Turkish authorities have located the carcass of a 53-year-old small cargo ship, two days after it sank. Six seafarers are feared lost.
The Batuhan A (built 1971) was found 51 metres deep in the Sea of Marmara.
The transport ministry said on Friday that it was working “with all its resources” to reach six missing sailors who were probably trapped on the vessel when it sank.
The Batuhan A had sailed from Marmara Island at around 20:30 local time on 14 February to carry a load of about 1,100 tons of powdery dolomite to the nearby port of Gemlik.
Although S&P Global lists the ship as having a capacity of 1,090 dwt, the transport ministry said it could carry 1,302 dwt.
At about 6:30 the next morning, an emergency signal was received, probably as the vessel was sinking. Efforts to contact the ship and its crew by radio and mobile phone were not successful.
A few hours later, an empty life raft was discovered floating in nearby waters.
Turkey’s shipping directory said on Friday that it was planning to send divers to the wreck.
“Search and rescue activities continue uninterruptedly with approximately 500 personnel, 10 marine vessels and two air elements at sea and on the beach,” it said.
Rescue efforts, however, will not be easy, as was shown in the case of another shipwreck in which 12 Turkish seafarers drowned in November in the Black Sea.
Only five bodies were recovered after the 3,134-dwt Kafkametler (built 1992) sank in a storm just off the coast at Eregli, east of Istanbul.
