MT Independența was a 1978–built Romanian-flagged crude oil carrier, the biggest ship of her country's commercial fleet at that time.
[1] By mid November 1979, the Independența, carrying 94,000 tons (714,760 barrels) of crude oil from Es Sider, Libya to Constanța, Romania dropped anchor about 4 nautical miles (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) off the Haydarpaşa Breakwater at the southern entrance of the Istanbul Strait.
The Greek cargo ship M/V Evriali (10,000 DWT) was transporting 7,400 tons steel from Mariupol, Ukraine (formerly Zhdanov) to Italy, and had already passed the strait southwards.
[1] Early in the morning of 15 November at 04:35, Evriali collided with Independenta hitting the Romanian ship between the number 3 and 4 tanks, on the starboard side.
After the accident, the court charged the captain of the Greek ship, Alekos Adamopoulos, and the seven crew with being careless and negligent, disobeying international maritime regulations and jeopardizing security of Istanbul.
[2] The slick from the vessel drifted towards the Port of Haydarpaşa, and the booms across its entrance could not prevent approximately 50 tons of oil entering the harbor.
[1] The maximum accumulation of harmful particles in the air during the fire exceeded by four times the permissible limit set for human health.
Because of the rapid evaporation of the light components, the crude oil quickly sank to the bottom of the sea in an area approximately 5.5 km in diameter.
After an extensive refit in Keppel Shipyard (Singapore) finished in 2009, the ship was converted in into a FPSO (Floating production storage and offloading) and given a new name, Armada Perdana.
The sister ship of Independența, the M/T Iris Star lost power due to engine failure during her passage through the Bosphorus on 27 July 2000, and drifted towards Kandilli point.