Earthquake – Turkey and Syria Supply Chain Chaos

High magnitude earthquake that hit Turkish and Syrian border towns, with aftershocks, has caused serious shipping disruption to container flows.

The impacts are constantly being evaluated by supply chain stakeholders and initial reports indicated there had been large-scale damage to infrastructure at Iskenderun port, a major harbour on Turkey’s Mediterranean side.

Containers there caught fire, and a significant blaze continues, according to media reports. One eye witness told social media this morning that the fire, which started yesterday afternoon, had run unchecked and was likely to consume the majority of stored containers and damage handling equipment.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Turkish and Syrian border towns yesterday, with aftershocks, has caused serious shipping disruption to container flows.

Besides docking facilities, a number of container storage yards were damaged, along with disruption to telecoms links.

Shipping lines serving the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions have already begun rerouting Iskenderun-destined shipments and reworking Turkish supply chains because of the challenges they anticipate in getting cargo to the destinations.

Maersk also noted that booking cancellations, amendments and destination changes for Iskenderun and Mersin would be accepted free of charge through to the end of the month, but added: “It is not yet clear when the port of Iskenderun will see a return to normal operations.”

As an interim measure to deal with the crisis, carriers are planning to divert all Iskenderun-bound shipments for discharge at nearby hubs, including Mersin and Port Said. But they have put a caveat on such ad-hoc arrangements: alternative solutions will be subject to ongoing evacuation efforts.

Disclaimer: Supplied news