Captain's body recovered two weeks after cargo ship collision near Istanbul

On Sept. 2, the Turkish cargo vessel Tuğberk İmamoğlu struck the tanker Alsu about 18 nautical miles south of Silivri, a busy lane in the Sea of Marmara, and sank in roughly 11 minutes. The tanker emerged largely unharmed, but the cargo ship, carrying iron cargo equivalent to about 200 trucks, went down at a depth of 720 meters. Search and rescue operations have been underway for two weeks; on Sept. 14 divers recovered the first crew member’s body, later identified through DNA as captain Yaşar Kayhan, found about 5 km from the collision point.

The remains were transferred to forensic authorities for further analysis. Authorities continue to hunt for the other nine crew members, whose vessel was operating without AIS transmission before the accident.