Update on the Weird Storm

Last time I talked about the storm and the ships grounded just below our house. Well I have an update and clarification on that blog.

First the clarification about the Jetties. One jetty sank not two as was reported. Only the Karaköy Iskele sank. Now I am not a reporter, but I did ask several times before I wrote the blog for clarification on which jetty, or was it both, sank and was assured that it was indeed both. I thought with their names being so similar that they may have been confused and that was the case.

Now the fun part, the three ships that are grounded at the bottom of the cliff here. It turns out that all three of these are fuel tankers. Interesting part of the story is that all three were under confiscation by the Turkish Government at the time of the storm and were tied up to the large shipping jetty about two kilometers south of where they are still grounded and leaking. Why were they confiscated? Well they attempted to smuggle fuel through the Bosporus without paying the fuel tax.

Now the big questions, 1. why isn't anything being done about them and 2. what will be done about the ships and the mess they are making of the coastline?

1. As far as I can find out, I am limited by language, the Government is apparently waiting for the owners to come retrieve their ships by paying the fines and taxes for the fuel they WERE carrying. Yea right. I am pretty sure there will be a lot of legal wrangling that will take forever.

2. kind of answered by 1. Who is responsible for the mess, the shipper or the government who had custody of the ships at the time they were wrecked?

I look at it this way. The government needs to take immediate action to stop the environmental impact of the ships. They need to get the ships off the rocks, and stop the leaking NOW! Then they can get the rightful owner of the ships to pay for it later.

Anyway someone needs to be responsible and stop the ecological disaster that is happening as I write. All three ships are still on the rocks rolling back and forth with each wave, two of them are still banging into each other with each and every wave. The one on its side appears to be the only one that is leaking, and most of that is probably coming out the tops of the tanks through the vents.

Come on Turkey, get off the fence and save YOUR environment. People are still fishing there every day!

Peace and Love

LeePsycho

The Weird Storm

A storm came down upon Istanbul yesterday. This was one of those 24-hour storms, the weird kind that causes damage, but you don't really understand why. The storm did not seem too bad because of the gradual increase in its strength.

Yesterday we woke up to news that the Karaköy İskele (ferry boat station) had sunk overnight while it was closed. This seemed strange to everyone because all of the ferries were still working except the car ferries, and the sea did not seem all that rough, just choppy. Jale had no problems crossing on a ferry early in the morning and I had no problems later in the afternoon.

Then came the news in the evening that the Kadiköy İskele had also capsized and sunk, but this time there were people hurt. We also heard that all the ferryboats were stopped.

While Jale and I were eating dinner just above the Beşiktaş İskele we found that some of the boats were running but they were very limited to a specific type of boat. and we could se the boats driving sideways in order to get in to the station. We finished eating and went out, got on the boat, came across, no problems. It was a little rough but nobody got knocked over or anything. We caught a ride up to the house from our friend Tuğrul and found out that there were a couple ships in danger just below our house at the mouth of the Bosphorous Straight to the Marmara Sea.

Then the storm seemed to take on a whole new dimention. The power of the storm came more into focus at least for me. The wind was very strong and it came from the Marmara Sea. The surface current for the Bosphorous Straight was reversed (normally the current flows into the Marmara Sea) and the ships were not able to power through the current and the wind. Yea it was that hard.

Anyway the result was three ships did not make it out into the Marmara and ended up stuck in the rocky shoreline just below our house. The first one to hit the shore was absolutely pummeled into the shore lastnight. then another came into the rocks behind it and later a third much larger ship came to reso on top of the first one .

This is the scene this morning from partway up the cliff to our house.

Here it is are from the base of the cliff.

The back of the third ship, resting on the first, and the second one behind them.

Here is the aftermath of the sandwich job. I have not heard if anyone was hurt. I truly hope not!

Peace and love

LeePsycho