Ulusoy 9

Name: Ulusoy 9
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  cargo
Flags:  Turkey
Date: 29 Oct 2015

STI Action

Name: STI Action
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  tanker
Flags:  Marshall Islands
Date: 29 Oct 2015

Calypso

Name: Calypso
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  cargo
Flags:  Belize
Date: 29 Oct 2015

Beautriton

Name: Beautriton
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  cargo
Flags:  Netherlands
Date: 29 Oct 2015

Sider Joy

 

Pilot on board flag is fairly clear in the rear aft shot, as is the home port of Valletta.

Name: Sider Joy
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  carrier
Flags:  Malta
Date: 28 Oct 2015

Kumdas 2

Kumdas: "kum" in Turkish is sand. Quite likely the actual cargo on board.

Name: Kumdas 2
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  cargo
Flags:  Turkish
Date: 28 Oct 2015

local traffic passenger ferry

These ferries - not as frequent as they once were - are still fairly common. Several came past in just the short span of 30 minutes today. This one is headed downtown to Eminonu most likely. The smoke stack insignia that resembles an ampersand is the Denizcilik Bankasi logo.

Porhov

Porhov is pretty clearly loaded with wood, and you can make out the name if you look at the captain's deck area.

Name: Porhov
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  cargo
Flags:  Togo
Date: 28 Oct 2015

My Violet

Name: My Violet
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  cargo
Flags:  Cook Islands
Date: 28 Oct 2015

un-named barge

Somebody being pulled north up the Bosphorous on Sunday morning. Caught us by surprise, so the image is a jiggly cellular phone capture on the spot. This shot isn't going to enlarge very well, so we give you the larger view (including some early morning sky- most of our images are evening captures due to working hours)
2 tugs and some kind of barge. And a few clouds after a week of rain.

25 Oct 2015
No further data

Ilke Mete

Here's another one that took a little effort to label. The names front and back are kind of rusted out - making it not so easy to read (add to it a lack of focus - for whatever reasons...) And then, we were not able to get online immediately to check out the "live view" to double check.
It's what I would have called a "coaster" - hugging the coast for the most part on account of its size.


Name: Ilke Mete
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  cargo
Flags:  Turkish
Date: 26 Oct 2015

HH 18

This vessel wasn't easy to identify. Our knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet is better than non-existant, but the image isnt all that clear and it looked something like MIGV or MIGN to us - and there is no such record we could find. Bosphorous Live was giving tracking ID for a vessel at about the right spot as HH18.
If you take a real close look at the upper deck, next to the captain - that's where vessels with Cyrillic names often put the Latin spelling - with a little imagination and some effort, you may agree that that name of this vessel appears to be HH 18.
That said, we couldnt find a record for it.

Name: HH 18?
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  looks like cargo
Flags:  Cyrillic = Russian, Ukranian, Bulgarian?
Date: 22 Oct 2015

StarTraider

Despite the weather, the images of StarTraider (Star Trader?) came out pretty clear. Online real-time Bosphorous traffic tracking IDs it as StarTrader but the name on the bow is pretty clearly "traider".

Name:Star Traider  (looks right, but says it should be somewhere else now!)
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  bulk carrier
Flags:  Liberia
Date: 22 Oct 2015

Bad Weather - lots of drizzle

and so we've got a photo of the new mosque being built directly across from us:

direction: up

Clipper Victory

Name: Clipper Victory
Heading: North/Black Sea
Type:  cargo
Flags:  Singapore
 Date: 19 Oct 2015

F490

Name: F490
Heading: North/Black Sea
Type:  frigate (f?)
Flags:  Turkish
 Date: 19 Oct 2015

Khankendy

And so ... waiting for 20 minutes for someone to drift past and ... nothing...
So.. off to walk the dog - when someone shows up and we're caught with only a cell phone - hence the poor quality. No binoculars on hand, but the traffic web site we use indicates that this ought to be Khankendy.
Incidental kudos to the traffic web site:
takip.istanbul34.com.tr

Name: Khandendy
Heading: North/Black Sea
Type:  tanker
Flags:  Malta
 Date: 19 Oct 2015

Evanthia

Yet another "typical" vessel of the kind that dozens pass every day.

