Turkish port of Iskenderun damaged, ships diverting -Maersk

LONDON (Reuters) – The southern Turkish port of Iskenderun has suffered severe structural damage due to an earthquake with all operations halted until further notice, container shipping firm AP Moller Maersk said on Tuesday.

Maersk said in an advisory it was not yet clear when the port would return to normal operations.

“Given the situation at Iskenderun, we will need to perform a change of destination for all bookings bound for the port or already on the water,” it said.

“We are currently planning to divert containers to nearby hubs within operational feasibility or hold at transshipment ports – including the Port of Mersin (in Turkey) and Port Said (in Egypt).”

(Reporting by Jonathan Saul; editing by Jason Neely)