Turkish ships on highest security alert in 14 areas

ANKARA

Turkish-flagged merchant ships operating in 14 high-risk maritime areas are subject to the highest international security level, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu has said, outlining measures to protect vessels and their crews.

Responding to parliamentary questions about commercial shipping safety, particularly in the Black Sea, Uraloğlu said Security Level 3 procedures under the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code were in force for ships sailing to these areas.

The list covers the ports, coasts and offshore waters of Israel, Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Ukraine and Somalia, as well as Russia’s ports and waters in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.

It also includes the Gulf of Aden and the Bab el-Mandeb and Hormuz straits.

Uraloğlu said crew members had the right to refuse unsafe work and to leave a dangerous area if the threat could not be prevented.

The ministry’s approach was to maintain existing precautions and develop further measures as risks changed, he added.

Under the ISPS framework, Security Level 3 applies when a security incident is considered probable or imminent, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

It requires specific protective measures for the duration of the threat, even if the potential target cannot be identified.

The Transport Ministry’s published guidance sets out measures that can affect both access to vessels and cargo operations.

These include restricting entry to a single controlled point, allowing only authorized personnel aboard and closing off additional areas of a ship.

Loading and unloading may be suspended, while deliveries of supplies can be subjected to closer searches, delayed or refused.

Depending on the circumstances, a vessel may also be moved out of a dangerous area or evacuated.

The precautions cover waters where attacks have killed seafarers and damaged commercial vessels. As of Nov. 2, the IMO had confirmed 125 incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Middle East, with 24 seafarer deaths.

The organization has also condemned attacks on civilian merchant ships in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. In a July statement following a series of attacks there,

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez urged parties to conflicts to protect commercial shipping, warning that attacks endangered crews, disrupted supply chains and threatened the marine environment.