Ankara [Turkiye], September 3: One of two cargo ships that collided in the Sea of Marmara off Istanbul early Wednesday has sunk, Turkiye's transport minister said, with all 10 crew members missing.
"We believe, and have more or less confirmed, that the Tugberk Imamoglu has sunk," Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu told reporters in Istanbul.
All 10 crew members aboard the vessel were Turkish nationals, Uraloglu said. Attempts to reach them by mobile phone had so far been unsuccessful.
"No one has been reached alive so far," he added.
The vessels, identified as the Alsu and the Tugberk Imamoglu, collided at around 3am (0000 GMT), roughly 18 nautical miles off Istanbul's Silivri district, the governor's office said on X. What caused the collision was not known.
Uraloglu said debris and other traces indicated that the Tugberk Imamoglu had sunk in waters around 900 metres deep.Search-and-rescue operations were continuing by air and sea, he said.
The Alsu had been sailing from Kocaeli in north-western Turkiye to the western port of Aliağa.The Tugberk Imamoglu had departed İskenderun in southern Turkiye and was bound for the Black Sea.
The Sea of Marmara forms part of one of the world's busiest shipping corridors, linking the Mediterranean and Black seas via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits.
Source: Qatar Tribune