Traffic in Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait halted due to ship’s engine failure

Ship traffic in Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait was suspended on Thursday morning due to the engine failure of a ship, the Tribeca shipping agency said.

The latest incident comes days after ship traffic in the Bosphorus Strait was suspended in both directions on Monday due to a salvage operation for another floundering ship, the agency said.

In September, shipping was halted in the strait after a vessel carrying 3,000 tonnes of corn from Ukraine ran aground.

Millions of barrels of oil pass through the 19km-wide strait each day. About 700 million barrels of crude have flowed through the vital passageway in the past year.

A key transport route connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, the Bosphorus is also vital to the UN-brokered grain deal, which assuaged fears of a global food shortage after its adoption in July.

Ukraine is a major global grain producer and exporter, but production and exports have fallen since Russia invaded the country last February and started blockading its seaports.