I started my assignment in Turkey in February 2017 and have now been stationed there for about eight years. Although I worked for MOL for a long time, I never did any work related to Türkiye(Turkey), so this was the first time for me to become involved with the country. I had no idea when I arrived that the maritime industry was so vibrant in Turkey. In this article I would like to give you an overview of the maritime industry in Turkey. (Corporate Marketing Division, Satoshi Katada)
Surrounded on three sides by the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the Sea of Marmara, Turkey has a long history of straddling Asia and Europe as a major country in a region where the West and East intersect. It has long been an important trade location, and consequently the maritime industry has had a major impact on the development of the region.
Shipbuilding in Turkey has a history of over 600 years. The first shipyard was established in 1390 in Gelibolu on the Dardanelles Strait during the Ottoman Empire. In 1455, Sultan Mehmed II, who overthrew the Eastern Roman Empire, built the Istanbul Halic (Golden Horn Bay) Shipyard, which still has stone docks in use today.
The Golden Horn Shipyard in the Past
The present day Golden Horn Shipyard where a ferry is being repaired. The small boats in the photo are Sea Taxies operated by the city of Istanbul and built at the Golden Horn Shipyard (Source: İhlas Haber Ajansı).
By the 16th century, Turkish shipyards were the largest in the world, and even after the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the importance of the shipbuilding industry remained unchanged, with shipyards located mainly around the Bosphorus Strait and the Golden Horn Bay. However, after 1969 they were moved to Tuzla, near Istanbul. Since then, the shipbuilding industry has continued to develop steadily.
Panoramic View of the Tuzla Area. About 43 shipyards are in operation. It can be regarded as the center of Turkey's maritime industry (Source: Deniz Harber).
In addition, with the support of DNV, a classification society in Norway, the largest export destination for Turkish ships, in order to increase the number of shipyards that mainly focus on building small tankers and other vessels, which became difficult to build during the shipping bubble in the early 2000s when shipyards around the world prioritized the construction of larger ships, a new shipyard area was developed in the Yalova district across the Sea of Marmara from Tuzla . However, by the time the Yalova area went into operation, the shipping bubble had burst and new shipbuilding had declined sharply, with some shipyards withdrawing without building a single vessel.
Since then, an increasing number of shipyards have turned their focus to repairing ships instead of building new ones, and some shipyards, such as the long-established Beskitas Shipbuilding, have become almost exclusively engaged in repairing ships. During the shipping recession, these shipyards were supported by Karpower International B.V.（Karpowership）, with whom MOL has a joint venture which started as a project to convert used vessels into powerships.
Panoramic View of the Yalova area. There are 30 shipyards operating here. In the foreground, the numerous smokestack-like structures on the ship are powerships converted from Capesize bulk carriers by our joint venture partner, Karpower International B.V.（Karpowership） (Source: Milliyet).
Although the construction of new ships in Turkey has declined to 17 per year (in 2022), one-tenth of its peak, the country is once again developing, this time with an increase in the number of shipyards that are mainly engaged in repairs and maintenance like dry docking for periodical survey, due in part to the expansion of number of ships. The repair capacity of these shipyards has now more than doubled from 15.7 million DWT in 2013 to 35.2 million DWT in 2022.
(Source: MARITIME SECTOR REPORT İstanbul 2023)
As can be seen in the graph, the number of vessels that have undergone repairs and periodic inspections in Turkey has expanded significantly since 2021. This was during a time when the new coronavirus (COVID-19) was raging across the world. In countries such as China and Singapore, where shipyards often used for repairs are located, strict immigration restrictions were in place, making it difficult to replace crews and dispatch supervisors. However, Turkey was in a difficult situation, with its foreign exchange reserves plummeting, so to support the economy it adopted a rather bold open-door policy. For example, while Turkish citizens were asked to stay at home, there were fewer restrictions on tourists entering the country and they were able to walk around the city freely.
Because of this, there were fewer restrictions on entry, which had been a problem in other countries, and since all the workers in the shipyard were Turkish citizens, there were no problems regarding staff shortages. In addition, the capacity of the new Istanbul Airport, which opened before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, is one of the largest in the world, and Turkish Airlines, which uses the airport as its hub, has surpassed Emirates Airlines to become the airline with the largest air route network in the world, making the airport easily accessible from around the world. Added to this, the development has been boosted by the competitiveness of Turkey's shipyards due to the significant depreciation of the currency. It is no exaggeration to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has helped the Turkish shipbuilding industry make a great stride forward.
As the shipbuilding industry has developed in this direction, so has the surrounding maritime industry. Low- and intermediate-technology products are being developed and produced. However, the industry is still dependent on imports of high-tech products such as marine steel plates and structural members, propellers, navigation and communication equipment, and thrusters, but many processed steel products such as valves, pipes, chains, anchors and grabs, generators, boilers and compressors, deck and cargo handling equipment, electrical wires, lifeboats, and interior materials such as doors and windows are manufactured locally and an increasing number of companies are able to supply these products. At SMM Hamburg 2024, the world's largest maritime exhibition with approximately 2,200 exhibitors, about 90 Turkish companies participated, 50 of which were involved in the manufacture of marine products.
Turkey, with its well-developed maritime industry, including shipyards, also seems to have a complementary relationship with its neighbor Greece, the largest ship-owning country. An increasing number of Turkish companies are engaged in the ship management business, arranging for crews and taking care of everything necessary for ship operations. As a result, an increasing number of international ship management companies have set up offices in Istanbul. There are also examples of Turkish companies that used to be shipowners, but now concentrate on ship management.
There is a growing number of maritime companies engaged in ship management, such as ship chandlers that procure and supply food and equipment to ships, repair and maintenance companies, companies that develop and supply software for seafarers, and educational companies such as those providing seafarer schools.
