Video: Freighter Breakdown Blocks Turkey's Bosphorus Strait

The Turkish A haber TV reported in the early hours of Monday that the coast guard had helped anchor the cargo ship in the Sariyer Buyukdere area and traffic in the Bosphorus returned to normal.

The passage of ships was temporarily blocked to all vessels in both directions at Bosphorus late on Sunday because a freighter broke down near Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, blocking the strait, Turkey's Directorate General of Coastal Safety said.

The failure of the ‘Brave Night’ ship's engine was named as the cause of the breakdown.

"Traffic has been stopped in both directions after a freighter heading to Romania broke down near Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge," the agency tweeted.

BRAVE KNIGHT isimli kuru yük gemisi, Gemi Trafik Hizmetleri Merkezimiz koordinasyonunda kılavuz kaptanımız, KURTARMA-8, KURTARMA-10 römorkörlerimiz ve KEGM-6 botumuz refakatinde Büyükdere Demir Sahası’na emniyetle demirletildi. @UABakanligi @akaraismailoglu @selimdursun06 pic.twitter.com/Z6PbwZC5K3

— KEGM (@kiyiemniyet) January 16, 2022

The Bosphorus is a crucial strait between Europe and Asia Minor, connecting the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. Paired with the Dardanelles, it connects the Black Sea with the Aegean, which is part of the Mediterranean. The Bosphorus is part of the intra-Eurasian border and the narrowest intercontinental strait in the world.

The Turkish city of Istanbul is located on both sides of the strait. The length of the strait is about 30 kilometers. Its maximum width is 3700 meters in the north, the minimum width is 700 meters. The depth of the fairway is from 33 to 80 meters.

In late December, the movement of ships through the Bosphorus was briefly suspended after a Usichem tanker transporting sunflower oil reported a malfunction while in the northern part of the strait. Prior to that, a crippled Ahmet Telli chemical tanker sailing under the Turkish flag broke down in the strait.