Sponsored by: Investment Center

Something new in your business?  Click here to submit your business press release

Chamber Corner | Main Street News | Job Hunt | Classifieds | Calendar | Illinois Lottery 

Storm forces Turkey to shut Dardanelles to tankers, cancel flights

[December 29, 2014] ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey shut its Dardanelles Strait to tankers and its flag carrier canceled some domestic and international flights in and out of Istanbul due to a storm.

The Dardanelles waterway is frequently forced to shut during the winter due to rough weather, usually at least two or three times a month.

Five northbound and three southbound tankers waiting to pass through the Dardanelles were expected to be scheduled to do so on Tuesday, shipping agency GAC said.

The Bosphorus Strait remained open.

Connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits form one of the world's major energy shipping routes, with about 10,000 vessels carrying 150 million tonnes of oil and petroleum products on the waterways every year.

Turkish Airlines canceled 10 flights to and from Istanbul, while local ferries across the Bosphorus were also canceled.

(Writing by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Humeyra Pamuk and Louise Ireland)

[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.