Statements of Captains Revealed in the Ship Accident Off Silivri

The statements of the 1st and 3rd captains of the Alsou Ship, who were arrested regarding the shipwreck off the coast of Silivri, have been revealed.

In his statement to the judge, the first captain of the ship said, "We did not hit the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship, the ship hit us. I think the accident occurred as a result of the ship hitting our ship after the ship gave a 'to port' warning to our ship and the ship took it to the starboard instead of taking it to the port, even though we took it to the port. I do not accept the findings made about me in the expert report. I have no fault in the incident."

In the accident that occurred 18 miles south of Istanbul's Silivri coast, the Turkish-flagged 90-meter-long commercial ship named Alsu, going from Kocaeli to Aliağa, collided with the commercial ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu, going from İskenderun Port to Karadeniz Ereğli. An investigation was launched by the Silivri Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the accident. In this context, the ship's 1st captain Ahmet Erarslan and 3rd captain Murat Evciman, among the suspects referred to the courthouse, were arrested, while 4 people were released on condition of judicial control.

THE STATEMENT OF THE CAPTAIN OF THE ALSU SHIP HAS BEEN EMERGED

The statement of the suspect Ahmet Eraslan, the first captain of the ship, was revealed to the Criminal Judge of Peace. In his statement, Eraslan stated that he was the first captain of the ship named Alsu with a Turkish flag on the day of the incident and that he started working on the ship 1 month ago, and said, "I was at rest at the time of the ship accident. Our third captain, Murat Evciman, was on duty at the time of the accident, that is, Evciman was responsible for the navigation and management of the ship in this time period. The ship was unloaded when the incident occurred. I heard a leaning sound at the time of the accident. When I got up, I heard our deck chief Süleyman Eker say, 'We collided. I heard him shouting, 'We collided'. Then I immediately went up. When I went up to the bridge, the first officer, Barış Hazar and Murat Evciman, said, 'We collided.' When I went up to the bridge, I saw the ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu with its lights on. The distance between us was about 300 meters. While I was turning left with the ship I was on, they said, 'We collided.' "I saw that, near the end of the turn, I saw that the lights of the ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu had completely disappeared. My return took about 5 minutes, then I looked at its location on the radar and within about 1-2 minutes the ship disappeared and was no longer visible on the radar. I immediately contacted Sector Marmara and reported the situation."

"WE DID NOT HIT THE TUĞBERK İMAMOĞLU SHIP, IT HIT US"

Continuing his statement, suspect Ahmet Eraslan emphasized that Tuğberk İmamoğlu was hit by the ship and said, "There was no lookout on the ship at the time of the accident. Having a lookout on the ship depends on the discretion of the captain, and it is necessary to have a lookout in areas with heavy traffic. We did not hit the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship, the ship hit us. After the ship gave a 'take to port' warning to our ship, we took it to the port, but the ship took us to the starboard instead of port." I think the accident occurred as a result of our ship crashing. I do not accept the findings made about me in the expert report. If our ship had hit the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship severely, greater damage would have occurred to the ship we were on. The AIS device on our ship was active. "We could not see the ship. We could only follow the ship on the radar. The accident occurred as a result of Tuğberk İmamoğlu hitting our ship. I am very sorry that such an incident occurred, I demand to be released," he said.

"THE SHIP SUDDENLY TOOK ITS STANDARD AND TURNED ITS SOURCE TOWARDS ME"

On the other hand, the suspect Murat Evciman, the third captain of the ship, stated in his statement to the judge that he had 7 months of experience in the profession and said, "As the third captain of the ship, I was in control. There was no separate lookout on the bridge. I did not use anything that would affect my will during the shift. When the ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu called on the radio saying 'take to the pier', I saw this ship when I looked on the radar. When I looked with the naked eye, I did not see the lighthouse of this ship. When I looked at the ECDIS screen on the ship, AIS was not visible. When I looked at the radar screen, I saw the projection of the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship. I moved the ship I was on to the port at about 5 degrees. After about 2-3 minutes, I heard the 'take it to the port' voice again on the radio, and then I sharply moved the ship I was on to the port at about 9 degrees. In this way, the ship I was on was approximately on the right side of the ship between us and the ship. There was a distance of 700-800 meters, and after about 1-2 minutes, the distance between us decreased to 500 meters. There was no problem between us and the other ship, as we were both on our own course. The ship suddenly turned its starboard and turned its course towards me. At that moment, I thought that the opposite ship would make a maneuver, and after calling out to Tuğberk İmamoğlu, I changed the course of the ship I was on. "I turned it towards port, while the ship continued to turn starboard and come towards me," he said.

"THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED WHEN THE IMAMOĞLU SHIP HIT THE SHIP I WAS ON"

Continuing his statement, the suspect Evcimen said, "The Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship crashed from the port bow shoulder to the starboard bow and shoulders of the ship I was on. When the collision occurred, I immediately went down a few steps from the upper floor of the bridge and shouted 'there was a collision'. I immediately came to the bridge and saw the lights of the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship. About 20 seconds after the accident, the first officer Barış Hazar came on the bridge and turned the ship to the right and Tuğberk İmamoğlu We tried to communicate with the ship after the collision, but we did not receive a response. About 10-15 minutes later, Sector Marmara was informed about the collision. I do not accept the findings made about me in the expert report, I was not at fault in the incident. Sector Marmara did not warn me that the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship was not visible before the collision. "It happened when it hit the ship I was on. I am very sorry that such an incident occurred, I request to be released," he said.