Türkiye: World’s 3rd-largest semi-submersible crane vessel passes through Türkiye’s Canakkale Strait.

SHOTLIST: CANAKKALE, TÜRKİYE (JUNE 15, 2026) 1. SEMI-SUBMERSIVE CRANE VESSEL ENTERING CANAKKALE STRAIT 2. VARIOUS OF VESSEL PASSING AND BEING ACCOMPANIED BY TUGBOATSW 3. DRONE SHOT WHILE VESSEL PASSING THROUGH STRAITCANAKKALE, TÜRKİYE - JUNE 15: The Saipem 7000, described as the world’s third-largest semi-submersible crane vessel and used in natural gas pipeline-laying operations, passed through Türkiye’s Canakkale Strait. The vessel, which was en route from Libya’s Bouri Port to Romania’s Port of Constanta, entered the strait at around 7 a.m. local time. It was towed by the UK-flagged anchor handling vessel Pacific Discovery and the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged tugboat GH Discovery. The 198-meter-long vessel, which has a height of 135 meters and a gross tonnage of 117,812, is capable of laying pipelines in waters deeper than 2,000 meters. With its twin-crane system, it can lift giant structures weighing up to 14,000 tons in a single operation. During its passage through the strait, the vessel was accompanied by the KEGM-9, Kurtarma-21, Kurtarma-10, Kurtarma-15 and Kurtarma-18 tugboats of Türkiye’s Directorate General of Coastal Safety. The Canakkale Strait was closed to transit ship traffic due to the vessel’s passage. The Saipem 7000 previously laid a 24-inch pipeline at a record depth of 2,150 meters in the Black Sea for the Blue Stream Project, which supplies natural gas from Russia to Türkiye.