UPDATE - Southward traffic resumes in Türkiye's Canakkale Strait after ship malfunction causes brief halt

UPDATE WITH RESUMPTION OF SOUTHWARD MARITIME TRAFFIC THROUGH STRAIT; CHANGES HEAD, DECK, LEDE

By Burak Akay

CANAKKALE (AA) — Southward traffic in Türkiye's Canakkale Strait resumed after a brief halt on Saturday once tugboats pulled a malfunctioning 247-meter (810 feet) fuel tanker to a safe location.

The Panama-flagged vessel Paros was taken to the Sevketiye Anchorage Area off northwestern Canakkale province after assisting teams were dispatched to its location in the strait where it had stopped due to a machinery malfunction.

It was 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 had sent two tugboats to the area.

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

*Writing by Gizem Nisa Cebi from Istanbul