Disasters & Incidents
Istanbul ship wreckage found; 10 crew missing
Turkey's navy has located the wreckage of a cargo ship that sank off Istanbul after colliding with an empty oil tanker, while 10 crew members remain missing, officials said Saturday.
The Tugberk Imamoglu, a cargo vessel carrying rolled steel, sank after a pre-dawn collision earlier this week with the oil tanker ALSU in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul.
Istanbul Governor Davut Gul said the naval vessel TCG Akin had found the wreck. A naval officer accompanying him said an underwater robot obtained four images near the bow section of the Tugberk Imamoglu at a depth of 710 metres. Showing footage from the wreck, the officer said a large rupture could be seen in the vessel's midship area.
Officials have said the cargo ship sank “very quickly” in waters about 900 metres deep, around 18 nautical miles off Silivri, west of Istanbul, leaving all 10 crew members missing.
Gul said the families of the missing sailors wanted to know whether the crew were still inside the ship and how they could be recovered. He said the relevant authorities would continue work on those questions.
The tanker's captain and third officer were arrested on charges of negligent homicide, prosecutors said Friday. The investigation is being handled by prosecutors in Silivri, on the western outskirts of Istanbul province.
A marine accident expert report prepared for prosecutors and seen by AFP said there were multiple breaches of safety procedures aboard the tanker. It said the “fundamental root cause” of the catastrophe was deficiencies and failures on the bridge of the ALSU.
Update
Turkey's navy located the wreckage of the Tugberk Imamoglu.
A naval officer said underwater robot images were obtained near the bow at a depth of 710 metres.
Footage showed a large rupture in the vessel's midship area.
Istanbul Governor Davut Gul said families want to know whether the missing crew are still inside and how they can be recovered.
Source note: AFP news report published on 5 September 2026 at 12:48:16 UTC.
Update
Prosecutors said the tanker captain and third officer were arrested on negligent homicide charges.
The prosecutors' statement said the court accused them of failing to meet navigational safety obligations and prevent the collision.
Prosecutors said legal proceedings were started against nine of the ALSU's 10 crew members, excluding the cook.
The current account says the tanker captain was identified only as A.E. and the third officer as M.E.
Source note: AFP news report published on 4 September 2026 at 08:41:07 UTC.
Update
Turkey's DHA news agency reported that the ALSU captain and third officer were formally arrested by a court late Thursday.
DHA reported that four other suspects were granted conditional release.
There were no immediate details on the charges.
Search and rescue operations continued Friday.
Source note: AFP news report published on 4 September 2026 at 07:32:29 UTC.
Update
An initial expert report prepared for the Silivri prosecutor's office pointed to negligence on the oil tanker ALSU.
The report said deficiencies and failures on the ALSU's bridge were the fundamental root cause of the collision.
The report said an inexperienced officer was alone on watch, no lookout or helmsman was posted and the captain was asleep in his cabin.
The report also said the cargo ship's automatic identification system was not functioning and that it suddenly altered course to starboard shortly before the collision.
Six detained ALSU crew members were appearing in court on Thursday, according to Anadolu.
Source note: AFP news report published on 3 September 2026 at 14:54:11 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The fate of the 10 missing crew members remains unresolved.
It is not yet clear how any recovery operation from the wreck will proceed.
Legal responsibility for the collision remains subject to investigation and court proceedings.
Source
AFP news report published on .