Traffic has resumed in Turkey’s vital Bosporus Strait after a container ship broke down on Sunday.
The 343-teu Turkish-controlled feeder vessel Ilyas Konan (built 1994) suffered an engine failure in the waterway and dropped anchor, the Tribeca shipping agency said.
This led to the halting of transits in both directions.
The Hurriyet daily reported that the Panama-flag boxship, measuring 94 metres in length, was underway near Kandilli en route to Kocaeli when the accident occurred.
Teams from the Directorate General of Coastal Safety were sent to the scene after being notified of the breakdown.
The Kurtarma 7 and Kurtarma 12 tugs were brought in to tow the Ilyas Konan to an anchorage, with a pilot on board.
Traffic reopened for southbound ships at 18:40 GMT on Sunday.
The vessel has been inspected by port state officials 46 times during its lifetime and has not been detained once.
AIS data on Monday morning showed the vessel at anchor off Istanbul at the southern end of the strait.
Russian call on AIS
The Ilyas Konan, the former Andon, had left Novorossiysk in Russia on 27 April.
It is owned and managed by Turkey’s Konan Group in Istanbul, which has been contacted for further comment.
The feeder unit has insurance cover through the Standard Club in the UK.
Clarksons lists the ship as undergoing 40 days of repairs between October and December 2019 at the Dentas Shipyard in the Tuzla area of Istanbul.
