Sunken Ship in Marmara Sea to Remain as it is
The ship that sank in Marmara will not be removed from the sea
The ship named “Batuhan A”, which sank in the southwest of İmralı Island, 4 miles off the Karacabey district of Bursa while sailing off the Marmara Sea, will remain where it sank when the work is completed because it is old and costly. The search for the missing 4 crew continues on the 7th day by sea, air and land with 572 personnel. Today, searches will be concentrated on the engine room where the lifeless body of oilman Hüseyin Tutuk, whose body was recovered 128 hours after the incident, was found.
In the images recorded underwater, it was seen that the ship did not tilt sideways and sank as if it were sailing and sat flat on the seabed. A 3D modeling of the ship was also made, considering that its sinking position would facilitate search and rescue efforts. During the examination with the sonar device, it was determined that 2 of the 6 missing crew members were in the shipwreck.
During the dives carried out by specially trained divers and SAS commandos from TCG AKIN, the engine room of the sunken ship was reached. The lifeless body of Hüseyin Tutuk (40), who worked as an oilman on the ship, was found at the entrance of the engine room, the door of which was opened with difficulty. The last moments of the cargo ship that sank in the Sea of Marmara
Tutuk, whose body was handed over to his relatives after the autopsy at Bursa Forensic Medicine Institute, will be buried in Turgutlu district of Manisa. In the last images he sent to his family, Tutuk said that the ship was taking on water and recorded those moments.
While the stairwell at the entrance of the engine room, where Hüseyin Tutuk’s lifeless body was found, was also viewed by divers, no trace of the other 4 crew members, who were considered to have been trying to control the tarpaulin that had blown off from the storm, was found on the deck until the moment of sinking. It was noted that the search efforts in the shipwreck will continue, concentrating on the engine room of the ship.
The work is being carried out with difficulty as the cabinets that topple over due to shaking, as in an earthquake, narrow the space due to the possible accident or sinking situation not being considered and the items on the ship not being fixed.
While the pilothouse, crew cabins and deck of the ship have been searched in detail so far, it has been stated that after the engine room was also searched, the wreckage will be searched from the beginning again in case it is missed.
Bursa Governor Mahmut Demirtaş said that when the work is completed, the ship named “Batuhan A” will remain where it sank because it is old and costly.
A 21-person marine police team from the General Directorate of Security assigned to the region from Bursa, Yalova and Çanakkale and 1 UAV also support the work.
The teams explore all day long on the sea with 4 boats and perform imaging and scanning with an Unmanned Underwater Robot (ROV).
While reinforcement helicopters and planes were requested to the region, fishermen were also included in the search efforts in case the bodies that remained on the seabed for 3-4 days began to swell and float to the surface and wash up on the shore.
In addition to the 13 fishing purse seines that participated in the searches yesterday, 30 fishing boats are also involved in the work.
Fishermen are searching 3.5 miles offshore, leaving a distance of 2 miles to TCG AKIN, which is 5.5 miles offshore. Gendarmerie and search and rescue teams continue their land searches on the coastline extending from Bursa’s Gemlik district to Balıkesir’s Bandırma district.
The cause of the ship’s sinking is also being investigated. An expert competent in maritime accident crime was also appointed for the investigation carried out by 4 prosecutors regarding the incident. HTS records regarding the phone calls and messages of the ship’s 6 crew members were requested from GSM companies. HTS records will determine why the crew on the ship did not ask for help and with whom the phone conversation was made during this process.
Meanwhile, it was stated that there must have been an extraordinary situation for the ship, which is resistant to waves of 2-3 meters, to sink, and the authorities once again pointed to the tarpaulin. Under normal circumstances, the cargo should be transported in closed cases on the deck, but it is considered that the tarpaulin, which was covered over 1250 tons of marble dust and was not fixed, was blown up by the storm and carried sea water onto the cargo, and the cargo, which was also wetted by the downpour and whose weight increased, was the biggest factor in the sinking of the ship. On the other hand, it will be determined by the examination of the wreckage whether the ship sank while cruising or whether it started to take in water after stopping.
The 69-meter-long cargo ship named “Batuhan A”, which moved from Balıkesir’s Marmara Island to Roda Port in Bursa’s Gemlik district at 20.30 on February 14, with a crew of 6 people and a cargo of 1250 tons of marble dust, was damaged by bad weather and sea conditions. Due to the conditions, it sank 4 miles off the coast off the Karacabey district at 06.20 on February 15. Studies carried out with imaging devices revealed that the ship’s wreckage had settled on the sea floor at a depth of 51 meters. The lifeless body of 33-year-old Zeynep Kılınç, who worked as a cook on the ship, was found during two dives carried out by divers affiliated with the Naval Forces Command on February 17. The body of Hüseyin Tutuk, who sent the video he took before the ship sank to his wife, was found during the dive by Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) Underwater Defense (SAS) commando divers on February 20.
