Europe

Home page

Europe

Two ships collide in Sea of Marmara, contact lost with 10 crew members - UPDATED-1

02 September 2026 12:12 (UTC +04:00)

There have been no survivors so far from the ship that sank off the coast of Silivri, Türkiye’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu said, APA’s Türkiye bureau reports.

Uraloglu noted that the first call regarding the accident was received at 03:26. According to him, the ship sank very rapidly in just 11 minutes.

***

10:37

“A ship with a crew of 10 is believed to have sunk in the Sea of Marmara," APA’s Türkiye bureau reports, citing the Turkish Directorate General of Maritime Affairs.

According to the information, the dry cargo ship “Tuğberk İmamoğlu” and the ALSU tanker collided in the Sea of Marmara.

The accident occurred at around 03:15, approximately 18 miles off the coast of Silivri. The “Tuğberk İmamoğlu,” which was carrying 4,199 tons of rolled steel from Iskenderun to Karadeniz Eregli, had a crew of 10 on board.

No response was received from the “Tuğberk İmamoğlu” following the collision. Calls to the crew members’ mobile phones also went unanswered. For this reason, the ship is believed to have sunk.

Life-saving equipment belonging to the ship was detected on the surface of the sea. However, none of the crew members were found in them.

Currently, 14 search and rescue vessels, one helicopter and the ALSU tanker are at the scene. The search and rescue operation is ongoing.

***

10:07

Two commercial ships collided approximately 18 miles off the coast of Silivri in Istanbul, APA’s Türkiye bureau reports, citing the Istanbul Governor’s Office.

According to the information, the incident occurred at around 03:00 at night.

The commercial ships “Alsu,” which was sailing from Kocaeli to Aliaga, and the Turkish-flagged “Tuğberk İmamoğlu,” which was sailing from Iskenderun to Eregli, collided.

Following the collision, contact could not be established with the 10 crew members aboard the “Tuğberk İmamoğlu.”

Numerous vessels belonging to the Coastal Safety Directorate and the Coast Guard’s Marmara and Straits Regional Command, as well as a coast guard helicopter, were dispatched to the scene.

According to preliminary information, no visible damage was detected on the “Alsu.”