Page 62: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2016)

COUNTRY REPORT

Maritime Turkey set for a Tailwind

BY JOSEPH FONSECA urkey is strategically locat- in the Marmara Region, namely Tuzla, in March 2015, Turkey climbed up to building require relatively less invest- ed, straddling both Europe Yalova, and Izmit, which have devel- the 7th place among countries which ments, areas and production time. and Asia with substantial oped into dynamic shipbuilding centers, take tanker orders. Turkish Shipyards The effects of the decline in shipbuild- number of Black Sea and besides in recent years the emerging delivered 166 ships, DWT of 836,000 ing activity are quite signi? cant since

Mediterranean Sea ports, Black Sea and Mediterranean regions between 1995 and 2001. Also, between this is responsible for making a very

T thus making maritime trade and ship- have increasingly attracted shipyard in- the years 2002 and 2007, 443 ships with signi? cant contribution to the Turkish ping of great importance to the country’s vestments. total DWT of 3,051,000 have been deliv- economy. economy. Its extensive coastline running The 37 shipyards that were under oper- ered. In 2014, 17 ships DWT of 139,073 for 8,483 km, (1,067 km of which is is- ation in 2002 increased steadily to 72 as tons were delivered. Ship Recycling land shores) has greatly contributed to of January 2015. It brought about a trans- The ship recycling activities is fast the growth of Turkey’s maritime sector. formation as progress in this sub-sector Yacht and Boat Building Industry gaining ground. It ? ts in well with the

Turkish shipyards have a tradition helped generate employment also in Yacht and boat building is one of the Turkish steel industry, being a compara- spanning eight centuries. At the time the neighborhood, raising the standards most important sectors with its high ac- tively heavy user of scrap steel, which of the Ottoman Empire, shipyards were of quality of the sub-sector, increasing cretion value and high export ratio. This is re-melted in electric arc furnaces and able to build large, powerful naval ves- skilled manpower, ensuring growth and industry is a combination of sectors in re-used for construction and other pur- sels, and yards continued their modern- strength of the regional trade and helping yards which deal with ironing, painting, poses (including the building of new ization following the foundation of the to raise not only the standard of living electric, electronic, textile, decoration ships). It was estimated that Turkey con-

Republic of Turkey. Today, the industry but also the cultural level of labor. etc. Yacht and boat building industry sumes around 24.5 million tons of fer- boasts modern quality certi? ed shipyards On tonnage basis in CGT, Turkish is quite different from shipbuilding be- rous scrap, of which 18 million tons is that build ships, yachts, megayachts, and yards rank 16th in the world’s order cause of its concept, scope and technol- imported, and 6.5 million tons produced sailing boats, as well as undertake exten- book. Since they have a good reputa- ogy. Unlike in the shipbuilding industry domestically sive repairs and conversion works. tion in the building of small and medium where long term investments and big Turkey’s 21 ship recycling facilities

Turkey’s shipyards are mainly located tonnage chemical tankers, as a result coastal areas are needed, boat and yacht (located largely in the Aliaga area, near

LimakPort skenderun is located on the Northeast of the Mediterranean Sea and Kosbas Terminal serves as a Free Zone. occupies an important place as a transit port. It renders services for transit traf? c to Middle East countries as well as East and Southeast Anatolian territories.

Photo by Turkish Chamber of Shipping.

62 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • MAY 2016

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