Two huge 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the southeast Turkey on Feb 6th, which caused over 20,000 death toll in Turkey and neighbouring Syria and massive damages on logistic and transport infrastructures.
It has to be pointed out that Iskenderen port was directly damaged in the earthquake, the wharf appeared cracks and collapses, part of the cargo went on fire and resulted in a large number of containers being destroyed, port operations have been temporally halted. Several railway lines in south-central Turkey were disrupted and shut down, and the links between the two Mediterranean ports of Mersin and Iskenderun and inland transportations were affected.
With Iskenderen port suspended, shipping companies such as Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are planning to shift the containers to other adjacent hubs like Mersin port.
The middle corridor – Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, which transits to Europe via Turkey has not been affected a lot as it mainly passes through central and north Turkey while the earthquake region is in the south.