Body found 56 days after Marmara ship collision

ISTANBUL

(AA Photo)

Search teams have found an unidentified man’s body off Silivri, Istanbul, 56 days after the freighter Tuğberk İmamoğlu sank with 10 crew in a Sea of Marmara collision.

Forensic Medicine Institute tests will establish his identity, cause of death and any crew link, prosecutors said. Captain Yaşar Kayhan’s body was found 5 kilometers from the collision site on Sept. 14 and identified on Sept. 15. Nine others remain missing.

The ship, carrying 4,199 tons of steel coils from southern İskenderun to Black Sea port Karadeniz Ereğli, collided with M/T ALSU around 3 a.m. on Sept. 2. The tanker was sailing from northwestern Kocaeli to western Aliağa. Navy vessel TCG Akın located the wreck at a depth of 720 meters on Sept. 4.

ALSU’s captain Ahmet Erarslan and third officer Murat Evciman were remanded on Sept. 3. A preliminary report cited failures of supervision and collision avoidance, respectively. Four other suspects face judicial supervision.