Türkiye eyes top 10 in maritime trade with its merchant fleet: Minister
ANKARA- Anadolu Agency
Türkiye aims to rank among the world’s top 10 maritime trade nations with its domestic merchant fleet, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu told Anadolu Agency.
Uraloğlu said Türkiye is strategically located on important transport corridors and is a peninsula with its own sovereignty over its territorial waters since July 1, 1926, when the Cabotage Law came into effect.
“Shipping is not only the backbone of global trade and the lifeblood of the global economy, but also it is a profession,” he said, noting that the ministry is confident in the success of Turkish seafarers and the country’s maritime industry.
He emphasized that work is underway to support the green transformation and the sustainable development of Türkiye’s maritime sector in innovation, technology and education.
Uraloğlu noted that the ministry is working towards ensuring national maritime safety and security with high-standard services.
“We implemented significant regulations for the development of the maritime sector over 23 years, with increased inspections, real-time monitoring systems, better shipbuilding capabilities and maritime structures on our coasts,” he said.
He noted that maritime safety is important not only for the maritime sector but also for global food security and energy supply.
Uraloğlu highlighted that Türkiye stands at the center of the global maritime system with the Turkish Straits, namely the Çanakkale and Istanbul straits, connecting Asia and Europe.
“Our straits host over 40,000 vessels per year, and some 9,351 vessels passed through the Istanbul Strait in the first three months of the year with 141.1 million metric tons of cargo onboard, while the Canakkale Strait saw 10,652 ships pass with 225.5 million metric tons of cargo,” he said.
“We updated the ‘gold franc’ value used to calculate fees to uninterruptedly pass through our straits, raising the rate by 15 percent to $5.83,” he added. “We collected a total of $227.4 million from some 51,058 vessels passing through the straits last year, and the increase will support the sustainability of the public services provided at the straits.”
Turkish-owned merchant fleet ranks 11th worldwide
Uraloğlu said that Türkiye’s merchant fleet ranks 11th in the world in tonnage, with over 2,150 vessels and around 51.9 million deadweight tons of capacity.
He noted that Türkiye’s 85 active shipyards provide jobs for 94,000 people and the Turkish-owned merchant fleet is nearing its goal of entering the top 10 worldwide.
He said the 4th Türkiye Maritime Summit would be held in Istanbul on Tuesday to discuss current events in the maritime sector, innovative ships for decarbonization, financing in maritime affairs, the impact of global developments, new approaches to port state control, and opportunities in cruise tourism.
“The goal of this event is to gather domestic and international participants to strengthen the know-how and the experience among sector stakeholders, create cooperation networks, and enhance the global competitiveness of the maritime sector,” he said.
