"Lucky escape for Istanbul palace
A number of waterfront buildings along the Bosphorus have been damaged in the past after being rammed by ships losing control in the narrow strait.
NTV-MSNBC
ISTANBUL - One of the crowning jewels of late Ottoman architecture narrowly escaped disaster Tuesday when a fully laden oil tanker nearly ran aground directly in front of Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace.
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A Liberian flagged tanker, carrying 86,000 tonnes of kerosene, lost control in the Bosphorus Strait Tuesday and was only brought under control just short of the palace.
The Genmar Star, a 243 metre long tanker, was en-route from Russia to the US when it lost steering and began drifting towards the palace.
The palace, in the Istanbul district of Besiktas, lies right on the European shore of the Bosphorus Strait, which bisects the city and links the Black Sea with Turkey’s inland Sea of Marmara.
According to Turkish maritime officials, disaster was only averted by the vessel dropping anchor and the work of special emergency teams. The Genmar Star was only brought to a halt some 50 metres from the grounds of the palace.
The vessel currenlty posed no environmental threat, Turkish officials said."
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