Cargo ship weighting 5,215 tons keels over sending crew fleeing for their lives

A ship weighting 5,215 metric tons tipped on side missing its crew by a few metres at a port in Istanbul, Turkey.

CCTV captured the moment the towering vessel, Amnah, rolled in the early hours of today because of uneven load.

Five crew members jumped into the sea to save themselves and swam to safety.

Another 10 of them were quick to jump on the port and run for their lives in the opposite direction of the tumbling vessel.

Turkish officials said one of the workers suffered minor wounds and has been taken to hospital.

As the ship started to tilt perilously to one side, the steel containers were seen sliding towards the edge of the port.

Footage showed dozens of them tumbling like dominoes and falling in the churning water.

After several swings, Amnah collapsed to its side and began sinking within moments.

The vessel’s perimeter was cordoned off with floating barriers to mitigate the risk of maritime pollution.

Amnah was built in 1996 and was operating until recently for the Russian Fesco shipping company.

Until 2024, it was used to transport cargo between Russian ports, like St Petersburg, Petropavlovsk and Vladivostock, and China.

The incident follows a similar mishap a month ago at Mersin, another key commercial port, where an 89-meter cargo ship also capsised.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.