Türkiye probes death aboard drone-hit ship

ISTANBUL

Turkish prosecutors have opened an investigation into the death of a crew member aboard the Panama-flagged cargo ship ASOMATOS, which was struck by multiple drones in Russian waters before sailing to Istanbul.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said the vessel was waiting to load off Russia’s Kavkaz region overnight on July 16-17 when the attacks began at about 12:30 a.m. local time.

A first drone struck the ship’s starboard side. A second hit its funnel and deck, damaging the living quarters on the same side, while a third struck the vessel’s No. 3 crane.

No malfunction was detected in the ship’s engine systems.

Following instructions from the Kavkaz Traffic Control Center, the vessel continued sailing south.

The ASOMATOS entered Turkish waters on July 17 and anchored around three nautical miles off Kısırkaya Beach in Istanbul’s Sarıyer district.

The Coast Guard notified prosecutors that one crew member had been killed in the attacks. The victim is believed to have been an Indonesian national.

A prosecutor and crime scene investigation team traveled to the ship by sea to collect evidence and oversee the postmortem examination and autopsy.

Preliminary findings showed that 24 people were aboard the vessel, including three Russian port officials, three Greek nationals, four Egyptian nationals and 14 Indonesians.

The ship was carrying 4,751 metric tons of wheat.

The prosecutor’s office said its onboard examination and evidence-gathering work were continuing as part of a detailed investigation into the incident.