A Toronto Islands ferry was just spotted in Turkey
A Toronto resident on vacation got a pleasant surprise some 8,200 kilometres from home when they spotted a Toronto Islands ferry casually docked at a shipyard on the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, Turkey.
How's that for a little taste of home away from home?
The Toronto local posted a reel on Instagram, panning the camera across the ferry and captioning it, "You spot a little piece of Toronto floating through the Bosphorus." The international waterway connects Europe and Asia and is considered one of the world's busiest shipping channels.
Netizens quickly linked the sighting to the City of Toronto's ferry project, which involves its latest electric vessels, Lady of the Quays and Toronto Islander, being built by international shipbuilding company Damen in Galați, Romania.
The two fully electric vessels are part of a broader effort to modernize the city's aging Toronto Islands ferry fleet. Designed by Quebec City-based Concept Naval, the new ferries are intended to improve accessibility, increase passenger capacity, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The project has been underway since 2015, when the initial ferry design phase began. The first vessel, Lady of the Quays, is expected to arrive in Toronto in late fall 2026, followed by Toronto Islander in spring 2027.
Still, the sighting in Istanbul has left many scratching their heads. It's unclear why the ferry was spotted in the Bosphorus Strait, but if the post's comments are anything to go by, the vessel could be Lady of the Quays, potentially making its way to Canada for delivery. However, city officials couldn't confirm the speculation.
While seeing a Toronto Islands ferry in a strait halfway around the world may seem unusual, some commenters pointed out that repurposed transit vehicles from Toronto have turned up in other cities.
"I rode an old red rocket streetcar in San Francisco. It still said Toronto on it. These things are reused around the world," someone said in the comments, while another mentioned that "The city of Detroit now also uses the old TTC Scarborough RT trains that were sold for a bargain."
@souka_s_world
