The Istanbul channel was closed in both directions on Wednesday since heavy fog reduced visibility thus tanker traffic through Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait, a key shipping channel for Russian oil, was delayed.
Traffic disruptions affected six tankers scheduled to transit the Bosphorus on Wednesday but only one of them passed prior to the traffic closure.
Weather conditions were clear at the Dardenelles Strait at the other end of the Sea of Marmara therefore the channel remained open.
Black Sea crude grades and world tanker rates can be increased by such delays.
[mappress] World Maritime News Staff, December 29, 2011;