Rescue ships reach sunken ferry, Turkish Cyprus says

KYRENIA

A coast guard vessel takes part in a search operation for people missing two days after a ferry disaster off the coast near the port of Kyrenia in Turkish Cyprus, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (AP Photo)

Search teams located the wreckage of a passenger vessel that capsized off Kyrenia, as the efforts to retrieve 20 missing people continued on Sept. 2, Turkish Cypriot President Tufan Erhürman has announced.

“The vessel has been located. Imaging and search operations are continuing on a 24-hour basis. They will continue without interruption,” Erhürman said in a statement on social media.

Another search-and-rescue vessel from Türkiye, TCG Alemdar, arrived in the area and joined search operations, the president also announced.

The vessel has the same technology as the TCG Işın, which has been conducting searches off Kyrenia since Sept. 1.

The high-speed passenger vessel Filo Jet, which operates between Kyrenia Port in Turkish Cyprus and Taşucu Port in Türkiye’s southern Mersin province, began taking on water from its bow shortly after departing around noon on Aug. 30.

The vessel capsized while attempting to return to the port.

A total of 241 people were rescued, while eight bodies were recovered and a search operation was launched for 20 people reported missing.

All of the victims were Turkish. Eighteen of the missing are Turkish while the last two are from Turkish Cyprus.

The wreckage was found at a depth of 550 meters (1,804 feet) off Kyrenia.

Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ünal Üstel said all of the missing were believed to be on the ferry, which is lying at a depth of 550 meters.

“Search operations continue for the 20 missing individuals who we believe are on the ship,” he told reporters at Kyrenia port, saying he hoped they would have clearer information by the evening.

His words came as two more of the dead were buried in the Turkish port city of Mersin as Turkish Cyprus observed a third day of national mourning.

Police detained the ferry’s captain and 15 others, nine of whom appeared in court in Kyrenia on Aug. 31 charged with negligent homicide, with another seven people also facing court proceedings.

In court, the captain said the front of the vessel had been smashed open by the force of the waves.