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Marmara Sea News

15 Feb 2024

Rescuers Search for Missing Crew After Cargo Ship Sinks in the Marmara Sea

(Photo: Turkish Ministry of the Interior)

Rescue crews are searching by air and sea for six crew members missing from a Turkish-registered merchant vessel that sank in the Marmara Sea off northwest Turkey on Thursday.It was reported that the 69-meter general cargo ship Batuhan A started to sink at 6:30 a.m. local time due to bad weather and sea conditions, according to the Turkish Coast Guard. The 1,090 dwt vessel was said to be carrying dry cargo from Marmara Island to Gemlik and crewed by Turkish nationals.The Coast Guard said it deployed two ships (TCSG-313…

12 Oct 2022

Ukraine Grain Backlog Prompts UN Call for Faster Ship Checks

(Photo: Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine)

With nearly 100 grain-laden ships reaching towards the horizon off Istanbul, the U.N. official overseeing exports from Ukraine is asking Russia and other parties to end "full-blown" inspections of outgoing vessels to ease the backlog.Ukraine has exported more than 6.8 million tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs, about a third of its storage, since a sea corridor from the war-torn country opened in July.The U.N. says the safe passage deal signed by Moscow and Kyiv eased a global food crisis.

28 Mar 2021

Turkey Approves Development Plans for Istanbul Canal

© diak / Adobe Stock

Turkey has approved development plans for a huge canal on the edge of Istanbul, Environment Minister Murat Kurum said on Saturday, advancing a project which has attracted criticism over its cost and environmental impact.The step came a year after Turkey held its first tender for the reconstruction of two historic bridges in its largest city where the 45km (28 miles) Kanal Istanbul, championed by President Tayyip Erdogan, is set to be dug.“We have approved the Kanal Istanbul Project development plans and put them out for public consultation.

26 Mar 2020

Turkey Holds First Tender Related to Istanbul Canal Project

© Andrey_Sarymsakov / Adobe Stock

Turkey held its first tender on Thursday to prepare to build a huge canal on the edge of Istanbul, a Transport Ministry spokesman said, signaling progress on the project despite widespread criticism over its cost and environmental impact.The tender was for the planning phase of reconstructing two historic bridges located in the area where the 45-km (28 mile) Kanal Istanbul, championed by President Tayyip Erdogan, is expected to run.The canal will connect the Black Sea north of Istanbul with the Marmara Sea to the south and is estimated to cost 75 billion lira ($11.6 billion).

09 Apr 2018

Bulk Carrier Crashes into a Mansion in the Bosphorus Strait

A massive bulk carrier has crashed into an historic mansion on the shores of Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait after its steering equipment became locked, Al Jazeera reported quoting Turkish state media. The Maltese-flagged Vitaspirit, a 225-meter (740 foot) vessel en route from Russia to Saudi Arabia has been moored in the Marmara Sea for investigation, with the owners of the mansion demanding proper prosecution against those in charge of maritime traffic. Anadolu Agency said that there were no immediate reports of casualties, but footage from the crash showed extensive damage to the historic seaside mansion located under the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge, one of the three crossings between Istanbul’s Asian and European sides.

22 Sep 2017

Migrant Boat Sinks off Turkish Coast, Four Dead

Four people drowned when a fishing boat carrying migrants sank off the Turkish coast in the Marmara Sea on Friday, the coast guard said in a statement.   The boat sank off the northwestern province of Kocaeli shortly after calling for help. The statement said 38 migrants were rescued. The coastguard was seeking 15 to 20 others and was being assisted by two helicopters, planes and commercial boats.   The origin of the migrants and their destination was not immediately clear.   Reporting by Gulsen Solaker

07 Apr 2017

New Pilot Boat Enters Service in Turkey

Photo: Robert Allan Ltd.

A newly built pilot boat Kara Yusuf, named after the owner’s grandfather, went into service on March 4, 2017 in Turkey. The boat will provide pilot transfer service in the southwest region of the Marmara Sea. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd., of Vancouver Canada, the boat was built by ICDAS Shipyard in Turkey for their own use as well as for marketing to the pilotage industry. Designated as the RAlly 1600 class, the 16 m boat is constructed with a steel hull and aluminum deckhouse.