At the same time that you and we may call this "yet another", we keep in mind the importance of and inherent danger of putting to sea. The El Faro remains in our thoughts. It is partly for this reason that we still harbour our own 4m craft in the safety of our back yard. The open waters - even between the two shores of the Bosphorous - is no place for those that don't know what they are doing, or even, at times, for those that do.

Check the placement of the life boat - the trend for most seems to be to the stern of the vessel but this one is starboard.

Name: Evanthia
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  carrier
Flags:  Malta
 Date: 16 Oct 2015

Gunhild Kirk

Gunhild Kirk is a UK tanker that passed through the Bosphorous today - appears to be loaded judging from the way she is riding in the water - mostly at her water line.
The time of the passage being just short of ervening, the lighting conditions are not particularly good. However, the name on the bow is fairly legible, and the video (new feature!!) gives you a better sense of the passage.


Name: Gunhild Kirk
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  tanker
Flags:  UK
 Date: 16 Oct 2015

BHJ Express

 As we said when this blog first went on line, this is a learning process.
The Bosphorous is unique and incredibly beautiful. The pictures we have shared so far are the proof. Beyond this, there arent many places in the world where you could - for example - see part of the Russian fleet headed to Syria at this time in history (and we're sorry we missed their passage).
At the least, we aim to provide images and where possible a link to an external database that augments our own data (consisting of a photo and a binocluar spotting of the ships).
In the process, we ourselves are learning about flags, traffic patterns, ship types and more. As we learn, we will continue to share our "stuff" with you.

We are still on summer time - daylight savings has been postponed until after the Nov2 elections, and so .., because this is a project that relies on images taken after "work hours", you can expect a drop off in volume of posts as we head into the dark days of winter. The last few (and next few) posts are going to be indicative of evening lighting conditions. Bare with us ...

Name: BHJ Express
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:   Cargo
Flags: Panama
Date: 16 Oct 2015

MSC Equator

Name: MSC Equator
Heading: North/Black Sea
Type:  container
Flags:  Liberia, dangerous cargo?
 Date: 14 Oct 2015

Sensei

Name: Sensei
Heading: North.Black Sea
Type:  carrier
Flags:  Panama, pilot on board
 Date: 15 Oct 2015

Panagia Armata

One of the longest things we've posted so far

Couldnt even fit the whole thing into the viewfinder!

Name: Panagia Armata
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  tanker
Flags:  Malta
 Date: 14 Oct 2015

Some Night Shots

An un-nammed passer-by in the dark
Guess we need a tripod!

Shot of the view at night - first bridge in the distance

Typical Wet Day

Wet and cold - there has been a reduction in traffic as well as limit to outdoor spotting, so nothing large - just the average passing boats.

This is just your average daily local tour boat making its way south back to the city. (If you enlarge the image, you can make out the TurYol company branding,)

And a Turkish flagged yacht going north that went un-identified:

Sainty Vogue

 

Name: Sainty Vogue
Heading: South/Marmara
Type:  container
Flags:  Marshall Islands
 Date: 08 Oct 2015

Jasper

Name: Jasper
Heading: North/Black Sea
Type:  carrier
Flags:  Turkey
 Date: 07 Oct 2015

Catharina 1

Name: Catharina 1
Heading: North/Black Sea
Type:  carrier
Flags:  Malta
 Date: 07 Oct 2015

Behcet C

Name: Behcet C
Heading: North/Black Sea
Type:  carrier
Flags:  Panama
 Date: 05 Oct 2015

Lazurit

Name: Lazurit
Heading: North/Black Sea
Type: Cargo
Flags: Cambodia
Date: 05 Oct 2015

CPO England

Name: CPO England
Heading: North/Black Sea
Type: tanker
Flags: UK
 Date: 05 Oct 2015