Sunken-ship wreck located in Marmara Sea, Türkiye

By Mustafa Yilmaz, Sergen Sezgin, and Fatih Capkin

BURSA, Türkiye (AA) - After locating the wreck of the “Batuhan A’’ cargo ship on Friday, which sank a day earlier in the Sea of Marmara off the coast of Türkiye's Bursa province, preparations are underway for diving, according to officials.

Bursa Governor Mahmut Demirtas told Anadolu that search and rescue operations are ongoing in the region.

Demirtas said the ship's wreck was reached with an underwater robot and through a three-dimensional modeling of the ship.

“The wreck is sitting on the seabed in a normal manner, which will facilitate our rescue operations.’’

He added that teams will dive into the wreck during the day, depending on weather conditions.

Currently, the retrieval operations involve 456 search and rescue personnel.

The “Batuhan A’’ cargo ship, which departed from Marmara Island in Balikesir on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 8.30 p.m (1730GMT) for Roda Port in Bursa’s Gemlik district, sank Thursday at 06.20 a.m (0320GMT) off the coast of Karacabey district due to severe weather and sea conditions.

Empty lifeboats were found during the search and rescue efforts conducted by multiple institutions for missing six crew members aboard.

* Writing by Gizem Nisa Cebi in Istanbul.