Exactly 68 meters deep! Special operation for Halit Yukay's lifeless body.

Exactly 68 meters deep! Special operation for Halit Yukay's lifeless body.

24.08.2025 17:41

The body of businessman Halit Yukay (43), whose boat set sail from Yalova to Bozcaada and was found shattered and partially submerged, will be recovered in a coordinated operation with the Naval Forces Command at a depth of 68 meters, in order to preserve the integrity of the body.

Businessman Halit Yukay set sail from Yalova to Bozcaada on August 4 at 15:10 with his own boat named 'Graywolf'. On the same day, after his relatives reported that they could not reach Yukay, the Coast Guard teams sprang into action. While the teams initiated search operations, on August 5, around 14:30, a report was made about seeing partially submerged boat parts on the sea surface from a commercial ship sailing off the coast of Turanköy in the Kapıdağ Peninsula of Balıkesir.

HIS BOAT WAS FOUND IN PIECES

The Coast Guard Southern Marmara Group Command teams went to the given coordinates. A helicopter, a diving team, and 7 floating units from the Coast Guard Command initiated a search and rescue operation. The diving team also dove to the partially submerged boat, but no results were obtained from the searches. In the examination by the teams, it was determined that the motor serial number of the broken boat matched that of Halit Yukay's boat. Underwater images of the boat that the Coast Guard Southern Marmara Group Command teams dove to showed that it was broken apart.

The body of Halit Yukay will be retrieved by the Navy divers

PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE LAUNCHED AN INVESTIGATION

Yukay, who had a yacht shipyard and company in Yalova, and worked as an engineer and chief designer in yacht production, was also seen leaving Yalova for Bozcaada. In the footage, Halit Yukay is seen departing from the port with his boat, while an expert examination was initiated on the broken boat named 'Graywolf', which was pulled to Ekinlik Island and lifted ashore by a crane, to determine the cause of the accident as part of the investigation conducted by the Marmara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

PARTS WASHED ASHORE

On the 6th day of the search operations in the area, the sea police found parts believed to belong to Yukay's boat 'Graywolf' that had crashed into the rocks north of Paşalimanı Island and sent them for expert examination.

The body of Halit Yukay will be retrieved by the Navy divers

THE SEABED WAS SCANNED WITH AN UNMANNED UNDERWATER ROBOT

On the 7th day of the search operations, the sea police, who set sail from Kestanelik Port in Erdek, Balıkesir, with a 42-meter fishing boat, initiated a search on the seabed in the accident area using an unmanned underwater robot (ROV) and sonar device brought from İzmir Police.

THE BOAT'S SEAT WAS FOUND ON KARABIGA COAST

On the 10th day of the operations, Yukay's boat seat was found washed ashore on the coast of Karabiga in Çanakkale, while the Coast Guard teams intensified their efforts in the Çanakkale region. The sea police also continued the coastal scanning in the Paşalimanı and Koyun Island areas of Balıkesir's Erdek district.

CARGO SHIP CAPTAIN ARRESTED

The captain of the cargo ship named 'Arel 7', who was alleged to have collided with Yukay's broken boat, was detained in Yalova on charges of 'causing death by negligence' and was released under judicial control with a travel ban. However, after the objection of the Yalova Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, he was re-arrested in Istanbul.

SCRATCHES ON THE FRONT OF THE SHIP

Radar movements of the ship alleged to have collided with Halit Yukay's broken yacht emerged, while the Coast Guard teams found scratches on the front of the cargo ship during their examination. The Yalova Chief Public Prosecutor's Office is scrutinizing the ship traffic in the area and the route of 'Arel 7', and two photographs showing the scratches on the ship were also included in the investigation file. In a photo taken a day before the accident on August 3 in Çanakkale, no marks were seen on the front of the ship, while in a photo taken a day after the accident on August 5 in İzmit, where the ship was delivering its cargo, the distinct marks and impact on the front of 'Arel 7' drew attention.

