The Bosphorus strait was closed to vessel traffic yesterday afternoon as the Greece-flagged oil tanker New Hellas experienced an engine malfunction around the Uskudar area, according to GAC Turkey.
Namely, the waterway was closed around 5 pm local time when the 2001-built vessel suffered the failure during its northbound transit.
The authorities deployed a coastal safety tug to assist and escort the tanker.
GAC added that New Hellas, operated by Greek shipping firm New Shipping Limited, was able to complete its transit in the afternoon of the same day and that the traffic at Bosphorus resumed at 7.30 pm.
According to AIS data from MarineTraffic, the 248-meter-long ship was en route from Italy’s port of Milazzo to the Turkish Canakkale prior to the incident.