More than 11,000 people died. all on fire in the cargo terminal! What will be the impact of Turkey's powerful earthquake on international shipping?

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake and numerous aftershocks have killed more than 11,000 people in Turkey and Syria. During a speech at the center of the quake, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that 8,574 people had died. The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Agency reported over 40,000 injuries nationwide. AFP reported that 2,662 people had been killed in Syria eight days after the powerful earthquake.

On Tuesday, flames burned almost all of the port terminals in Iskenderun, which is in the southern part of Turkey. Several containers caught on fire, which stopped port activities and forced cargo ships to go to other ports.

Limak, part of the Iskenderun complex, is still on fire. According to the Turkish shipping agency Tribeca, all operations have been halted. Shipping giant Maersk says that the port of Iskenderun was severely damaged, along with other logistics and transportation infrastructure in the area where the earthquake's epicenter was. The company said it wanted to move ships as needed because "serious structural damage" meant that all operations had to stop until further notice. Because of what's going on at Iskenderun right now, Maersk will change the way it runs ships that come to or that visit the port. For the time being, Maersk plans to stop at transshipment ports like Mersin and Port Said or move containers to nearby hub ports in Egypt.

A fire started in containers at the port Monday night following the earthquake. Maersk, a big shipping company, said in an updated statement on Tuesday that it is looking into possible cargo damage. However, local officials have not yet managed to put out the fire. Since Iskenderun's port is closed, it is unclear when the port will be able to thoroughly assess the damage and how long recovery activities will last." The German shipping company Hapag Lloyd said that goods from Mersin are now coming to its port. A source from a container broker said that the flames and smoke most likely came from a container with dangerous industrial oil in it. A collapsed container prevented emergency personnel from entering particular containers. Authorities attempted to put out the fire with a boat on Monday, but they were unable. The earthquake's devastation of the area made it difficult to reach the location. The earthquake alone destroyed more than 1,200 buildings in this region. Iskenderun is one of two major container hub ports on the southeast coast of Turkey. It is also a center for heavy industries, especially the steel industry. According to reports, the port is mainly used for trade within Turkey rather than with other countries. The dock outside of Iskenderun is still working, said maritime officials who looked at the damage from the earthquake on Monday. The Turkish port of Ceyhan was supposed to start loading Iraqi oil from storage facilities again on Tuesday. A trade source with first-hand knowledge of the situation said ships couldn't dock because of bad weather.

How will Turkey's recent earthquake affect international shipping?

Turkey connects Asia and Europe by joining the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Turkey is known as "the throat of the world." How would the massive earthquake that struck Turkey, located at the center of world shipping, affect the rest of the world?

Bai Ming, the deputy director of the Ministry of Commerce's International Market Research Institute, says that the earthquake will affect Turkey's average production and daily life. The quake, rising prices, and falling value of Turkey's currency will hurt the country's industries and supply chains. Because Turkey is close to the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, this is one of the most important routes for international trade. An earthquake makes the familiar passage of the Strait more problematic. In the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Bai Ming says that the Bosphorus Strait is a big part of how food and gas get to Europe. As the Strait moves through, it could change how commodity prices move and how well the global supply chain and industrial chain work. Because of agreements about agricultural exports from Black Sea ports, Istanbul is a major transit point for grain exports to Eastern European countries. Turkey established a joint coordination center for food safety to ensure food safety. This center takes care of the ships and makes sure that food and fertilizer are sent out to the three Ukrainian ports, including Odesa. The earthquake, according to BusinessinBlack analysts, could disrupt global food supply chains. Since the earthquake's center of damage is in the southeast of Turkey, it's essential to look closely at how it happened. Black Sea grain exports are primarily located in Turkey's northwest.