Criminal Investigations Involving Maritime Accidents in Turkey: What Foreign Shipowners Should Expect – 2026 Updated Guide

What happens after a maritime accident in Turkey? A 2026 guide for foreign shipowners covering criminal investigations, master and crew statements, evidence, VDR and AIS records, fatalities, vessel restrictions, casualty investigations, P&I coordination, and legal defence.

A collision, grounding, fire, explosion, machinery failure, occupational accident, pollution incident, or death aboard a foreign vessel in Turkey can trigger legal proceedings within hours. For foreign shipowners unfamiliar with the Turkish system, one of the most important points to understand is that a maritime casualty may generate several legally separate investigations at the same time.

A serious incident may involve a public prosecutor, Coast Guard or other law-enforcement authorities, port and maritime authorities, the Transport Safety Investigation Center, classification or flag-State interests, insurers, P&I representatives, surveyors, and potentially courts.

These proceedings do not all have the same purpose.

In particular, Turkey’s official marine casualty investigation procedure expressly provides that a safety investigation is not a judicial or administrative investigation and is not intended to identify a crime, criminal offender, blame, or liability. Its purpose is to determine root causes and contributing factors and help prevent similar casualties. (Ulaşım Emniyeti)

A criminal investigation, by contrast, seeks to determine whether conduct constituting an offence occurred and whether particular individuals may bear criminal responsibility.

For foreign shipowners, understanding this distinction from the first hours after an accident is critical.

Can Turkey Investigate an Accident Involving a Foreign Ship?

Yes, where the relevant jurisdictional requirements are satisfied.

A vessel does not fall outside Turkish investigative authority merely because it flies a foreign flag.

Turkey’s marine casualty investigation rules specifically contemplate accidents involving foreign-flagged ships. A preliminary investigation is initiated for very serious casualties occurring within Turkish territorial waters regardless of the ship’s flag, while serious casualties and incidents within Turkish territorial waters may also be investigated under the applicable framework. (Ulaşım Emniyeti)

Criminal jurisdiction must be assessed separately according to Turkish criminal law, criminal procedure, international law, the location of the event, the persons involved, and the alleged conduct.

An accident involving a Liberian, Marshall Islands, Maltese, Panamanian, Greek, Italian, Norwegian, or other foreign-flagged ship can therefore potentially lead to proceedings in Turkey when the necessary jurisdictional connection exists.

What Types of Maritime Accidents Can Trigger Criminal Investigations?

Not every maritime casualty constitutes a crime.

Accidents happen even aboard properly maintained and competently operated vessels.

Criminal scrutiny becomes more likely when an accident results in serious consequences or there is evidence suggesting negligence, deliberate misconduct, regulatory violations, or concealment.

Common scenarios include:

• fatal collisions;
• serious crew injuries;
• passenger deaths or injuries;
• man-overboard fatalities;
• fires and explosions;
• groundings;
• occupational accidents;
• major pollution events;
• unsafe cargo operations;
• serious navigational failures.

Turkey’s Transport Safety Investigation Center publishes casualty reports involving precisely these categories, including collisions, fires, explosions, groundings, occupational accidents, falls from height, and man-overboard incidents. Its 2026 maritime records currently include a fire investigation involving FG SEVIL. (Ulaşım Emniyeti)

What Happens Immediately After a Serious Maritime Accident?

The first phase normally focuses on safety, notification, evidence preservation, and determining what occurred.

Emergency response naturally takes priority where people are injured, missing, or at risk.

The relevant authorities may then seek information concerning the vessel, voyage, accident, crew, cargo, damage, and persons involved.

Turkey maintains a formal marine accident notification mechanism through the Transport Safety Investigation Center, including a dedicated Marine Accident/Incident Notification Form. (Ulaşım Emniyeti)

For the shipowner, this is also the point at which an incident-response team should be activated.

The owner should quickly coordinate the master, technical manager, DPA where relevant, local agent, P&I Club, hull insurer, surveyor, flag State, and Turkish legal counsel.

Poorly coordinated communications during the first few hours can create problems that continue throughout subsequent proceedings.

The Public Prosecutor’s Criminal Investigation

Where authorities suspect that an offence may have occurred, the matter may come under the supervision of a Turkish public prosecutor.

The prosecutor’s objective differs fundamentally from that of a marine safety investigator.

