An accident in which a bulk carrier crashed into a waterfront mansion on the Bosporus on Saturday, has once again triggered safety fears about enormous vessels maneuvering in the narrow waterway. No casualties were reported in the incident on Saturday but the crash left the mansion substantially damaged.
With concern mounting over maritime safety on the strait, the government's ambitious plan to build Kanal Istanbul, a channel through Istanbul's European side, has re-emerged as a hot topic on social media.
The project, originally announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2011, aims to reduce shipping traffic on the busy Bosporus Strait, minimize risks and dangers particularly associated with tankers.
International pressure is growing to increase marine traffic tonnage through Turkey's straits, which brings risks for the security of marine navigation during passage.
Arguably, the new channel would further help prevent pollution caused by cargo vessels passing through or mooring in the Marmara Sea at the southern mouth of the Bosporus.
Turkey's straits are among the most at-risk waterways in the world, according to experts. Over 50,000 vessels, including tankers carrying highly flammable oil, pass through the Bosporus, an S-shaped channel with sharp turns and changing currents that pose challenges for vessels and sailors every year. In compliance with the 1936 Montreux Convention, Turkey must allow open access for all civilian vessels through its straits in peacetime. However, accidents are a main source of concern for the country. From 1953 to 2003, 461 accidents occurred on the Bosporus.
The deadliest accident was when a Romanian tanker and a Greek freighter collided and exploded in November 1979, killing 42 crewmembers aboard the Romanian tanker. The last major accident in the strait was in 2003 when a Georgian-flagged vessel ran aground, resulting in a spill of 480 tons of oil.
