A fire erupted yesterday on a decommissioned tanker undergoing dismantling at Aliağa Port in İzmir, prompting a coordinated response from land and sea teams Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
The fire broke out aboard the vessel Sloug while it was being dismantled in the port’s ship recycling zone. The cause of the fire remains unknown.
Firefighting teams from the Aliağa Municipality and six fire suppression tugboats were dispatched to the scene. The tugboats sprayed water and foam onto the ship from the sea.
The Sloug has been docked at Aliağa since February 2023. It previously served for years as a chemical waste storage ship in Libya. The vessel was first towed to Egypt but was redirected to Turkey following protests by environmental groups in Egypt, according to a report published by Sözcü newspaper on Jul 18, 2023.
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A Turkish maritime company retrieved the ship in Dec 2021 after it drifted off the Libyan coast. The firm towed the vessel for a reported fee of 1.1 million US dollars. While attempting to collect payment, the company discovered that the ship had been moved to Egypt, allegedly using forged documents, to offload its chemical contents.
Following objections from Egyptian environmental activists, the vessel was rerouted to Turkey.
Once the ship arrived in Turkey, the towing company filed a claim with the İzmir 5th Commercial Court to recover its payment. The court requested information from the Aliağa Regional Port Authority.
In response, the port authority confirmed that the Sloug entered its jurisdiction and was granted permission to dock at the Aliağa Ship Recycling Zone on Feb 23, 2023. The vessel has remained grounded at the site since then.
Official records show that the ship was purchased on Feb 16, 2023, by a Turkish ship dismantling company Şimşekler. The creditor company also filed a criminal complaint with the Aliağa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and reported the issue to the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry. (VC/VK)
