An aerial photograph of the tanker “Alsu,” which collided with the Tuğberk İmamoğlu cargo vessel. (AA Photo)
The body of the captain of the Tuğberk İmamoğlu cargo ship was recovered off Istanbul’s Silivri district, local media reported on Sept. 15, nearly two weeks after the vessel sank following a collision with a tanker in the Sea of Marmara.
Search and rescue teams reached the body of the first of the 10 crew members at around 1 p.m. on Sept. 14.
The body, believed to belong to a male crew member, could not initially be identified as it had sustained significant deterioration after remaining in the water for an extended period.
It was transferred to the forensic medicine body for DNA testing.
Further examination confirmed that the body belonged to Yaşar Kayhan, the captain of the Tuğberk İmamoğlu, which sank after colliding with the Alsu.
Kayhan’s body was found approximately 5 kilometers from the reported site of the collision.
Search operations in the area have been ongoing for 14 days.
The Tuğberk İmamoğlu cargo ship and the tanker Alsu collided on Sept. 2, approximately 18 nautical miles (35 kilometers) south of Silivri, along one of the busiest shipping corridors in the Sea of Marmara.
While the tanker emerged from the incident without sustaining significant damage, the Tuğberk İmamoğlu sank.
The wreck was located at a depth of 720 meters, approximately 50 meters from the reported collision site. Search efforts for the vessel’s 10-member crew have continued ever since.
The cargo ship began taking on water following the collision and was determined to have sunk within just 11 minutes.
Experts attributed the vessel’s rapid sinking in part to its heavy cargo, which included iron materials weighing the equivalent of approximately 200 trucks.
According to a 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.
