Coast Guard Command teams noticed a body floating on the surface of the sea off the coast of Kurşunlu.
The body, which was brought to shore and determined to be that of a male, was sent to the Bursa Forensic Medicine Institute morgue for identification following an examination by the prosecutor and gendarmerie teams.
It is estimated that the body belongs to either engineer Murat Çalışkan or intern Ahmet Atav, who went missing after the cargo ship named "Batuhan A" sank approximately 2.5 months ago.
It was learned that a comparison will be made with DNA samples taken from relatives to identify the body in question.
BODIES OF 4 CREW MEMBERS HAD BEEN RECOVERED
The 69-meter-long cargo ship "Batuhan A," which set sail from Marmara Island in Balıkesir on February 14 at 20:30 to head to Roda Port in the Gemlik district of Bursa with a crew of 6 and a cargo of 1250 tons of marble dust, sank on February 15 at 06:32 off the coast of Kurşunlu Neighborhood in Karacabey district due to poor weather and sea conditions.
The ship's owner Murat Altıntaş, captain Hasan Mehmet Uyanık (69), engineer Murat Çalışkan (33), oiler Hüseyin Tutuk, cook Zeynep Kılınç (33), and intern Ahmet Atav (22) had gone missing after the cargo ship settled on the seabed at a depth of 51 meters, 4 miles off the coast.
During a dive conducted by divers from the Naval Forces Command on February 17, the body of Zeynep Kılınç, who worked as a cook on the ship, was recovered. During a dive by SAS commando divers on February 20, the body of Hüseyin Tutuk, who had sent a video to his wife before the ship sank, was also found.
Search operations in the wreckage of the ship were concluded on March 1.
Coast Guard Command teams, continuing search activities off the coast of İmralı Island, recovered a lifeless body from the water's surface on March 3. Following a DNA match performed by the Forensic Medicine Institute, it was determined that the body belonged to Murat Altıntaş, the owner of the cargo ship "Batuhan A."
A male body washed ashore in the Bandırma district of Balıkesir on March 28, and after the work initiated for identification, it was determined that the body belonged to captain Hasan Mehmet Uyanık.
News Source: AA
