Turkish engineer missing for 13 days aboard ship in Indonesia

Turkish mechanical engineer Dogukan Demirtas disappeared while aboard a cargo ship from Indonesia to Singapore and has not been heard from for 13 days.

Demirtas last made contact with his family at 1:42 p.m. on Dec. 16.

Demirtas had started working as the fourth engineer on the cargo ship “Valentina 1” on Sept. 10. His disappearance was confirmed by the crew on Dec. 17 following a thorough search of the ship.,

Coast guard teams conducted a search around Flores Island; however, operations were suspended after seven days due to adverse weather conditions.

Demirtas’s father, Onder Demirtas, a cab driver in the province of Mugla commented that they realized his son was missing when he missed a shift on Dec. 18. Onder has maintained contact with the shipping company as well as the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara.

Statements of the personnel were taken in Singapore and Liberia.