Syrian ship crosses Turkey's Bosphorus strait for Russia

On Friday, for the first time in six years, a Syrian cargo ship, the Souria, crossed Turkey’s Bosphorus strait heading to the Black Sea, Turkish media has reported.

Turk Press quoted official sources as saying that the freighter ship was loaded in the Turkish port of Kocaeli heading to Russia’s southern port of Caucasus. The news agency added that “the last time for a Syrian ship to cross the Bosphorus Strait was in 2012.”

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The Syrian General Authority for Maritime Transport currently owns three ships, Souria, Laodicea and Phoenicia. The boats’ usual routes are within the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Souria’s load capacity amounts to 13,000 tons. It is a multi-purpose freighter designed to ship strategic and heavy goods, as it is equipped with two cargo loaders 120 tons each, according to the Syrian Ministry of Transport.