Eleven Minutes

A Turkish cargo ship sank in the Marmara Sea near Istanbul after colliding with a second vessel, with rescuers searching for its 10 crew members. The incident occurred before dawn when the ALSU, an empty oil tanker, collided with the Tugberk Imamoglu, a cargo ship carrying rolled steel which sank shortly afterwards.

"We received the emergency call at 3:26 am. If we accept the captain's reported collision time of 3:15, we can say the sinking occurred very rapidly, within just 11 minutes," said Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu. "We spotted life buoys and a lifeboat but it was empty. Unfortunately, no survivors have been found so far."

900 metres deep

There were 10 people on board: the captain and nine other crew members, all Turkish nationals. The cargo ship went down in waters approximately 900 metres deep, with 14 vessels and a helicopter involved in search and rescue efforts. The cargo ship was carrying 4,200 tons of rolled sheet metal and rebar.

The incident took place three days after a deadly ferry accident off Northern Cyprus in which eight Turkish nationals died, with rescuers still hunting for another 20 people listed as missing. Experts said the collision was likely human error, as the Sea of Marmara is a heavily trafficked and closely monitored maritime highway.