This is the terrifying night-time moment two massive ships move inevitably towards collision despite shouts of warning from crew members.

The shocking footage shows the two vessels on the Bosphorus just outside Istanbul in Turkey in a collision that was filled by a crew member on the control cabin of one of the ships.

The crew member can be heard shouting to try and raise the alarm as one of the huge vessels comes forward unchecked and then with a grinding and crashing noise, smashes into the other vessel, which tips alarmingly to one side before correcting itself.

The vessels then starts to rub down the sides of each other as the current causes further damage and later photographs show the extent of the chaos inside the two vessels.

The collision involved two container and dry cargo ships, the 126-metre-(413-foot-) long Burhan Dizman and the 147-metre-(482-foot-) long Turan C.

After the collision, two tugboats were sent to the scene to carry out emergency rescue operations.

A statement obtained by CEN from the Directorate General of Coastal Safety said: “Our KURTARMA-10 tugboat and KEGM-3 rapid rescue (life-saving) boat and 2 pilots were promptly dispatched to the scene for the 126-metre-long BURHAN DIZMAN and 147-metre-long TURAN C container and dry cargo vessels colliding in Ahirkapi.”

It was reported that both ships remain seaworthy after sustaining surprisingly light structural damage, given the force of the collision.