The body of Halit Yukay will be retrieved by the Navy divers

THEY CHECKED THE MARKS ON THE FRONT PART

Footage of the cargo ship named 'Arel 7', which is believed to have collided with Yukay's boat, arriving at İzmit port also emerged. In the security camera footage, at around 04:00 on August 5, the captain of 'Arel 7', C. T., and the crew are seen disembarking from the ship at 04:17, going to the front part of the ship, and then stopping at the port side and looking back at the ship. The photographs of the ship, which was determined to have distinct scratch marks on the front, along with these images, were also included in the investigation file.

"I FELT A JOLT, I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND"

As the investigation continues into how the scratches on the front of the 92-meter-long, 11-meter-wide ship occurred, the arrested captain C. T. stated in his testimony at the Yalova court that he felt a jolt during navigation, saying, "We had passed Marmara Island. I felt a jolt, I couldn't understand, I looked ahead and saw two pieces on my right and left. I saw them as wooden pieces. I passed through the middle, but after going a little further, I turned back with the ship. I didn't feel comfortable. At that moment, I saw a life buoy. I couldn't understand what the wooden pieces I saw on my right and left were. When I realized it wasn't something related to me, I continued on my way."

SAMPLE RESULTS CAME OUT, PAINT RESIDUES MATCHED

While the investigation continues, samples taken from the area where the scratches of the cargo ship were found and the part of Yukay's broken boat where the marks were found were sent to the Bursa Criminal Police Laboratory Directorate. As a result of the examination, it was stated that the paint residues on the scratches in front of Yukay's broken boat matched those of 'Arel 7'.

HE SPOKE WITH HIM LAST

On the other hand, Halit Yukay's actor friend Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ also gave a statement as a 'witness' in the investigation. It was reported that the actor, who also participated in the search operations, was questioned in Istanbul regarding the investigation conducted by the Yalova Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. In his statement, Tatlıtuğ mentioned that he had spoken to Halit Yukay on the phone before the accident, and that the line suddenly cut off during their conversation, and he could not reach him again.

It was also noted that the investigation file was transferred to the Marmara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office due to the 'lack of jurisdiction' decision taken by the Yalova Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

THE CORPSE WAS FOUND AT A DEPTH OF 68 METERS ON THE 19TH DAY

On the 19th day of the search operations conducted by the Coast Guard Southern Marmara Group Command, the General Directorate of Coastal Safety, the Samsun Police Department's Marine Port Branch, the Çanakkale Police Department's Marine Port Branch, the İzmir Police Department's Marine Port Branch, and the Yalova Marine Port Branch teams, Yukay's lifeless body was reached. In the area where the accident occurred, 7 miles off the coast of Erdek district, Yukay's body, detected by the underwater police using the YTS device at a depth of 68 meters, was also recorded by ROV. Around the body, the plates of the boat's engine and parts of the boat were also identified.

THE NAVY COMMAND WILL RECOVER IT

The operation to recover the body from the seabed will be carried out in coordination with the Navy Command to ensure the integrity of the body is not compromised. The ROV, which performs imaging and scanning up to a depth of 300 meters, can also bring elements detected underwater to the surface with the help of a gripping arm attached to its mechanism. However, due to concerns about compromising the integrity of the body, it is planned to carry out the operation in collaboration with the Navy Command.

THE CREW OF THE 'BATUHAN A' SHIP WAS RECOVERED BY THEM

The 'Batuhan A', a cargo ship that set sail from Marmara Island in Balıkesir on February 14, 2024, with a crew of 6 and a load of 1250 tons of marble powder, sank on February 15 at 06:32, taking on water southwest of Imralı Island, and its wreckage settled on the seabed at a depth of 51 meters, 4 miles off the coast. The bodies of the missing crew members were also recovered by the Navy divers using an elevator system by descending to the seabed.

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