Shipping containers ablaze at Turkey's Iskenderun Port, operations halted

(Adds detail, quotes)

By Antony Paone

ISKENDERUN, Turkey, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Hundreds of shipping containers were ablaze at Turkey's Iskenderun Port on Tuesday, sending thick black smoke into the sky and shutting down operations, forcing freight liners to divert vessels to other ports.

Turkey's maritime authority said on Monday that the port, located on the Mediterranean coast in the southern province of Hatay, was damaged due to the major earthquake that struck Turkey and neighbouring Syria.

Drone footage showed fierce flames blackening hundreds of containers on the dock, with water jets from a fire truck dwarfed by the scale of the blaze that broke out on Monday.

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 in an advisory on Tuesday there had been significant damage to logistics and transport infrastructure around the earthquake epicentre, 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 stop 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 transhipment ports - including Port of Mersin (in Turkey) and Port Said (in Egypt)," it said.

German container shipping line Hapag Lloyd said that it was taking shipments from Mersin given the closure of Iskenderun.

A source from a container broker said the fire most likely started out in a container filled with flammable industrial oil, judging by the flames and smoke.

Other containers were toppled on their sides, thwarting access for the emergency services. Authorities had tried in vain to tackle the fire by boat on Monday, with damage nearby from the quake hampering access to the site.

More than 1,200 buildings were destroyed by the earthquake in Hatay province alone.

Iskenderun is home to heavy industry such as steel and is one of the two major container hubs on Turkey's southeastern shores. The port focuses especially on domestic Turkish trade, rather than having a broader regional hub role, according to a shipping source.

Following inspections of the damage after the earthquake, the maritime authority said on Monday on Twitter that operations were continuing in ports apart from Iskenderun.

Turkey's Ceyhan port was ready to resume Iraqi crude oil loadings from storage on Tuesday, but bad weather was preventing vessels from berthing, a trade source with direct knowledge said. (Reporting by Antony Paone, Can Sezer and Jonathan Saul; Editing by Alison Williams and Mark Heinrich)