Turkey's Bosporus Strait and Dardanelles Strait have been closed to tanker traffic due to bad weather, an official from the Turkish Coastal Safety Agency said Tuesday, the Ihlas News Agency, or IHA, reports.
"The Bosporus Strait was closed to southbound traffic early Tuesday and Dardanelles Strait was closed to both north- and southbound traffic from 1111 GMT Tuesday. No reopening time for either strait has been announced," the official said.
The Turkish Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits, the only sea route between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, are important for Russian and Central Asian oil exports.
The straits are often closed in the winter due to winds, snow and fog.