Minister Uraloglu stated, “A total of 45 million 847 thousand 22 tons of cargo and 444 thousand 199 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) containers were handled at the administrative port facilities of Iskenderun Regional Port Authority between February 6 and October 31.”
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu, in his written statement, reminded that the earthquake disaster that occurred on February 6 shook 11 provinces and caused a great disaster.
Minister Uraloglu stated that the ministry teams made damage assessments at the coastal facilities after the earthquake and said, “Serious damages were detected at the docks of Limak and Gubretas Iskenderun Ports. With the dynamism of our private sector and our ministry providing the necessary support, operations at our coastal facilities were started within the plan 48 hours after the earthquake.”
“Regained its former strength”
Minister Uraloglu noted that Iskenderun Port has regained its former strength and said, “The fire that occurred in Iskenderun Limak Port was taken under control in a short time with the intervention from sea, land and air under the coordination of our General Directorate of Maritime Affairs. Iskenderun Port regained its former strength with rapid rehabilitation works. On April 8, the first commercial container ship docked at Iskenderun Port, which had repaired its heavy damage for handling, just 2 months after the earthquake. The second dock of Iskenderun Port started to serve on May 29. In October, repairs were completed at the docks and handling equipment where containers over 300 meters long could dock, and a 335-meter-long container ship was successfully handled safely at Iskenderun Port. The last damaged dock of the port will be repaired and will begin to serve in December.”
“Despite the earthquake, there was only a 7% decrease compared to the previous period.”
Minister Uraloglu said, “A total of 45 million 847 thousand 22 tons of cargo and 444 thousand 199 TEU containers were handled at the administrative port facilities of Iskenderun Regional Port Authority between 6 February and 31 October. When these values are compared with the same period last year, they show a decrease of only 7% despite the earthquake, and it is expected to approach last year’s values by the end of the year. Between 6 February and 31 October, 2 million 573 thousand 118 tons of cargo and 246 thousand 391 TEU containers were handled at Limak Iskenderun Port. Although our port was severely damaged in the earthquake and started its routine activities in the middle of the year, it recovered very quickly and in a short time and started to serve our regional industry, especially with container handling activities.”
Source: Trthaber / Prepared by Irem Yildiz