Cargo Ship Sinks in Marmara Sea near Istanbul after Collision, 10 Crew Missing
A Turkish cargo ship carrying 10 crew members sank in the Marmara Sea near Istanbul after colliding with an empty oil tanker, triggering a major maritime search and rescue operation, Turkish authorities said Wednesday.
The maritime accident occurred before dawn, when the ALSU, an empty oil tanker, collided with the Tugberk Imamoglu, a Turkish-flagged dry cargo vessel carrying rolled steel, sheet metal and rebar. The cargo ship sank shortly afterward, according to the Transport Ministry’s maritime directorate.
The collision took place about 18 nautical miles off Silivri district on the western edge of Istanbul province. Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said the damaged vessel sank extremely quickly.
Authorities received an emergency call at 0326 local time. The minister said that, based on the captain’s reported collision time of 0315, the ship sank within approximately 11 minutes.
Search and rescue teams found life buoys and a lifeboat in the sea, but the lifeboat was empty. No survivors had been found at the time of the announcement, while search and rescue operations continued by both sea and air.
Uraloglu said there were 10 people aboard the Tugberk Imamoglu — the captain and nine crew members — and all were Turkish nationals.
The vessel sank in waters approximately 900 metres (nearly half a mile) deep. According to the maritime directorate, 14 vessels and a helicopter were involved in the ongoing maritime rescue operation.
“Life-saving equipment, including a lifeboat belonging to the Tugberk Imamoglu which had 10 crew members on board, has been found at sea. Unfortunately, the crew members were not inside,” the maritime directorate said.
The ALSU was damaged in the collision but was also taking part in the search and rescue operation, authorities said.
According to VesselFinder, the Tugberk Imamoglu is a Turkish-flagged cargo ship built in 1990. The vessel is 90 metres (300 feet) long.
At the time of the collision, the ship was carrying 4,200 tonnes of rolled sheet metal and rebar, according to authorities.
The maritime directorate initially reported that the ALSU was carrying 3,000 tonnes of motor oil. It later clarified that the tanker was empty, a detail confirmed by the governorate.
The Istanbul-area shipping accident comes just three days after a deadly ferry accident off Northern Cyprus in which eight Turkish nationals were killed. Rescuers were still searching for another 20 people reported missing in that incident.
