The Liberia-flagged oil tanker BANDA was successfully refloated after running aground off Kısırkaya due to severe weather conditions.
The 238-meter-long Liberia-flagged oil tanker BANDA, which ran aground due to severe weather conditions off Kısırkaya in the Sarıyer district of Istanbul, was salvaged and refloated through an operation carried out by the General Directorate of Coastal Safety (KEGM) teams.
On October 15, due to a violent storm affecting the Black Sea, the BANDA tanker was swept towards the shore and ran aground off Kısırkaya. The Coastal Safety teams initiated efforts to salvage the approximately 42-meter-wide vessel.
Prior to the salvage operation, an underwater inspection was conducted by the divers team affiliated with the General Directorate of Coastal Safety on the submerged sections of the tanker.
Following the underwater survey, a salvage plan was implemented to safely extract the vessel from its location.
The salvage operation involved the Nene Hatun Emergency Response Vessel, Salvage-8 and Şark tugs, along with the KEGM-4 boat, all under the coordination of salvage experts.
As a result of the coordinated efforts, the BANDA tanker was successfully refloated from the point where it had run aground.
The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure announced on the evening of October 20 that the operation had been successfully completed.
With the refloating of the tanker on October 20, five days after it ran aground on October 15, a significant milestone was achieved in the ongoing salvage process.
The successful refloating of the 238-meter-long oil tanker ensured that the Coastal Safety teams' efforts in the salvage operations along the Black Sea coast were fruitful.
Details regarding the technical inspections of the vessel post-salvage, navigation plan, and cargo status have not yet been disclosed.
Source: SeaNews Türkiye
