On the 23rd of February 2019, early in the morning, due to a strong sea storm that hit the Adriatic coasts of Puglia and the adverse weather conditions with strong gale winds from the North-East, the Turkish ship EFE MURAT, general cargo ship and Dead Weight 5786 ton, failed to maneuver and got stuck on the breakwaters in front of the beach called “Pane e Pomodoro” of the city of Bari.
The crew abandoned the Ship at a later stage for safety purposes.
The ship remained stranded at the mercy of the sea and the wind for a few days and due to the numerous leaks that opened up along the hull, there was also fear for the leakage of hydrocarbons from the tanks.
It would have been a disaster!
The ship in fact had about 80 tons of fuel useful for navigation, contained in different tanks.
The Coast Guard, Regional Civil Protection and Mayor of the Minicipality of Bari, remained in state of Alert ready to manage an eventual emergency in the event of oil spill also thanks to the equipment purchased with the Hazadr Project including skimmers and inflatable barriers.
Bunkers removal operation has started on 1st of March 2019.
After about a month of work the ship was unclimbed without oil spill.
The incident of the Turkish ship EFE MURAT highlights the issue of improving the prevention and intervention protocols along the Apulian region coastal areas, especially for the most vulnerable ones, due to heavy sea storms, a phenomenon which has dramatically increased over the recent years, placing the I-STORMS tools and approaches on the top of the Civil Protection strategies.