major accidents in the Turquish straits

403 major accidents have been recorded in the Strait of Istanbul alone since 1948 : The most memorable accidents were the following :

On 15 November 1979, the collision between the Rumanian oil tanker M/T Independenta and the Greek freighter M/V Evriyali resulted in forty-three deaths ; an oil spill of over 64.000 tons and an oil slick that burned for weeks, coating Istanbul with a thick black oily cloud.

On 28 October 1988, the ammoniac loaded Panama tanker M/T Blue Star collided with M/T Gaziantep, causing serious pollution as huge quantities of poisonous ammoniac spilled into the Straits.

In 1991, the Lebanese flag vessel Rabunion hit another vessel. The collision killed 8 crewmen and the vessel sank with its cargo of 20.000 live sheep.

In 1994, M/T Nassia collided with M/V Shipbroker, both Greek Cypriot flagged vessels. 26 crew members lost their lives and 20.000 tons of oil spilled over the sea. The fire on M/T Nassia lasted for a week, closing the Strait to maritime traffic.

...