Located on the periphery of two great
continents, Turkey has benefitted from being in a favored position right at the
center of an assertive and fast growing economic area. This geographical
location finds Turkey in a very favorable position. Despite the general economic recession, the
country’s shipping ports and shipbuilding sectors have faced challenges
resolutely and expanded consistently.
With a coastline of approximately 8,483 km,
(1,067 km of which are island shores) Turkey is situated to the southeast of
Europe, south of the former Soviet Union, northwest of the Middle East and
northeast of the Mediterranean Sea where the European and Asian continents meet
across the Turkish straits.
The distribution of the coastline according
to the four seas rimming Turkey is:
- Black Sea 1,719 km (20.3%)
- Sea of Marmara 1,474 km (17.4%)
- Aegean Sea 3,265 km (38.5%)
- Mediterranean 2,025 km (23.9%).
A little more than half of the population
(50.8%) lives in coastal areas (i.e. 37,965 million out of 74,724 million). And
more than half of this coastal population lives along the Sea of Marmara.
The straits of Bosphorus and Dardanelles
and the Sea of Marmara in the northwest of Turkey where the European and Asian
continents meet, are known as the Turkish straits. In addition, the Black Sea
meets the Aegean Sea through these straits, where Turkey and Greece have
coastlines, and it then meets the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, the Turkish
straits play an important role in the geopolitical, geographical and strategic
situation of Turkey.
Although the land of these straits belongs
to Turkey, the water running through them and connecting the Black Sea and the
Aegean Sea is considered as international waters for freedom of navigation
according to some authorities. For instance, an annual total of 60 million
tonnes of crude oil is carried by vessels through these straits. With 90% of
Turkish foreign trade being carried by sea, shipping has been one of the more
significant industries with direct impact upon the country’s economy.
The Turkish merchant fleet of 1,000 grt and
above consists of 690 ships. Three hundred and twenty three ships (7.8 million
DWT) have been acquired by importation and 367 ships (2.2 million DWT) have
been built in Turkey (as of January 2013). The average age of these ships is
26.5 years of which that of the container fleet and chemical tankers are 11
years (as of January 2013).
From 1980 the Turkish maritime industry has
grown consistently. In fact, the industry maintains its position as one of the
locomotive industries of the country. While the size of its shipping fleet has
continued to grow the Turkish shipowners being able to gain greater access to
funding were able to modernize their fleet significantly.
The Turkish ship owners clearly prefer to
flag out using offshore registries for the benefits of low taxation and crew
costs. The flagged out vessels operated by Turkish operators are approximately
more than half of the national merchant fleet and are mostly under various
flags, such as Malta, Panama, Liberia, the Bahamas or St Vincent and the
Grenadines. As a result of flagging out, an increasing freight payment to
foreign flag vessels of approximately $1.5 billion is lost annually. Therefore,
a policy for an international ship registry is under consideration, since a
second registry and a flag of convenience for Turkey, will serve both to
prevent the loss of freight payments and to operate the vessels within cabotage
trading.
Turkish State Railways operate the seven
major ports in Turkey and privatization action is in progress, including the
biggest container terminals at the Ports of Istanbul, Izmir and Mersin. In
addition, privatization of the 12 secondary ports owned and operated by the
Turkish Maritime Organization is also in line.
Shipbuilding in Turkey has evolved from an
old traditional activity in Anatolia to an internationally recognized industry,
especially since the early 1990s. The industry has modern, quality certified
shipyards that can build ships, yachts, mega-yachts, and sailing boats, as well
as carrying out extensive repair and conversion works. Turkey’s shipyards are
mainly located in the Marmara Region, namely Tuzla, Yalova, and İzmit, which
have developed into dynamic shipbuilding centers. Also, in recent years the
emerging Black Sea and Mediterranean Regions have increasingly attracted
shipyard investments.
In the last decade, Turkish shipbuilding
experienced a several-fold increase in its shipbuilding and export capacity,
including a significant product diversification. Turkey has gained wide
recognition for its expertise in megayacht building, for which it occupies the
third rank in the world with a market share of 12%. In 2013, Turkish shipyards boasted of an
order book which placed it in the top ten countries on the basis of its
deadweight (dwt) production and in the top five countries by the number of
ships. At present, there are 70 active shipyards in Turkey, while another 56
(most of which might be described as a medium size) are reported to be in the
process of being built, although this number may be affected by the reduced
demand for shipbuilding following the 2008 world economic slowdown. The number
of jobs offered by the sector has considerably decreased with the world crisis,
falling from 33,480 in 2007 to 16,000 in 2012. Most shipyards have turned to
the repair activity since the industry had its big drop from 2007. The yards
were not prepared to tackle competition from China and Korea, which are
supported by subsidies. In Turkey the government offers small incentives but no
cash, back payments or financing, or even the credit line support as is
customary in some Far East competitors. Turkey is the world’s fifth largest
ship recycler, and the largest outside of South-Asia and China. Most of the
ships recycled are foreign flagged, primarily from European Union members, and
especially smaller vessels that may not be economic to sail to recycling yards
in South Asia. Turkey is frequently chosen for recycling because it complies
with ship recycling standards and its recycling yards comply with international
practices promulgated by the International Maritime Organization, the
International Labor Organization and the Basel Convention on the Control of
Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, as well as
with national legislation. Cruise
tourism in Turkey is the second fastest growing activity and ranks 5th in the
EU. As it is a young activity, cruise tourism is not among the seven largest
activities, but it shows good potential for the future and investments under
way, notably in Istanbul. According to the Tourism Master Plan issued in 2011,
seven new cruise ports (out of which 3 home ports) will be built in the country
by 2023.
Source: marine
link. 27 March 2015
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