A container blaze at Türkiye's southern port of Iskenderun has been brought under control, the country's maritime authority said Wednesday, following combined extinguishing efforts from land, sea and air.
Operations at the port were halted until further notice after a fire broke out because of the earthquakes that hit the region on Monday, and freighters were diverted to other ports.
"Pending ships should be directed to other facilities as ship handling services cannot be provided," the authority informed in a tweet.
A source from the port said the flames had not spread to the area where flammable materials were stored, and that the nature of the fire, which has unleashed a huge cloud of black smoke over the city, was still unclear.
"We are suspecting it is plastic raw material or chemical but we could not clearly determine it as the containers collapsed and scattered," the source said.
The blaze at the Iskenderun International Port raged since 5 p.m. (2 p.m. GMT) on Monday, when one of its containers toppled over from aftershocks following the deadly 7.7 magnitude quake.
Turkish shipping agency Tribeca said on Tuesday some cargo areas of Limak port at the Iskenderun complex were still on fire and the terminal was closed to all operations until further notice.
Leading global container shipping group AP Moller Maersk said there had been significant damage to logistics and transport infrastructure around the earthquake epicenter, including at the Port of Iskenderun.
It said it was looking to divert ships as needed, given the "severe structural damage, leading to a complete halt of all operations until further notice."
"We will need to perform a change of destination for all bookings bound for the port or already on the water. We are currently planning to divert containers to nearby hubs within operational feasibility or hold at transshipment ports – including Port of Mersin (in Türkiye) and Port Said (in Egypt)," it said.
It is not yet known how long recovery efforts will take and when the port can undergo a full damage inspection.
