UPDATE 3 - Cargo ship sinks off northwest Türkiye, rescue efforts underway for 6 crew members

REVISES HEADLINE, DECK, ADDS MORE DETAILS

By Erdinc Aksoy and Esra Tekin

BURSA, Türkiye/ISTANBUL (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 on Thursday.

"Intensive efforts are underway to rescue the crew of six people, believed to be Turkish nationals, on a 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 (226-foot) long BATUHAN A descended beneath the waves.

It was determined that the ship, which sank off the coast of Bursa's Karacabey district, is located at a depth of 51 meters (167.3 feet).

Search and rescue teams intensified their work in the area where images of the wreck were taken with underwater scanning devices.

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

He noted that waves in the area where the ship sank approached heights of 3 meters (9.8 feet), adding the rescue efforts were being coordinated with the Coast Guard Command of Bursa's Mudanya district.

The Turkish Coast Guard Command said in a statement that upon being informed of the commercial vessel starting to sink due to adverse weather and sea conditions, two Coast Guard ships and two Coast Guard boats were promptly dispatched to the site of the incident.

Simultaneously, the Coastal Safety General Directorate also deployed two tugboats to the region, the statement said.

”As a result of ongoing search and rescue operations, a lifeboat has been identified in the area assessed to be where the commercial ship has sunk,” the statement said, adding search and rescue operations are underway.

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

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Thursday that a Coast Guard corvette and aircraft were assigned to support search and rescue operations in the area.

"Due to adverse weather conditions, one Coast Guard helicopter, unable to proceed to the area, is on standby and will immediately move to the location once weather conditions permit,” Yerlikaya said on X.