Chemical tanker dragged near Kanlıca, Strait traffic halted

Dragged, halted, shut down the Strait — the Malta-flagged chemical tanker IVYAN, en route from Bulgaria to Italy, suffered an engine failure Monday evening in the Istanbul Strait near Kanlıca and anchored just meters from shore.

Vessels and tugboats belonging to the Coast Guard General Directorate under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure — KEGM-4 and rescue boats Tahlisiye-2 and Tahlisiye-9, along with tugboats Kurtarma-7 and Kurtarma-11 — were dispatched to the scene. The 110-meter tanker, carrying 6,000 tons of vegetable oil, was towed under the coordination of Istanbul Maritime Traffic Services Centre and with a pilot captain aboard to the Küçükçekmece Anchorage.

During this process, two-way vessel traffic in the Istanbul Strait was temporarily suspended. After the tanker was safely anchored, traffic resumed.

The last similar incident in the Strait occurred in March 2021, when the tanker Forward Malta drifted near Bebek; traffic was halted for hours that night as well. No chemical leakage or fire was recorded in the IVYAN incident; the crew is in good health.