The criminal investigation may seek to establish:

What caused the accident?

Was the accident foreseeable and preventable?

Did anyone breach a legal duty of care?

Did negligence cause death or injury?

Were safety requirements intentionally disregarded?

Were documents falsified or evidence concealed?

The investigation can initially involve several persons without necessarily meaning that all of them will ultimately be prosecuted.

Who Can Become a Suspect?

The master is frequently one of the first individuals whose conduct is examined following a navigational casualty, but criminal responsibility should never be assumed solely because of rank.

Depending on the circumstances, authorities may examine the conduct of:

• the master;
• officer of the watch;
• chief engineer;
• engineering officers;
• pilots;
• crew members;
• technical managers;
• shore-based personnel;
• company representatives;
• other individuals involved in relevant decisions.

A shipowner’s director or manager is not automatically criminally responsible because they occupy a senior corporate position.

Turkish criminal responsibility is fundamentally personal. The investigation should determine what each individual actually did or failed to do and whether the applicable requirements for criminal responsibility are satisfied.

Fatal Maritime Accidents

A fatality substantially increases the seriousness of an investigation.

Suppose a crew member dies during an engine-room explosion.

Investigators may examine whether the explosion resulted from an unforeseeable technical failure or whether there were earlier warnings that were ignored.

Evidence may include:

• maintenance schedules;
• defect reports;
• previous survey findings;
• repair requests;
• safety-management records;
• engine logs;
• class recommendations;
• internal emails;
• spare-parts requests;
• crew statements.

If the vessel had repeatedly reported a dangerous defect and shore management refused necessary repairs, the investigation may extend beyond shipboard personnel.

Conversely, if management provided a seaworthy vessel and the accident resulted from an unauthorized operational decision aboard the ship, the liability analysis may be very different.

Collision Investigations

After a collision, investigators may reconstruct the vessels’ movements minute by minute.

The analysis can include:

COLREG compliance, lookout, safe speed, radar use, bridge resource management, visibility, communications, helm orders, pilotage, AIS information, and VDR recordings.

The fact that one vessel physically struck another does not by itself establish criminal responsibility.

Investigators must reconstruct the navigational circumstances and determine the conduct of the relevant persons.

Foreign owners should therefore preserve navigational evidence immediately.

VDR Evidence Can Become Critical

The Voyage Data Recorder can become one of the most valuable sources of evidence following a serious casualty.

Depending on the equipment and incident, relevant information can include:

• bridge audio;
• radar information;
• position;
• heading;
• speed;
• communications;
• navigational data;
• alarms.

Preservation should occur promptly because technical systems can overwrite information.

The owner should avoid any action that could later be interpreted as interference with evidence.

Where technically necessary, qualified experts should secure copies in a defensible manner.

AIS Records

AIS data may also be compared against VDR information, radar evidence, port records, Coast Guard information, and other available sources.

Investigators may use AIS to reconstruct:

• vessel position;
• course;
• speed;
• voyage history;
• proximity to other vessels.

AIS should not necessarily be treated as infallible. Technical limitations and discrepancies may require expert analysis.

Nevertheless, it can become an important component of the evidentiary record.

Logbooks and Documentary Evidence

The vessel’s records can become central to both technical and criminal investigations.

Relevant documentation may include:

• deck logbook;
• engine logbook;
• bell book;
• Oil Record Book;
• Garbage Record Book;
• cargo records;
• passage plan;
• stability calculations;
• maintenance records;
• permits to work;
• risk assessments;
• crew rest records;
• safety-management documentation.

Foreign shipowners should preserve originals and maintain controlled copies.

Entries should never be retrospectively altered to make the records appear more favorable.

An inaccurate record can create a second legal problem on top of the original accident.

Electronic Communications May Be Relevant

Modern casualty investigations are no longer limited to paper records.

Depending on legal relevance and lawful investigative authority, evidence may potentially include emails and electronic communications relating to the accident.

This can become particularly important when determining whether shore management knew about a dangerous condition.

For example, communications showing repeated requests for repairs followed by instructions to postpone maintenance may materially affect the investigation.

Companies should immediately implement an appropriate evidence-preservation process after a major casualty.

The Master’s Statement

Statements given by the master can become extremely important.

The master may possess unique information concerning the voyage, navigation, weather, vessel condition, crew, and events immediately before the casualty.

