Overview
- Two Turkish-flagged freighters, ALSU and TUĞBERK İMAMOĞLU, collided about 18 nautical miles south of Silivri in the early hours of Wednesday, September 2, and the TUĞBERK İMAMOĞLU sank shortly after impact.
- Officials say the TUĞBERK İMAMOĞLU went down within eleven minutes and wreckage and empty life-saving craft were later found, while no survivors have been recovered so far.
- Search-and-rescue teams deployed by the Istanbul governor’s office, the coast guard and the General Directorate for Coastal Safety are operating boats and helicopters to find the ten missing crew members, who are reported to be Turkish citizens.
- Initial assessments reported that ALSU showed no visible damage and that a distress signal from the stricken ship was recorded before contact was lost, and both vessels had been en route between Turkish ports.
- The accident raises safety concerns for the Marmara Sea, one of the world’s busiest corridors linking the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, and investigators will examine navigation, communications and crew actions as they probe the cause.