Cargo ship sinks off NW Türkiye, rescue efforts underway for 6 crew members

By Erdinc Aksoy

BURSA, Türkiye (AA) — Rescue teams in northwestern Türkiye are working to recover the crew of a sunken cargo ship in the Sea of Marmara, a senior local official told Anadolu Thursday.

"Intensive efforts are underway to rescue the crew of six people, believed to be Turkish nationals, on the ship that took on water and sank," said Mahmut Demirtas, the governor of Bursa, a province on the southern coast of the sea near where the 69-meter-long (27-foot) BATUHAN A descended beneath the waves.

Demirtas said two coastal safety teams, along with a third group from the Bandirma district of Balikesir province, also located on the Sea of Marmara's southern coast, had been dispatched to join the rescue operation southwest of Imrali island.

Rescue speedboats were also urgently sent to the scene, according to a statement by the country's General Directorate of Coastal Safety.

Demirtas added that waves in the area where the ship sank approached heights of 3 meters (11.8 feet), adding that the rescue efforts were being coordinated at the Coast Guard Command of Bursa's Mudanya district.

*Writing by Esra Tekin in Istanbul