Three months to get Iskenderun terminal operations back to normal

Management at LimakPort Iskenderun, the Turkish container terminal badly battered in this month’s mega earthquake, have said it will take around three months to get operations back to normal.

The port was severely damaged in the wake of the February 6 earthquake and suffered structural damage, as well as a severe blaze as containers caught fire. The fire at the Mediterranean terminal was eventually put out after three days. Carriers have put in alternate calls to other ports in the region this month, something they will continue to do through to late spring.

A total of 3,670 containers were burnt in the fire, management has revealed and clean-up operations are now underway.

Many container stacks topped over at Iskenderun when the earthquake hit two weeks ago sparking the fire, which then spread rapidly.

The port handles around 40,000 teu a month. It is located on the Mediterranean coast in the southern province of Hatay where more than 1,200 buildings have been destroyed from the magnitude 7.8 earthquake. The city lies around 120 km from the epicentre of the quake. As well as the port damage, many roads in the area will require fixing.

More than 44,000 people are confirmed to have lost their lives in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria in one of the most deadly quakes to hit the region ever.