Turkish Navy vessels continue operations after 2 maritime accidents

ISTANBUL

AA Photo

The TCG Akın reached the wreck of a vessel that sank off Istanbul’s Silivri district on Sept. 2 after colliding with another ship. A remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) was deployed to the site to definitively identify the wreck.

The ROV, which conducted deep-sea imaging and sonar scans, initially captured the name Tuğberk İmamoğlu on the hull.

The wreck was located at a depth of 720 meters, about 50 meters from the reported collision site.

The cargo ship Tuğberk İmamoğlu and the tanker Alsu collided at around 3:15 a.m. on Sept. 2, approximately 18 nautical miles (35 kilometers) south of Silivri, in one of the busiest shipping corridors in the Sea of Marmara.

Efforts were also continuing to locate the vessel’s 10 missing crew members after the ship sank within 11 minutes due to its heavy cargo.

The search operation followed a preliminary expert report into the collision, which pointed to malfunctions in the vessel’s electronic navigation systems as well as shortcomings in the allocation of duties among the crew.

According to the report, released on Sept. 3, the sinking vessel was operating in “ghost ship” mode shortly before the accident, meaning it was not transmitting Automatic Identification System (AIS) data.

AIS enables ships to broadcast information including their position, course and speed to nearby vessels.

Following the accident, the vessel’s first captain, Ahmet Erarslan, and third captain, Murat Evciman, were arrested on charges of causing death and injury through negligence.

Both captains said in their statements that the Tuğberk İmamoğlu had collided with their vessel.

Evciman said he had joined the ship only one day before the accident and had seven months of seafaring experience.

In another maritime accident, search and recovery efforts entered their second week on Sept. 6. The TCG Işın and TCG Alemdar continued searching for the remains of 15 people after a passenger ferry capsized off Turkish Cyprus’ Kyrenia.

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 carrying 267 people capsized while attempting to return to the port.

As the wreck lies at a depth of 514 meters, conventional divers and other vessels were unable to reach it.

The death toll from the accident has so far been confirmed at 13.

Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ünal Üstel said DNA testing would be used to identify the remains recovered from the wreckage as accurately and conclusively as possible, leaving no room for doubt.