Turkish authorities have mounted a multi-agency search and rescue operation for 10 missing crewmembers after the general cargo ship Tugberk Imamoglu (4,598 dwt) is believed to have sunk following a collision in the Marmara Sea early on September 2. Turkey’s Directorate General of Maritime Affairs detected an EPIRB signal at approximately 0330 local time, and the captain of the Turkish-flagged product tanker Alsu (3,338 dwt) separately reported a collision with an unidentified vessel roughly 18 miles south of Silivri.

Coordination Center watchstanders were unable to raise the cargo ship by radio or reach crewmembers by mobile phone. Searchers subsequently located the vessel’s free-fall lifeboat empty, along with other debris on the surface. A helicopter and 14 maritime search and rescue units are participating in the operation, joined by the Alsu.

Built in 1990, the 90-meter Tugberk Imamoglu was carrying 4,200 tons of coiled steel from Iskenderun to Eregli. The 91-meter Alsu was transiting empty from Kocaeli to Aliaga. Both vessels are Turkish-owned and Turkish-flagged. Authorities have not commented on weather or visibility conditions at the time of the collision.

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