Turkish Cargo Ship With 10 Crew Sinks Off Marmara Sea After Colliding With A Tanker

A Turkish cargo ship carrying 4,200 tonnes of rolled steel sank in 11 minutes after colliding with an empty chemical tanker in the Sea of Marmara.

The cargo ship’s 10 crew members have gone missing in waters off Istanbul’s west coast following the incident.

Cargo vessel Tugberk Imamoglu was sailing from the Mediterranean Port of Iskenderun to the Port of Karadeniz Ereğli on the Black Sea, where it collided with tanker ALSU, sailing from Kocaeli to the Port of Aliaga.

Search and rescue operations are in full swing, coordinated by the Turkish Navy, with 14 specialised vessels and two helicopters spanning an area of 32 kilometres south of Silivri.

So far, the rescue teams have found an empty lifeboat, debris, and life buoys, but no survivors in the Marmara Traffic Separation Scheme where the accident occurred.

The Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said there were 10 seafarers on the vessel, including the captain and that they were all Turkish.

According to Turkish Maritime Authorities, the emergency call came at 3:26 am, while the collision occurred around 3:15 am, which means the ship sank quickly in just 11 minutes, possibly due to the heavy weight of the steel cargo.

Maritime analysts said that given its weight, the ship might have settled into waters atleast 800 to 900 metres deep, which might make subsea recovery difficult.

The tanker did not sustain any major damage and reported no crew casualties or injuries. It remained afloat and assisted in the rescue operation.

The cause of the accident is being investigated; however, the owner of the cargo ship Imamoglu said its captain had informed ALSU over radio to warn that the tanker was entering its shipping lane.

However, authorities said that the cargo ship was not transmitting an Automatic Identification System (AIS) location signal at the time of collision.

The Marmara Sea is a part of the Turkish Straits, which sees hundreds of ship transits annually, since it connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. It is a heavily regulated and busy waterway.