The first captain of the ship named ALSU, Ahmet Erarslan, and the third captain, Murat Evciman, who were detained within the scope of the investigation launched by the Silivri Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the ship accident, were arrested by the court, while 4 people were released on condition of judicial control. The statements of the arrested Erarslan and Evciman were revealed.
'THE SHIP LOST IN ABOUT 1-2 MINUTES'
In his statement, Ahmet Erarslan, the 1st captain of the ALSU ship, said, "On the day of the incident, I was the 1st captain of the Turkish flagged ship named ALSU. I joined the ship in question about a month ago. I was at rest at the time of the ship accident. Our 3rd captain, Murat Evciman, was on duty at the time of the accident. In other words, Murat Evciman was responsible for the navigation and management of the ship in this time period. The ship was unloaded at the time of the accident. The reclining position at the time of the accident. When I got up, I heard our deck chief, Süleyman Eker, shouting, "We collided." When I went up to the bridge, 2nd Captain 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. "While I was making a left turn with the ship I was on, I saw the lights of the ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu completely disappeared. My turn lasted about 5 minutes. Then, I looked at its location on the radar and within about 1-2 minutes, it was no longer visible on the radar. I immediately contacted Sector Marmara and reported the situation."
'HAVING A LOOKOUT ON THE SHIP DEPENDS ON THE CAPTAIN'S INITIATIVE'
Erarslan said, "There was no lookout on the ship at the time of the accident. Having a lookout on the ship depends on the initiative of the captain and it is necessary to have a lookout in the sections where traffic is heavy. We did not hit the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship, the ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu hit our ship. Although our ship took the ship to the port after the ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu gave us the 'Take to port' warning, Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship took us to the starboard instead of to the port." I believe that the accident occurred as a result of our ship crashing into our ship. I do not accept the findings made about me in the expert report. If our ship had hit the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship, greater damage would have occurred. The AIS device on our ship was active. Because we were on the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship. "We could not see it from AIS. We could only follow the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship on the radar. The accident occurred because Tuğberk İmamoğlu hit our ship," he said.
'HE TURNED HIS ROUTE TOWARDS ME'
In the judge's statement of the third captain, Murat Evciman, "On the day of the incident, I was the third captain of the Turkish flagged ship named ALSU. I joined the ship in question on July 31, 2026. I have 7 months of experience in this profession. At the time of the accident, I was in command of the ship as the third captain and there was no separate lookout on the bridge. I did not use anything that would affect my will during the shift. Tuğberk İmamoğlu When the ship called 'Take to the pier', I saw this ship on the radar. When I looked at the ECDIS screen on the ship I was on, the AIS was not visible. When I looked at the radar screen, I saw the projection of the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship. After about 2-3 minutes, I heard the voice of the ship on the radio again. I moved to the port at about 9 degrees. In this way, the distance between us and the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship was approximately 700-800 meters. After about 1-2 minutes, there was no problem between us and the other ship, as we were both on our own course. When the distance between us was up to 500 meters, the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship suddenly fell. "He took his standard and turned his course towards me," he said.
'I DO NOT ACCEPT THE FINDINGS MADE ABOUT ME IN THE EXPERT REPORT'
Evciman said, "Meanwhile, I thought that the opposite ship would make a maneuver and I called out on the radio, 'Tuğberk İmamoğlu, you are coming towards me, don't come.' After calling, I changed the course of the ship I was on towards the pier as the distance between us decreased. Meanwhile, the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship continued to turn starboard and continued to come towards me. I was seeing the lights of the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship from the moment it started to flag the ship I was on. The Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship hit the starboard bow and shoulder of the ship I was on from the port bow. As soon as the collision occurred, I immediately went down a few steps from the upper floor of the bridge and shouted, "There was a collision."
Then I immediately came to the bridge. When I came to the bridge, I saw the lights of the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship. Approximately 20 seconds after the accident, 2nd captain Barış Hazar came to the bridge and turned the ship fully to the right and moved it away from Tuğberk İmamoğlu's ship. Sector Marmara was informed approximately 10-15 minutes after the collision. The accident was caused by the other ship changing course towards us. I do not accept the findings made about me in the expert report. I have no fault in the incident. Before the collision, Sector Marmara did not give me a warning because the AIS of the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship was not visible. The accident occurred because the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship crashed into the ship I was on. “I am very sorry that such an incident occurred,” he said.
