ISTANBUL: The cargo ship MKK 1, traveling from Ukraine to Turkiye, was grounded in Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait on Monday and traffic in the strait was suspended but no damage was reported, shipping agents Tribeca said.
Several tugs were among vessels sent to provide assistance to the ship, the coast guard authority said.
Television footage showed the bow of the ship, carrying 13,000 tons of peas, grounded close to the coastline on the Asian side of the Bosphorus.
The Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, which runs the UN-brokered Black Sea grain deal operations, said at the weekend the ship was traveling from Pivdennyi to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Mersin.
Tribeca said the Palau-flagged general cargo ship was grounded at Acarburnu at the northern end of the strait early on Monday as it headed southbound.
It said no damage or spill was reported.
Cargo ship from Ukraine grounded in Bosphorus strait, traffic halted
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Cargo ship from Ukraine grounded in Bosphorus strait, traffic halted
- The ship was traveling from Pivdennyi to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Mersin
The art of war: fears for masterpieces on loan to Louvre Abu Dhabi
- UAE paid more than €1 billion to borrow priceless works, but experts in France want them back
PARIS: The Middle East war has raised fears for the safety of priceless masterpieces on loan from France to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the museum’s only foreign branch.
The Abu Dhabi museum, which opened in 2017, has so far escaped damage from nearly 1,800 Iranian drone and missile strikes launched since the conflict erupted on Feb. 28.
However, concerns are mounting in France. “The works must be removed,” said Didier Selles, who helped broker the original agreement between France and the UAE.
French journal La Tribune de l’Art echoed that alarm. “The Louvre’s works in Abu Dhabi must be secured!” it said.
France’s culture ministry said French authorities were “in close and regular contact with the authorities of the UAE to ensure the protection of the works loaned by France.”
Under the agreement with the UAE, France agreed to provide expertise, lend works of art and organize exhibitions, in return for €1 billion, including €400 million for licensing the use of the Louvre name. The deal was extended in 2021 to 2047 for an additional €165 million.
Works on loan include paintings by Rembrandt and Chardin, Classical statues of Isis, Roman sarcophagi and Islamic masterpieces: such as the Pyxis of Al-Mughira.
A Louvre Abu Dhabi source said the museum was designed to protect collections from both security threats and natural disasters.
