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

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT BY COAST GUARD COMMAND

By Erdinc Aksoy and Esra Tekin

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 on 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-feet) 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.

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 sent to the incident site.

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 that the 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.

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