and that “even the slightest negligence will be uncovered”.

“It is both the duty and the responsibility of our state to fully investigate this great tragedy … Our grief is immense today, but our state, with all its institutions, is fulfilling its duty,” he said.

As such, he said, “we are now focused with all our strength on reaching our missing loved ones, healing our wounds, and uncovering the full truth of this great tragedy”.

On this front, he said that “from the moment the accident occurred, all the resources of our state were mobilised”, before explaining that the “initial response” comprised four Turkish Cypriot coastguard boats, one patrol vessel, and one Turkish naval assault boat.

Those boats were complemented by diving teams from the Turkish Cypriot civil defence and police.

He added that as of 7pm, two aircraft, four helicopters, four unmanned drones, and four coastguard boats remain active in the area, and said that later on Sunday evening, he expects that a Turkish navy search and rescue vessel capable of searching at depths of up to 1,000 metres below the sea’s surface will arrive to join the effort.

That vessel will allow for the search to expand to the sea floor, with ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arikli having said earlier in the day that the boat has sunk to 514 metres below the surface.

“We will not leave a single resource unused. Our search and rescue operations will continue uninterrupted until we find our missing persons,” he said.

He also said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan telephoned him to 2express his sorrow over this great tragedy”, and added that he had been told that “the Republic of Turkey is ready to provide unlimited support in every area needed”.

The ferry had capsized shortly after leaving the new port of Kyrenia at around 12.10pm, having been en route to the Turkish port of Tasucu.

At present, eight people are confirmed to have died as a result of the incident, while 17 people remain unaccounted for.