Cablegate: Turkish Lpg Tanker Sinks with Little Environmental

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS ISTANBUL 000412

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR E, EB, CBED, EB/IFD AND EUR/SE
DEPARTMENT PASS NSC FOR BRYZA
USDOC FOR 4212/ITA/MAC/OEURA/CPD/DDEFALCO
USDOE FOR CHARLES WASHINGTON
TREASURY FOR OASIA - MILLS AND LEICHTER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EPET ENRG EWWT SENV TU
SUBJECT: TURKISH LPG TANKER SINKS WITH LITTLE ENVIRONMENTAL
DAMAGE

REF: MARCH 14 LOVEJOY - GABRIELSON/OPS CENTER E-MAIL

1. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Ankara.

2. (U) A 138 ton Turkish tanker carrying seven tanks of LPG
from Kartal on the Asian side of Istanbul to Zeytinburnu on
the European side sank at approximately 22:00 March 12. Five
tanks of LPG were retrieved intact with no leakage from the
Bosphorus within six hours of the incident. The other two
tanks, which had drifted far from the site of the accident
due to winds and stormy weather, were recovered on the shore
next to the European coastal road 30 hours after the
accident, by 05:00 March 14, with minor leakage reported. No
crew members were injured. As a result of the incident, the
Bosphorus was closed from 22:45 March 12 to 22:00 March 13,
when it reopened to traffic. The shore road on the European
side was also closed to traffic during that period. March 14
Turkish press reports claim that if the tanks had exploded,
hundreds could have been killed.

3. (U) The General Director of Coastal Safety and Salvage,
Habip Soluk, informed Consulate officials that the
directorate is measuring the amount of leakage from the two
tanks, but confirmed that the leakage is not of an amount
that would be considered environmentally damaging. Soluk
noted that there is a regulation that tankers carrying LPG
(or other dangerous material) in the Istanbul area of the
Bosphorus must travel only between midnight and 06:00, so the
directorate is conducting an investigation into the incident,
which occurred at 22:00.

4. (SBU) Comment: It is fortunate that this incident occurred
without serious environmental damage. However, it is a
reminder of Istanbul's vulnerability in the event of a
Bosphorus shipping accident. The GOT has been credited for
its handling of straits traffic over the past year after the
implementation of the VTS electronic system, but clearly
accidents can still happen. Basat Ozturk, MFA Head of the
Maritime Affairs Department, speaking unofficially, advised
Embassy officials March 10 that if there is ever a massive
accident, public pressure will force the GOT to take radical
measures to ban/radically reduce/control hazardous cargo
transiting the straits, regardless of the regulations in the
Montreaux Convention. President Sezer's coincidental
approval March 13 of a tougher straits protection law barring
passage to uninsured ships or those not meeting international
environmental standards represents a key step by the GOT to
prevent such an accident. End comment.
ARNETT

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