Saturday was a bad day on the Bosphorus. The Maltese-flagged 74,269 DWT bulk carrierVitaspirit suffered a steering gear failure while transiting Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait. The ship was traveling south, approaching the Second Bosphorus Bridge, when it veered out of control. Fortunately, it missed the bridge, but the Hekimbasi Salih Efendi Mansion on the shore near the bridge was not as lucky. The 19th-century mansion was seriously damaged. The mansion’s roof and upper floors collapsed and videos showed the basement slumping into the water. The mansion was used to host weddings and concerts. No one was reported to be injured in the collision.

After losing its steering gear, the bulk carrier’s anchor was dropped in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the ship. Fleetmon reports that it snagged power cables with its anchor. Vitaspirit was reported to have suffered only minor damage. Assisted by three tugs and SAR vessels, the bulker was backed out from under the bridge. Traffic on the strait was briefly stopped in both directions.

The cell photo video below shows the collision from inside the mansion.

https://twitter.com/saad_fahad_/status/982862779756445696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2018%2F04%2Fmassive-tanker-crashes-mansion-istanbul-bosphorus-180408072252374.html

The Vitaspirit has been widely reported to be a tanker but is a bulk carrier built in 2001.