However, foreign masters may be unfamiliar with Turkish criminal procedure and may face language difficulties.

The distinction between providing operational information to maritime authorities, participating in a safety investigation, appearing as a witness, and being questioned as a criminal suspect must be clearly understood.

Legal representation should be arranged early where criminal exposure is possible.

Foreign Crew Members and Language Issues

Foreign seafarers should not sign documents they do not understand.

Interpretation and translation can become crucial during statements, interviews, and procedural steps.

The company should identify the legal status of each crew member separately.

One person may be treated as a witness while another is considered a suspect.

Their interests may eventually diverge.

For this reason, a single defence strategy cannot automatically be assumed appropriate for every individual involved in the casualty.

Safety Investigation vs. Criminal Investigation

This distinction deserves particular emphasis.

Turkey’s By-Law on the Investigation of Marine Casualties and Incidents states expressly that the purpose of the marine accident investigation is to identify root causes and contributing factors to improve legislation, practices, and prevention. It further states that the investigation is not judicial or administrative and is not intended to determine criminal responsibility or allocate blame. (Ulaşım Emniyeti)

The Transport Safety Investigation Center also lists the IMO Casualty Investigation Code and related international instruments among the framework applicable to marine safety investigations. (Ulaşım Emniyeti)

Foreign shipowners should therefore avoid treating every investigator or interview as part of one single proceeding.

Can Experts Board the Vessel?

A casualty investigation may require direct examination of the ship.

Turkey’s rules provide for appointed experts to conduct casualty investigations, and additional specialists may be assigned where particular expertise is required. (Ulaşım Emniyeti)

Depending on the separate legal authority involved, criminal investigators may also seek access to relevant evidence.

The company should cooperate with lawful requests while ensuring that requests, documents delivered, samples taken, electronic data copied, and equipment examined are properly recorded.

Can the Vessel Be Prevented from Sailing?

Potentially, yes, but the legal basis matters.

A ship may be unable to sail because of:

• safety deficiencies;
• Port State Control detention;
• accident-related technical concerns;
• criminal-procedure measures;
• evidence-preservation requirements;
• judicial ship arrest;
• administrative restrictions.

These measures are legally different.

A foreign shipowner should immediately obtain clarification of the exact reason the vessel cannot depart.

This distinction determines which authority should be approached and what procedure may be available for release.

Criminal Investigation Does Not Automatically Mean Ship Arrest

A maritime claim and a criminal investigation should not be confused.

A precautionary arrest under maritime law generally seeks security for an eligible maritime claim.

A criminal investigation seeks to determine whether an offence occurred.

Following a collision, both can potentially exist simultaneously.

For example, another vessel owner may seek civil security for collision damage while prosecutors separately investigate whether negligent navigation caused death or injury.

The foreign shipowner may therefore need coordinated criminal, maritime, insurance, and commercial representation.

P&I Club Coordination

The P&I Club should normally be informed promptly where the casualty falls within relevant coverage and notification requirements.

Depending on the incident, P&I interests may coordinate:

• local correspondents;
• surveyors;
• casualty experts;
• lawyers;
• pollution response;
• crew assistance;
• third-party claims.

However, criminal defence requires particular attention.

The company should determine the extent of available cover and ensure that communications and investigations are coordinated appropriately.

Independent Technical Experts

Serious casualties frequently require independent technical expertise.

Depending on the accident, experts may include:

• master mariners;
• naval architects;
• marine engineers;
• fire experts;
• metallurgists;
• navigation specialists;
• pollution experts.

Technical evidence can determine whether the incident resulted from human error, machinery failure, defective equipment, maintenance problems, cargo conditions, weather, or a combination of factors.

Early expert involvement may also help preserve evidence before repairs change the physical condition of the vessel.

Should Repairs Begin Immediately?

Safety-critical temporary measures may obviously be necessary.

However, significant repairs following a serious casualty should be coordinated carefully where damaged components may constitute evidence.

Before removing, destroying, repairing, or replacing a critical component, the company should consider whether investigators, insurers, surveyors, classification interests, or other relevant parties require inspection.

Photographic and technical documentation should be comprehensive.

What Should the Shipowner Avoid Doing?

Several mistakes can seriously damage the company’s position.

The owner should avoid:

• altering logbooks;
• deleting electronic communications;
• overwriting relevant electronic data where preservation is possible;
• pressuring crew members to coordinate accounts;
• producing speculative internal conclusions;
• repairing evidentiary components without documentation;
• giving inconsistent statements to different authorities.

