Rescuers reach sunken ship’s wreckage off Istanbul

Istanbul: The Turkish navy has located the wreckage of a cargo ship that sank off the coast of Istanbul following a collision with an oil tanker, leaving ten crew members unaccounted for, officials announced on Saturday. On the night of the collision, the empty oil tanker ALSU struck the cargo vessel Tugberk Imamoglu in the Sea of Marmara, an inland sea connecting the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea.

Istanbul Governor Davut Gul, speaking in a video posted to the city's official X account, confirmed the location of the wreck at a depth of 710 meters. Using an underwater robot, the officer accompanying Gul identified the vessel's bow section, revealing a significant rupture in the midship area. The cargo ship was reportedly submerged in waters approximately 900 meters deep, roughly 18 nautical miles off Silivri, west of Istanbul, and sank swiftly, leaving all ten crew members missing.

The families of the missing sailors are urgently seeking answers about the fate of their loved ones and are demanding information on potential recovery efforts. Istanbul Governor Davut Gul expressed condolences to the nation, acknowledging the gravity of the incident. A marine accident expert report prepared for prosecutors, obtained by AFP, revealed multiple breaches of safety procedures on board the tanker.

The report concluded that fundamental root cause of the catastrophe was deficiencies and failures on the bridge of the ALSU. The tanker's captain and third officer were arrested on charges of negligent homicide, prosecutors confirmed on Friday. The investigation is being conducted by prosecutors in Silivri, a city located on the western outskirts of Istanbul province.