US embassy cable - 05ISTANBUL412

UNCLAS ISTANBUL 000412 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR E, EB, CBED, EB/IFD AND EUR/SE 
DEPARTMENT PASS NSC FOR BRYZA 
USDOC FOR 4212/ITA/MAC/OEURA/CPD/DDEFALCO 
USDOE FOR CHARLES WASHINGTON 
TREASURY FOR OASIA - MILLS AND LEICHTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EPET, ENRG, EWWT, SENV, TU, Istanbul 
SUBJECT: TURKISH LPG TANKER SINKS WITH LITTLE ENVIRONMENTAL 
DAMAGE 
 
REF: MARCH 14 LOVEJOY - GABRIELSON/OPS CENTER E-MAIL 
 
1. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Ankara. 
 
2. (U) A 138 ton Turkish tanker carrying seven tanks of LPG 
from Kartal on the Asian side of Istanbul to Zeytinburnu on 
the European side sank at approximately 22:00 March 12.  Five 
tanks of LPG were retrieved intact with no leakage from the 
Bosphorus within six hours of the incident.  The other two 
tanks, which had drifted far from the site of the accident 
due to winds and stormy weather, were recovered on the shore 
next to the European coastal road 30 hours after the 
accident, by 05:00 March 14, with minor leakage reported.  No 
crew members were injured.  As a result of the incident, the 
Bosphorus was closed from 22:45 March 12 to 22:00 March 13, 
when it reopened to traffic.  The shore road on the European 
side was also closed to traffic during that period.  March 14 
Turkish press reports claim that if the tanks had exploded, 
hundreds could have been killed. 
 
3. (U) The General Director of Coastal Safety and Salvage, 
Habip Soluk, informed Consulate officials that the 
directorate is measuring the amount of leakage from the two 
tanks, but confirmed that the leakage is not of an amount 
that would be considered environmentally damaging.  Soluk 
noted that there is a regulation that tankers carrying LPG 
(or other dangerous material) in the Istanbul area of the 
Bosphorus must travel only between midnight and 06:00, so the 
directorate is conducting an investigation into the incident, 
which occurred at 22:00. 
 
4. (SBU) Comment: It is fortunate that this incident occurred 
without serious environmental damage.  However, it is a 
reminder of Istanbul's vulnerability in the event of a 
Bosphorus shipping accident.  The GOT has been credited for 
its handling of straits traffic over the past year after the 
implementation of the VTS electronic system, but clearly 
accidents can still happen.  Basat Ozturk, MFA Head of the 
Maritime Affairs Department, speaking unofficially, advised 
Embassy officials March 10 that if there is ever a massive 
accident, public pressure will force the GOT to take radical 
measures to ban/radically reduce/control hazardous cargo 
transiting the straits, regardless of the regulations in the 
Montreaux Convention.  President Sezer's coincidental 
approval March 13 of a tougher straits protection law barring 
passage to uninsured ships or those not meeting international 
environmental standards represents a key step by the GOT to 
prevent such an accident.  End comment. 
ARNETT