An effective response should preserve facts rather than manufacture a preferred narrative.

What Is Important in 2026?

The core distinction between criminal investigations and independent marine safety investigations remains highly important in 2026.

Turkey’s Transport Safety Investigation Center continues to publish maritime casualty reports, including a 2026 fire investigation, demonstrating the continuing operation of the formal casualty-investigation framework. (Ulaşım Emniyeti)

For foreign shipowners, the practical priority in 2026 is therefore not a supposed entirely new criminal-liability system, but effective preparation for increasingly evidence-intensive investigations involving digital navigational data, technical records, safety-management documentation, corporate communications, and international maritime standards.

Fırat Fesih Kaya assists foreign shipowners and international shipping interests with maritime casualties, criminal investigations, vessel restrictions, evidence preservation, and related proceedings in Turkey.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does every maritime accident in Turkey result in a criminal investigation?

No. A casualty does not automatically establish criminal conduct. Serious accidents involving death, injury, major damage, pollution, or suspected negligence are more likely to attract prosecutorial scrutiny.

2. Can Turkey investigate an accident involving a foreign-flagged vessel?

Yes, where the applicable jurisdictional requirements are satisfied. Turkey’s marine safety investigation framework expressly covers serious and very serious casualties within Turkish territorial waters regardless of flag. (Ulaşım Emniyeti)

3. Is a marine casualty investigation the same as a criminal investigation?

No. Turkey’s official casualty-investigation rules expressly state that the safety investigation is not intended to identify crimes, offenders, blame, or liability. (Ulaşım Emniyeti)

4. Can the master become a criminal suspect?

Potentially, depending on the facts. Being master does not itself establish criminal liability. The individual’s conduct, duties, decisions, and connection with the accident must be assessed.

5. Can shore-based managers also be investigated?

Potentially, yes. Where evidence suggests that shore management knowingly ignored serious defects or made decisions materially connected with the casualty, their individual conduct may become relevant.

6. Can investigators obtain VDR and AIS information?

Navigational and electronic data can become highly important evidence following collisions, groundings, and other serious casualties. Relevant information should therefore be preserved promptly and lawfully.

7. Can a foreign vessel be prevented from leaving Turkey during an investigation?

Potentially. However, the owner should determine whether the restriction results from criminal procedure, safety detention, administrative action, judicial ship arrest, or another legal basis.

8. Should foreign crew members give statements without an interpreter?

Crew members should understand the questions, their procedural status, and the documents they are asked to sign. Language assistance and legal representation can be particularly important where criminal exposure exists.

9. Should the P&I Club be notified immediately?

For serious casualties, prompt notification is generally important subject to the relevant policy and Club rules. P&I interests may assist with surveyors, correspondents, claims management, experts, and legal coordination.

10. When should a foreign shipowner contact a Turkish maritime lawyer?

Ideally immediately after a serious casualty, particularly where there has been a fatality, serious injury, collision, grounding, fire, explosion, pollution event, vessel restriction, or indication of a criminal investigation.

Legal Support for Maritime Accident and Criminal Investigations in Turkey

A serious maritime accident can place the master, crew, shipowner, technical manager, and vessel under intense legal and regulatory scrutiny within hours. Early decisions concerning statements, VDR and AIS preservation, logbooks, electronic evidence, technical inspections, expert appointments, P&I coordination, and vessel restrictions can materially affect the proceedings that follow.

Fırat Fesih Kaya provides legal assistance to foreign shipowners, vessel operators, managers, masters, officers, P&I interests, and international shipping companies facing maritime casualties and related criminal investigations in Turkey.

Early involvement of an experienced maritime lawyer can help distinguish the separate criminal, safety, administrative, civil, and insurance proceedings; protect procedural rights; preserve critical evidence; and coordinate an effective response before avoidable mistakes occur.

For a case-specific legal assessment following a collision, grounding, fire, explosion, fatality, occupational accident, pollution incident, or other maritime casualty in Turkey, you may contact our office.

Phone: +90 312 434 22 22
Mobile: +90 532 769 22 22
Email: info@firatfesihkaya.av.tr
Address: Mevlana Boulevard No: 221, Yıldırım Tower No: 148, 06520 Balgat, Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey