04.09.2026 15:20
The statements of the 1st captain Ahmet Erarslan and the 3rd captain Murat Evciman of the ALSU ship, who were arrested following the shipwreck off the coast of Silivri, have emerged. In his statement, 3rd captain Evciman said, 'When the distance between us came down to 500 meters, the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship turned its course towards me. I called over the radio, saying, "You are coming towards me, don't come." The accident occurred because the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship collided with the ship I was on.'
In the scope of the investigation launched by the Silivri Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the ship accident, the 1st Captain Ahmet Erarslan and the 3rd Captain Murat Evciman of the ship named ALSU, who were detained, were arrested by the court they were brought to, while 4 people were released under judicial control. The statements of the arrested Erarslan and Evciman to the judge have emerged.
"THE SHIP DISAPPEARED WITHIN APPROXIMATELY 1-2 MINUTES" In his statement, Ahmet Erarslan, the 1st Captain of the ship ALSU, said, "On the day of the incident, I was serving as the 1st captain of the Turkish-flagged ship named ALSU. I joined the said ship approximately 1 month ago. I was resting during the time period when the ship accident occurred. During the accident, our 3rd captain, Murat Evciman, was on duty. In other words, Murat Evciman was responsible for the command and control of the ship during this time period. At the moment the incident occurred, the ship was empty. At the moment of the accident, I heard a scraping sound. When I got up, I heard our boatswain Süleyman Eker shouting, 'We collided, we collided.' Upon this, I immediately went up. When I reached the bridge, 2nd Captain Barış Hazar and Murat Evciman were there. When I asked what happened, they said, 'We collided.' When I went up to the bridge, I saw the ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu on the starboard quarter, with its lights on. The distance between us was approximately 300 meters. While I was making a turn to port with my ship, I saw the ship's lights for about 2-3 minutes. Near the end of the turn, I saw that the lights of the ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu completely disappeared. My turn had lasted about 5 minutes. Upon this, I checked its position on the radar. The ship disappeared within about 1-2 minutes and was no longer visible on the radar. I immediately contacted Sector Marmara and reported the situation," he said.
"HAVING A LOOKOUT ON THE SHIP IS AT THE CAPTAIN'S DISCRETION" Erarslan said, "There was no lookout on the ship at the time of the accident. Having a lookout on the ship is at the captain's discretion, and a lookout should be kept in areas with heavy traffic. We did not hit the ship Tuğberk İmamoğlu; the ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu hit our ship. After the ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu warned us to 'port,' even though our ship did go to port, I believe the accident occurred because the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship, instead of going to port, went to starboard and hit our ship. I do not accept the determinations made about me in the expert report. I have no fault in this incident. If our ship had hit the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship forcefully, there would have been greater damage to our ship. Our ship felt the accident as a scraping. The AIS device on our ship was working actively. The AIS device of the ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu, on the other hand, was turned off. Because we could not see the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship on AIS. We were only able to track the ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu on radar. The accident occurred because Tuğberk İmamoğlu struck our ship. I am very sorry that such an incident happened," he said.
"HE TURNED HIS COURSE TOWARDS ME" In the statement of 3rd Captain Murat Evciman to the judge, he said, "On the day of the incident, I was serving as the 3rd captain of the Turkish-flagged ship named ALSU. I joined the said ship on July 31, 2026. I have 7 months of experience in this profession. At the time of the accident, as the 3rd captain, I had command of the ship, and there was no separate lookout on the bridge. I had not used anything that could affect my will during the watch. When the ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu called out 'port' on the radio, I saw this ship on the radar when I looked. When I looked with the naked eye, I had not seen this ship's lights. When I looked at the ECDIS screen on my ship, AIS was not visible. When I looked at the radar screen, I saw the projection of the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship. I turned my ship to port by approximately 5 degrees. After about 2-3 minutes, I heard the 'port' voice again on the radio. Upon this, I sharply turned my ship to port by approximately 9 degrees. In this way, my ship remained on the right side of the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship. In this position, there was a distance of approximately 700-800 meters between us and the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship. About 1-2 minutes later, the distance between us dropped to 500 meters. In this way, there was no problem between us and the other ship since we were both navigating on our own courses. When the distance between us dropped to 500 meters, the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship suddenly went to starboard and turned its course towards me," he said.
"I DO NOT ACCEPT THE DETERMINATIONS MADE ABOUT ME IN THE EXPERT REPORT" Evciman said, "During this time, I thought the other ship would maneuver and called out on the radio, 'Tuğberk İmamoğlu, you are coming towards me, don't come.' After I called out, since the distance between us had decreased, I turned my ship's course to port. Meanwhile, the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship continued to go to starboard and kept coming towards me. From the moment the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship started to go to starboard towards my ship, I could see its lights. The Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship hit the starboard bow quarter of my ship from the port bow quarter. At the moment of the collision, I immediately went down a few steps from the bridge and shouted, 'There has been a collision.' Then I immediately returned 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 hard to starboard, moving it away from the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship. Approximately 10-15 minutes after the collision, Sector Marmara was informed. The accident was caused by the other ship turning its course towards us. I do not accept the determinations made about me in the expert report. I have no fault in this incident. Before the collision, since the AIS of the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship was not visible, Sector Marmara had not given me any warning. The accident occurred because the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship hit my ship. I am very sorry that such an incident happened," he said.