The Bosphorus Strait has been closed to transit traffic after a 225-meter-long Malta-flagged bulk carrier crashed into a waterfront mansion in the Anadolu Hisarı area on Saturday after its rudder got stuck, causing substantial damage.
The accident happened after the ship's rudder failed and it smashed into the Hekimbaşı Salih Efendi mansion around 4 p.m.
The vessel was heading to Ukraine from Egypt.
The scene of the accident was under the Fatih Sultan Bridge on Istanbul's Asian side, the coast of which is dotted with posh mansions dating back to Ottoman times. Accidents involving ships crashing into those mansions are rare, with vessels escaping the impact at the last minute occasionally.
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.
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.
