Maritime traffic suspended through Bosphorus Strait
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As a result of inclement weather, the Turkish Coast Guard limited access through the Dardanelles to ships with a speed of less than 10 knots.
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The cargo ship Razoni crosses the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (AP)
According to Sputnik, the Turkish Coast Guard Command on Sunday announced the Bosphorus Strait from south to north has been banned indefinitely from 6:20 a.m. local time (03:20 GMT) until at least midnight.
The coast guard reported that the north-south transit was delayed until 8:40 a.m., but did not elaborate on why.
As a result of inclement weather, the Turkish Coast Guard limited access through the Dardanelles to ships with a speed of less than 10 knots.
Later that day, a Coast Guard source told Sputnik that movement was prohibited in both directions owing to a breakdown on an oil tanker departing from Russia.
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The source detailed that the Peria tanker, on its way to Izmir, lost its anchor while passing through the Bosphorus near Kecilik Koyu village, "causing the transit of ships through the strait to be temporarily suspended in both directions."
Coast guard tugs finally moved the Liberian-flagged tanker to a nearby dock, freeing up cargo in the critical canal that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and, via the Dardanelles, to the Mediterranean.
A Coast Guard source told Sputnik that "The Peria vessel has been tugged to a pier in Kucukcekmece, Istanbul."
The northward sailing in the Bosphorus started around 8 p.m. local time after nearly 14 hours of suspension, the source reported.
