Fuel tanker malfunction halts southward traffic in Türkiye's Canakkale Strait

By Burak Akay

CANAKKALE (AA) — Southward traffic came to a halt in the Canakkale Strait on Saturday after a 247-meter-long (810 feet) fuel tanker malfunctioned while passing through the waterway located in northwestern Türkiye.

Teams were dispatched to assist the Panama-flagged vessel Paros, which stopped midway through the strait due to a machinery malfunction while en route to the northwestern Turkish province of Kocaeli from the island nation of Malta in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Following a signal by the ship's captain, Turkish authorities sent two tugboats to the area.

Other ships passing through the strait were also cautioned of the incident via radio announcement.

Due to the malfunction, the Canakkale Strait was temporarily closed to ship traffic in the north-to-south direction.

*Writing by Gizem Nisa Cebi from Istanbul