A Liberian-flagged crude oil tanker that had been waiting under tow escort since it was damaged in a drone attack last month ran aground off Istanbul’s Sarıyer district on Thursday morning, as the storm that flooded the city pushed it towards the shore.
The vessel, named Banda, is about 238 metres long and 42 metres wide. It was first seen drifting off Kısırkaya, a neighbourhood on Sarıyer’s Black Sea shoreline close to the northern mouth of the Bosphorus, before grounding nearer the coast, according to footage and reports by the Demirören News Agency (DHA).
Ministry says crew are not in danger
Türkiye’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure said the tanker had been hit in a drone attack on Sept. 2 and was being held under tow escort when bad weather drove it aground. The ministry said the six Turkish crew members on board were not in danger and that the situation was being closely monitored.
The Directorate General of Coastal Safety, the state agency that runs rescue tugs and salvage operations in Turkish waters, sent its emergency response vessel Nene Hatun to the area as a precaution.
The ministry statement did not say who carried out the September drone strike, whether the tanker was carrying cargo, or whether there was any risk of a spill. Initial reports also did not mention any suspension of shipping through the Bosphorus.
Storm conditions along the coast
The grounding came as Istanbul dealt with the aftermath of torrential rain that flooded streets, closed schools and disrupted flights earlier in the week. Strong winds and high seas have repeatedly affected shipping off the city’s Black Sea coast, where vessels often anchor while waiting to enter the Bosphorus, one of the world’s busiest and most difficult waterways.
The strait links the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean and carries a large share of crude oil and grain exports from Black Sea ports. Türkiye controls passage under the 1936 Montreux Convention, and the Coastal Safety directorate routinely escorts large tankers through the narrow, winding channel.
Sarıyer, the district at the northern end of the Bosphorus on the European side, has seen several groundings in past years, including vessels that drifted onto the shore during winter storms.
Authorities had not said by Thursday afternoon how and when the Banda would be refloated.
Sources
Photo: Mtakak / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
