Testimonies of captains arrested in ship disaster revealed: Horrific negligence in major tragedy

In the investigation into the accident that occurred on September 2 in the Sea of Marmara and resulted in the sinking of the dry cargo ship "Tuğberk İmamoğlu," the testimonies of the two arrested captains of the tanker "MT Alsu" have been revealed.

The Alsu tanker, which was sailing empty from Kocaeli to Aliağa, and the Tuğberk İmamoğlu, which was carrying 4,199 tons of rolled sheet metal from İskenderun to Karadeniz Ereğli, collided off the coast of Silivri at around 03:00. Following the collision, the Tuğberk İmamoğlu sank, and no contact could be made with the 10 crew members on board. The Ministry of National Defense announced that the location of the sunken ship had been determined.

While the expert report in the file includes findings of fault regarding the Alsu tanker, the two captains argued in their testimonies that the accident was caused by the other ship.

THEY STATED THERE WAS NO LOOKOUT ON THE BRIDGE

Ahmet Erarslan, the first captain of the Alsu, stated that he was resting during the accident and that the command and control of the ship were with the third captain, Murat Evciman. Erarslan noted that he went to the bridge after the sound of the collision and saw the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship at a distance of approximately 300 meters.

Erarslan explained that shortly after, the ship's lights disappeared and it became invisible on the radar, and they reported the situation to Sector Marmara. Admitting that there was no lookout on the bridge at the time of the accident, Erarslan said, "We did not hit the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship; the Tuğberk İmamoğlu hit our ship. Even though we turned to port, the accident occurred because the other ship turned to starboard."

Erarslan also claimed that the AIS device of the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship was turned off, which is why they could not see the ship via AIS and could only track it on radar. He stated that he did not accept the adverse assessments in the expert report.

Third captain Murat Evciman, who was in command of the ship when the accident occurred, said he had approximately 7 months of professional experience. Evciman also stated that there was no separate lookout on the bridge.

Evciman explained that he received two calls from the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship to "turn to port," upon which he turned the Alsu first about 5 degrees and then 9 degrees to port. He argued that when the distance between the two ships dropped to about 500 meters, the other ship suddenly turned to starboard and entered their route.

In his testimony, Evciman said, "I called out over the radio, 'Tuğberk İmamoğlu, you are coming towards me, don't come.' I turned the ship to port, but the Tuğberk İmamoğlu continued to turn to starboard and come towards us."

Stating that they tried to communicate with the other ship after the collision but received no response, Evciman said the accident was reported to Sector Marmara about 10-15 minutes later. The Silivri Criminal Court of Peace decided to arrest Ahmet Erarslan and Murat Evciman after evaluating the records in the file, the expert report, and other evidence.

News Source: 12punto