30.10.2026 02:10
The body found yesterday during search efforts for the missing crew of the Tuğberk İmamoğlu ship, which sank after colliding with a ship named Alsu off Silivri on September 2, was identified as belonging to the ship’s second captain, Rahmi Temel. Temel will be buried in Izmir on October 31. His older brother Remzi Temel said, “We will have a grave,” while search efforts continue for 8 crew members.
The lifeless body of another one of the sailors who went missing on the ship that sank in the Marmara 57 days ago has been recovered. Families waiting in tents in Silivri, meanwhile, are waiting for news from their relatives.
BODY FOUND TO BELONG TO 2ND CAPTAIN During search efforts for the 9 crew members of the ship named Tuğberk İmamoğlu, which sank after colliding with the ship named Alsu off Silivri on September 2, a male body was found in the water yesterday. The body, taken to the Forensic Medicine Institute to determine the exact cause of death and identity, was determined in examinations to belong to the ship’s 2nd captain, Rahmi Temel.
TO BE BURIED IN IZMIR ON OCTOBER 31 Temel, whose body was collected from the Forensic Medicine Institute by his family, will be buried after the funeral prayer to be held at noon on October 31 at Hacı Mustafa Beşikçioğlu Mosque in Karşıyaka, Izmir.
HIS BROTHER: IT IS IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO BE DEVASTATED Rahmi Temel’s brother Remzi Temel, noting that 10 sailors were buried in the waters of the Marmara in the accident, said the following:
“As a result of a very tragic maritime accident, 10 of our sailors were buried in the waters of the Marmara. Today, on the 57th day, a body was recovered. The second body recovered today is my brother’s. The other 8 people are being searched for. The families are waiting in tents. They are waiting under difficult conditions, hopelessly, helplessly. Everyone is enduring the whole situation with all their might to reach a relative, waiting amid all the difficulties and hardships. It was not a cause for joy for us; it was saddening. After I received the news today, it was as if boiling water had been poured over my head. But at least there will be some relief in being reunited with a body; we will have a grave. That is why we are here; we are waiting for our loved one’s body to be handed over. They said yesterday that he was on the ship. We received the news in the evening. The identification was made today and we were informed. We learned his identity one day later. This happened 35 kilometers off Silivri. In a deep place called the Marmara pit. I wish the other victims could also be rescued and recovered; I hope they will be recovered. He has a family and 2 daughters; they are devastated. They live in Izmir. Now, after a while, we will go from here to Izmir. It is impossible not to be devastated. You wait with a hope, even if it is one in a thousand, but today, being told that a missing person has been found creates an even greater sorrow instead of joy.”
Rahmi Temel’s brother Remzi Temel FAMILIES ARE WAITING IN TENTS IN SILIVRI Recai Yılmaz, the maternal uncle of chief cook Abdulbaki Mirzaoğlu, one of the crew members being searched for on the ship, also described how the families were waiting under difficult conditions. Yılmaz said: “I am the maternal uncle of Abdulbaki Mirzaoğlu, who worked as chief cook on the ship Tuğberk İmamoğlu. He had been working as a chief cook on ships for this company for 4 years. In 7 months he would have retired at the age of 48. He is the father of 8 children. His family did not consent to his working on the ship either. Because his children were growing up without seeing their father, and they turned out to be right. Maritime workers do not deserve such a life. I think their rights and legal rights should be protected much more and they should be looked after. Searches are being carried out in the sea, on the ship, or on the seabed beside the ship. As families, we were 10 families in a short time; we have dropped to 9. Nine families are waiting in tents in Silivri. We are waiting there in these weather conditions,” he said.