Turkey has served notice that four sunken, grounded or abandoned ships must be removed.
The transport and maritime affairs ministry published a notice alerting the owners and captains of the casualties that failure to comply will mean the government taking "all necessary actions, including the sale of the vessels."
The ships are said to be hindering navigation safety and causing environmental damage.
The first is the 3,200-dwt general cargoship Bereket (built 1984), which sank at Istanbul port anchorage in January 2017.
It has to be removed within 20 working days.
Equasis lists the last owner, in October, as Cakil Denizcilik.
The 1,200-dwt general cargoship Tallas (built 1974) must move within five days.
It ran aground in the same area as Bereket on 4 February.
The last owner, as of February, is said to be Importica of the UK.
Meanwhile, the 3,500-dwt livestock carrier Wardeh (built 1978) has been abandoned at Mersin since the end of November.
The owner has 45 days to shift it. A February Equasis update lists the owner as Khalifeh Shipping Line of Lebanon.
Finally, the owner of the 3,150-lane-metre, 33,200-gt ro-pax Aqua Hercules (built 1980) has 15 days to remove it from Iskenderun, where it has been was abandoned since July 2013.
The ship was reported sold to undisclosed interests that same year.
