Six crew missing after cargo ship sink in Marmara Sea
Teams sprung into action upon receiving an emergency signal at 6:32 a.m. on February 15th from the cargo ship named “Batuhan A.” This vessel, measuring 69 meters, had encountered trouble and sunk near İmralı Island.
It was disclosed by authorities that the ship had departed from Badalan Port on Marmara Island at 8:30 p.m. on February 14th. Its mission was to transport a hefty load of 1,200 tons of marble powder to Gemlik Port.
Unfortunately, communication with the ship abruptly ceased around 7:12 a.m. on February 15th. After careful assessment, the teams concluded that the vessel had fallen victim to severe storms, resulting in it taking on water and ultimately sinking. Rescue efforts were swiftly initiated to locate the crew, all of whom are presumed to be Turkish citizens.
The Transport and Infrastructure Ministry revealed that attempts to dispatch a search helicopter were thwarted due to the stormy weather conditions at sea. Additionally, search units operating from the sea reported sighting an empty lifeboat.
According to local media reports, the sunken ship is associated with a maritime company located in Balıkesir’s Bandırma district. It is speculated that the owner of the company was aboard the vessel, while their sibling engaged in the search and rescue operations in the Karacabey Kurşunlu region.
The Turkish Coast Guard dispatched two Coast Guard ships and two Coast Guard boats to the scene of the incident. Simultaneously, two tugboats were assigned to the region by the General Directorate of Coastal Safety.
The search and rescue activities recovered one empty life raft in the area where the ship was considered to have sunk.
A Coast Guard corvette and an aircraft were assigned to arrive in the region to support search and rescue efforts. A helicopter could not arrive in the region due to adverse weather conditions but is ready to be dispatched if the weather conditions allow. The Turkish Coast Guard added that the search and rescue activities were still underway.
Further reports unveiled that this same ship had previously run aground off the coast of Çanakkale three years ago. Fortunately, after a two-day rescue operation, the crew was successfully rescued.
