Cruise ship becomes a home for quake survivors

HATAY

A cruise ship that bought aid and anchored at Tosyalı İskenderun Port in the southern province of Hatay has opened its doors in service of the quake survivors who lost everything in the deadly quakes of Feb. 6.

Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) sent the cruise ship “Gemini” to Hatay after the earthquakes.

After unloading the aid materials it carried, the ship anchored at Tosyalı Port in İskenderun and became a shelter for the quake survivors.

A total of 1,056 people, mostly children, the elderly and disabled people in need of care, were accommodated on the ship.

The ship provides services to disaster victims with many facilities, such as playrooms for children, an infirmary, a restaurant, a cinema, a barber, a hairdresser and a library.

The ship generates its own electricity and purifies the water it takes from the sea.

Some of the employees on the ship are also quake survivors. Hairdressers and barbers serve voluntarily on the ship as their workplaces were destroyed in the quakes.

Three meals a day are provided to everyone on board.

The survivors, who have suffered great trauma and pain and are trying to overcome the difficult times, said that they feel safer on the sea than on land as aftershocks are still felt days after the major earthquake.

“Before the earthquake, I had always seen these ships on TV, and I have always wanted to go on a cruise. I wish the earthquake had not happened and I could be on this ship as a tourist,” said Ece Naz Yıldız, an elementary school student on board the ship with her family.