FEBRUARY 7, 2023
EARTHQUAKES IN TURKEY: IMPACTS ON PORTS AND TERMINALS
On February 6, 2023, Turkey experienced two catastrophic earthquakes resulting in tragic deaths and extensive damage to property. The earthquakes impacted the operation of ports, terminals and important infrastructure for shipping.
At the Port of Mersin, there were no operations yesterday but as of 08:00, local time, operations have reportedly resumed. Despite the port being located a significant distance from the two earthquakes’ epicenters, it is already congested and it is unclear at this time whether there will be any further delays.
Turkey’s maritime authorities has stated that the port of Iskenderun has also sustained severe damages. The port is inoperative at the moment and delays should be expected while a large fire could be seen burning in the center of a collection of hundreds of toppled containers.
Operations at Ceyhan, a major oil export terminal on the Turkish Mediterranean coast, were also suspended as a precaution. Ceyhan receives crude from two major cross-border pipelines: the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which carries oil from fields offshore Azerbaijan across Georgia to Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, and the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, which transports oil from northern Iraq. A spokesman for northern Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government said operations at Ceyhan would resume once an inspection had been finalized.
Operations at the port of Dortyol, which sits across the Bay of Iskenderun from Ceyhan, has also been suspended until further notice. Dortyol is a bunkering hub, servicing vessel traffic calling at nearby ports for crude and dry bulk voyages. It also has storage and blending facilities.
Other regional ports and terminals in the country may also be significantly affected by these earthquakes. Your Managers recommend that Members contact their correspondents and local agents for any information on conditions where their vessels may be navigating and ports that they may be calling.
Your Managers would like to thank Metropole Maritime & Trading Co. Ltd., Istanbul for their assistance on this topic and for providing the information upon which this Alert has been based.
