Suspicious death at Rotterdam Port: The cause of seaman's death should be investigated

A Turkish citizen named Özenç Sarıyıldız (44), working as a seafarer on a Panama-flagged dry cargo ship owned by a Turkey-based company, lost his life in the port of Rotterdam.

It is claimed that Sarıyıldız fell into the water on the night of December 3, 2023, while boarding the ship that he worked at in the Rotterdam Port in the Netherlands. Sarıyıldız's lifeless body was recovered after search and rescue efforts.

Sarıyıldız's body was sent to Turkey by authorities. However, it has come to light that no autopsy was conducted regarding Sarıyıldız's death.

The family filed a criminal complaint with the İzmir Public Prosecutor's Office. Sarıyıldız's family requested an investigation into whether the cause of death was due to negligence leading to involuntary manslaughter or if it was an intentionally committed crime.

Özenç Sarıyıldız's body was buried in Akhisar district of Manisa, where he resided, on Friday, December 8.

"An accident or a murder?"

Republican People's Party (CHP) İzmir MP Sevda Erdan Kılıç has called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In her statement regarding the incident, Kılıç said:

"Sailor Özenç Sarıyıldız lost his life on the night of December 3 while boarding the ship he worked at the port of Rotterdam. According to the claim of the Turkish-origin company, this death was an accident. An autopsy was necessary to determine whether the incident was an accident or a deliberately committed crime."

"However, Sarıyıldız was held in Rotterdam for a full 5 days after his death. After these 5 days, the sailor's body was hastily sent to İzmir by plane. The family is in a desperate situation due to what has happened."

"Government of Netherlands did not fulfill any of its duties"

"Even if the incident were an accident, an investigation carried out here would reveal how the accident occurred and whether there was any security gap on the ship that led to the accident. However, as far as we understand, the Government of Netherlands did not fulfill any of its duties in this regard. And the young sailor's body was sent to İzmir. So, what did Turkey's Consulate General in Rotterdam and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs do during this process? It seems that they not have done anything because today the family is left alone with the funeral."

Kılıç invited both the Government of Netherlands and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take action and announced that she would be closely following up on this matter. (EMK/PE)