MV Mavi Marmara leaving Antalya for Gaza on May 22, 2010
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History | |
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Comoros | |
Name | MV Mavi Marmara |
Owner | IHH (İnsani Yardım Vakfı) [3] |
Operator | IHH (İnsani Yardım Vakfı) [3] |
Builder | Türkiye Gemi Sanayi A.Ş.[4] |
Yard number | 302[4] |
Completed | November 9, 1994[2] |
Homeport | Istanbul, Turkey |
Identification | IMO number: 9005869[1] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Passenger ship |
Tonnage | 4,142 GT GT uses unsupported parameter (help) |
Length | 93 m (305 ft)[1] |
Beam | 20 m (66 ft)[1] |
Draft | 4 m (13 ft)[6] |
Installed power | 4,400 kW[2] |
Propulsion | 2[2] |
Speed | max. 9.9 knots (18.3 km/h; 11.4 mph)- avg. 7.2 knots (13.3 km/h; 8.3 mph)[6] |
Capacity | 1,080 passengers[5] |
MV Mavi Marmara (English: Blue Marmara) is a Comoros-flagged [7] passenger ship, which was formerly owned and operated by İDO Istanbul Fast Ferries Co. Inc. on the line Sarayburnu, Istanbul-Marmara Island-Avşa Island in the Sea of Marmara. Built at the Golden Gate Shipyard by Turkish Shipbuilding Co. in 1994, the ship has a capacity of 1,080 passengers.[5]
The ship was purchased in 2010 by an Islamic charity IHH (İnsani Yardım Vakfı), the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedom and Humanitarian Relief. It joined a flotilla of ships operated by activist groups from 32 different countries with the stated intention of directly confronting Egypt-Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip and bringing in humanitarian aid. The İHH acquired the ship at a cost of $800,000, to be defrayed by public donations, as no shipowner was willing to risk their vessel on the journey.[3]
On 31 May 2010, while en route to Gaza, commandos from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) seized the MV Mavi Marmara in international waters after warnings that a naval blockade was in force. When boarding the ships, The IDF armed with paintball guns loaded with tear gas for crowd control and standard issue pistols as a final resort and were not expecting violence, were greeted by violence and attacked with metal pipes, chairs, stun grenades. In the violent clashes that followed nine activists were killed and up to sixty activists and ten IDF soldiers were injured.
Ship's registry
- ex MS Beydağı[4]
Sister ships
- MS TDI Karadeniz[4]
References
- ^ a b c "MS Mavi Marmara". Digital Seas. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
- ^ a b c "Detay Gemi Listesi" (PDF) (in Turkish). Cahmber of Maritime Izmir. Retrieved 2010-05-31. |
- ^ a b c "Turkish rights group's cargo ship to set sail with Gaza aid". Hürriyet. 13 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d "Mavi Marmara" (in Turkish). Tür Gemileri. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
- ^ a b "Mavi Marmara Yolcu Gemisi" (in Turkish). IDO. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
- ^ a b "M/S Mavi Marmara" (in Turkish). Marine Traffic. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
- ^ "İsrail 'uluslararası suları' kabul etti". 01 June 2010.
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External links
Media related to M/S Mavi Marmara at Wikimedia Commons