17 Sep 2015

China Merchants, China COSCO Buy Turkey Terminal

China Merchants Holdings (International) Co. Ltd. along with Cosco Pacific Ltd., a unit of China Investment Corp. and Euro-Asia Oceangate will pay US$919.9 million to buy a 64.5% stake in Fina Liman from Fina Holding. Fina Liman is an investment-holding company that owns and operates a port terminal in Turkey. The acquisition gives the consortium access to the terminal of Fina’s subsidiary Kumport. Kumport Terminal is a modern container terminal in the Ambarli Port Complex, which is on the northwest coast of the Marmara Sea on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey. The Company, CMHI and CIC Capital, through their respective wholly-owned subsidiaries, hold 40%, 40% and 20%, respectively, of the shares in the Consortium SPV.

11 Mar 2015

ISS Marks 100,000th Hub Appointment

The Robert Maersk Tanker (Photo courtesy of ISS)

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) has marked a milestone with its 100,000th hub appointment for Maersk Tankers. For the past week, ISS staff across the company’s global network have been actively following vessel activities to see which tanker would take the golden ticket. Three vessels appeared to be front runners, with ISS handling the Nordic Ruth, as she transited the Bosporus in Turkey; managing a husbandry call for the Maersk Princess at OPL in Singapore; and finally the Maersk Messina, making a discharge call at the Wakayama oil terminal in Japan.

19 Sep 2012

'Accident Zero' VTS Campaign Launched by IMO

IMO Secretary-General launches initiative with International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation & Lighthouse Authorities (IALA). IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu, during his closing address to the IALA VTS (Vessel Traffic Services) Symposium in Istanbul, Turkey, praised the safety record of the Turkish Straits VTS, which came into service in 2003, and encouraged IALA and VTS operators to undertake an initiative in which ports, harbours, straits and sea areas with VTS would count, and publicise, the number of consecutive accident-free days. Mr. Sekimizu said that since the introduction of the advanced VTS in the Strait of Istanbul…

02 Jul 2010

Recent Ship Sales

Bulk Carriers 04/15/10              THOR TRANSIT                  23,930                                   87(23)                                   $4.3 04/27/10              RUBIN PEARL                     26,472                                   94(16)                                   $15 04/12/10              BJ QUEEN                            26,587                                   85(25)                                   $7.1 04/12/10              HANJIN PENANG             27,365                                   97(13)                                   $18 04/19/10              ARTEMIS                              28,082                                   84(26)                                   $7 04/27/10              MOON RIVER                     28,494                   

14 Mar 2007

Ceremony Celebrates Completion Of First Vehicle-Passenger Ferry For Turkey

Following the launch in December of Osman Gazi-1, the first of two Auto Express 88 fast car ferries for the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, an Inaugural Voyage for Representatives of the Operating Cities of Turkey was held on Monday 12th March 2007. This was to commemorate the successful completion of sea trials prior to the ferry traveling to Istanbul to commence operations. Designated to operate on a 39 nautical mile reciprocal service across the Marmara Sea between Yenikapi (Istanbul) and a new port development in Mudanya servicing the city of Bursa, Osman Gazi-1 is scheduled to enter service in April 2007, the same month the second ferry will be launched.

12 Dec 2005

Austal to Build Ferries for Istanbul

Austal announced that a contract for two high speed vehicle-passenger catamarans has been signed with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. This follows the submission of a fully compliant proposal with the lowest price offer in an international tender that began earlier this year. To be operated by Istanbul Deniz Otobusleri (IDO) the identical new ferries are scheduled for delivery in 2007 and have a capacity to carry 1,200 passengers and 225 cars or 126 lane metres of trucks plus 158 cars. The origins of Turkey’s large fast ferry fleet can be traced to 1987 when the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality founded IDO to develop sea transportation solutions and thus help ease growing traffic congestion.

07 Mar 2002

Lockheed Martin Contract Will Expand Vessel Traffic Safety

Istanbul and Canakkale Straits. The original contract, signed in October 1999, was worth more than $20 million. The contract extension allows Lockheed Martin to install three more remote radar sites on the Marmara Sea to supplement the two Vessel Traffic Centers (VTCs) and 16 remote sensor sites along the straits in Turkey. This contract extension represents the last phase of the contract. Installation of the additional radar sites is scheduled for the middle of next year. The Marmara Sea connects the Black Sea to the east with the Aegean Sea to the west, which is part of the Mediterranean Sea. Istanbul is located at the entrance of the Bosphorus.