ISTANBUL(National Times)- A Turkish cargo ship sank in the Marmara Sea near Istanbul after colliding with a second vessel, and rescuers were searching for its 10 crew members, officials said on Wednesday.
The ALSU, an empty oil tanker, collided before dawn with the Tugberk Imamoglu, a cargo ship carrying rolled steel which sank shortly afterwards, the transport ministry’s maritime directorate said on X.
“Due to the Tugberk Imamoglu not responding to any calls and the crew not answering their mobiles… it is believed the cargo ship has sunk,” it said.
The collision occurred 18 nautical miles off Silivri district on the western edge of Istanbul province. Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu told journalists the damaged vessel had sunk “very quickly”.
“We received the emergency call at 3:26 am. If we accept the captain’s reported (collision) time of 3:15, we can say the sinking occurred very rapidly, within just 11 minutes,” he said.
“We spotted life buoys and a lifeboat but it was empty. Unfortunately, no survivors have been found so far.” He said there were 10 people on board: the captain and nine other crew members, all of them Turkish nationals.
