Vessel Laden With Ukrainian Grain Grounds In Turkey’s Strait

A bulk cargo vessel Laden with  grain from Ukraine has ran aground in Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait, halting traffic in the waterway.

The Turkish General Directorate of Coastal Safety reports that that 173-meter Lady Zehma grounded after experiencing a rudder failure and anchored in Bebek Bay, part of the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul.

Several response boats and tugs are responding to the ill-fated vessel even as the ship traffic on the Bosphorus has been suspended.

Rescue teams with the General Directorate of Coastal Safety have boarded the ship.

AIS data from MarineTraffic shows the Panama-flagged ship as “stopped.”

The UN Joint Coordination Centre, which was set up in Istanbul to oversee Ukrainian grain exports under a UN-brokered deal between Russia and Ukraine, shows the Lady Zehma was authorized to depart Ukraine’s Port of Chornomorsk with 3,000 metric tons of corn bound for Ravenna, Italy on August 29.