Turkish Regulations Regarding Maritime Traffic in the Turkish Straits and Sea of Marmara

[From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey web pages]

On July 1, 1994, a new set of regulations regarding maritime traffic through the Turkish Straits and Sea of Marmara issued by Turkey went into effect. The overriding aim of these regulations, which were officially promulgated on January 11, 1994, are quite simply to enhance the navigational and environmental safety and security in the Straits at the already dense level of traffic.

The volume of maritime traffic through the Straits has already reached dangerous and critical levels. The extent of the congestion is expected to increase even more in the near future due to the following factors:

The opening of the Main-Danube canal in September 1992 has linked the Rhine and Danube rivers, thereby creating a direct route between Rotterdam and Constanza.
An increase has recently been observed in the traffic originating from the Volga-Baltic and Volga-Don canals and bound for the Mediterranean Sea and to Turkish ports.
With the loss of its other harbours after the dissolution of the USSR, the foreign maritime trade of the Russian Federation is naturally shifting to its Black Sea ports. Coupled with this, economic recovery and foreign investment in the Russian Federation and the other successor states of the USSR, which rely on the Straits and Black Sea for their maritime trade, are expanding the volume of traffic through the Straits.
Currently, navigational and environmental safety is the most pressing concern. What is at stake is the physical and environmental security of Istanbul with its l0 million inhabitants, as well as the safety of transit and navigation in the Straits.

The risks and threats associated with maritime traffic has prompted the new regulations. The maritime accident that occurred on March l3, l994 in the Bosphorus, involving a large oil tanker has tragically highlighted the mortal dangers in this regard.

Some of the key points of the new Regulations, which have been applied since July 1, 1994 are the following:

A traffic separation scheme (TSS) has been established in the Turkish Straits and Sea of Marmara to regulate vessel traffic.
Turkish vessels greater than l50 metres in length are required to take pilots during the transit. Given that failure to make use of pilotage services has been identified as a main cause of accidents, taking pilots is highly recommended also for foreign vessels.
The following regulations apply to vessels greater than l50 metres in length:

Advance notification on such vessels and their cargo is required before the vessels enter through the Straits. This information will be reviewed to determine the most suitable timing and conditions for the transit of the vessel.
During the transit of large vessels carrying dangerous cargo including oil and its derivatives the Straits will be closed to all other maritime traffic. A similar vessel can not enter the Straits until the previous one has cleared it.
Vessel traffic through the Straits of Istanbul (Bosphorus) and Çanakkale (Dardanelles) will be conducted subject to conditions such as good visibility and calm currents.
The Traffic Seperation Schemes, which form an important part of the Regulations, following international practice, have been brought to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) by Turkey. At the Maritime Safety Committe meeting of the IMO on 16-25 May 1994, the Schemes and certain relevant rules and recommendations were adopted by the Organization. These rules and recommendations are in harmony with the Regulations.

These measures have been designed to contribute to the safety of navigation and improved efficiency of traffic flow at the current level of maritime traffic. While they may help to alleviate to a certain extent the existing problems, they can not provide complete safety in the Straits. In particular they cannot remove the additional risk that would be created by the proposals to transport Azeri, Kazakh and Russian oil through the Turkish Straits to Western markets.

Apparently, under these plans, oil and natural gas originating in these countries will be transported by pipelines to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossisk and from this port to international markets through the Straits. While no firm figures are available on the tonnage of oil currently passing through the Straits, an estimated 80-100 million tons of oil to be produced in these countries are supposedly earmarked for transportation through the Straits.

However, it is all too obvious that due to the nature of the Straits and the existing grave situation created by dense traffic congestion, the Turkish Straits cannot be considered as an oil transportation route. The Straits cannot carry the additional burden which will be brought by large amounts of oil shipments.

This unbearable burden cannot be tolerated without endangering the city of Istanbul itself, its population of 10 million, its unique historical heritage and the precarious environment.

Given that alternative projects such as the building of oil pipelines over Turkish territory to the Mediterranean Sea are economically and technically feasible, environmentally much safer, and more secure and logical in every sense, then, relying on the Straits to be a mock "oil pipeline" for the large-scale transportation of crude oil and other dangerous cargo appears ill-advised, and a self-defeating notion in the long run. It is not a viable and practical option for crude exports.