Although Turkish shipyards have shifted their focus to repair and maintenance, they are increasingly building state-of-the-art ships in terms of environmental performance, as most of their export destinations are in Europe, such as Norway. Recently, they have been building support vessels for offshore wind power generation, cruise ships up to 50,000 tons, icebreakers, fishing vessels, live fish carriers, offshore processing vessels equipped with facilities to process caught seafood on board, tugboats, and the latest LNG-fueled and electric propulsion ships. In some fields, they are building ships that even Japanese shipyards are unable to produce.
Electric and LNG Hybrid Passenger Ship Havila Pollux (122m x 22m) (Source: Tersan Shipyard)
Veidnes Hybrid Live Fish Carrier. Many fishing-related ships using LNG as their main fuel are being built. (Source: Sefine Shipyard)
The World's First Electric Tugboat . The world's first methanol fuel cell tugboat will also be built by Turkey's UZMAR this year. (Source: Corvus Energy)
Turkey is also one of the world's leading countries in the construction of large yachts, it was previously ranked third or fourth after a number of other European countries, but recently orders have been growing. In 2024, Turkey seems to have surpassed the Netherlands as the world's second largest builder of large yachts, after Italy, which makes up 50% of the large yacht market, with 132 large yachts (5,838m, approx. 73,000 tons) on order. (Source: Boat International, November 26, 2023)
YATED, an industry association related to yachts and small vessels such as marine garbage collection vessels, which MOL also supports, has more than 300 members.
The Ship Recycling Convention, official name “The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009”, adopted in 2009 at the IMO conference held in Hong Kong to ensure occupational safety and proper disposal of hazardous materials in ship recycling yards, is now finalized to enter into force on June 26, 2025.
Ratification requires the following 3 conditions:
(1) Ratification by 15 States
(2) Representation by 40% of world merchant shipping by gross tonnage
(3) A maximum annual ship recycling volume not less than 3% of the combined tonnage of the ratifying States
As of 2021, the first point (1) had been cleared, and Bangladesh, the world’s largest ship recycling country, was a key to whether the Convention would go into effect.
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What is the Life Cycle of a Large Ship～ The Current State of Ship Recycling: PartⅠ, PartⅡ
Bangladesh worked with international organizations and governments with the goal of ratifying the Convention by 2023, and actually signed it in June 2023. Liberia, which owns a large number of Flag of Convenience (FOC) vessels, also signed it on the same date, thus the requirements for the entry into force of the Convention has been fulfilled. Although Turkey is not a prominent player in shipbuilding, it has the world's fourth-largest ship recycling industry and is the world's eighth-largest producer of iron and steel, being the world's largest importer of scrap iron and having a high percentage of electric furnaces. 22 companies are engaged in ship recycling in Aliaga, near Izmir in southwestern Turkey.
The word “ship recycling” (or “ship dismantling”) may remind people of the scene where ships are brought onto the beach to take advantage of the ebb and flow of the tide and is dismantled by hand by humans. Such work involves pollution and danger, but in Turkey ship recycling is conducted in relatively well-regulated facilities, and sometimes there is even a swimming beach on the opposite shore. Turkey does not have a cost advantage over India and Bangladesh, which dominate the ship recycling market, due to better facilities and higher labor costs. In addition, the price of recycled steel raw materials in Turkey is lower than in India and Bangladesh. Therefore, although Turkey does not match the two countries in terms of recycling volume, many of the ships operating in the Mediterranean, Europe and the Atlantic, as well as European-flagged ships, are recycled in Turkey. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey’s ship recycling yards gained attention as a large number of idle passenger ships were sent for recycling.
Ships that sail rough seas are huge, extremely sturdy, and cannot be scrapped like cars. Dismantling these ships requires a lot of labor and is done in a harsh and dangerous environment. In addition, because it is done on beaches, the industry often faces environmental problems, such as the leakage of residual oil, and other toxic substances. In this context, I believe that Turkish ship recycling companies have a relatively high percentage of recycling yards that are doing relatively well controlled. Of course, there would be accidents during the work, and there would be problems with dust and other pollutants. However, while it is difficult to conduct these operations in developed countries with a shrinking labor force, the retirement of a large number of ships built in the 2000s will begin in near future. Reports prepared by developed countries indicate that even Turkish ship recycling yards have many problems, such as waste disposal, working environment and conditions ship recycling capacity, and lack of training. The EU has set standards and a given certification for ship recycling yards to meet. However, many ship recycling companies are small and medium enterprises with no strong financial base, and in the case of Turkey, they are all domestic companies. The price of recycled steel is volatile, and when the market deteriorates, they may be forced to sell at prices lower than the purchase price, resulting in losses. The number of ships dismantled also varies greatly depending on the shipping market conditions. Additionally, orders must comply with the strict hurdles of EU certification and the Ship Recycling Convention.
A Passenger Ship Being Dismantled in October 2020 (Source: Reuters)
Photos of Ships Being Dismantled. The top photo was taken in 2021, and the bottom photo shows more scrap on the land side compared to 2021. This is because the price of scrap is low, and they are stocking as much as possible until the price rises (Photos taken by the author in 2024).
Many stores selling various large and small reuse items from the recycling ships are line the street outside the recycling shipyard (Photos taken by the author)
Trends in new shipbuilding worldwide, with a significant increase in construction in the 2000s (Source: Compiled by METI from IHS Markit data)
I have tried to give a brief introduction of Turkey's maritime industry, which is generally not well known. At Sea Japan held last April, we organized a Turkish Pavilion to promote exchange between the Turkish and Japanese maritime industries and to let many Japanese shipowners and maritime professionals know about the situation in Turkey. In the end, eight Turkish companies participated.
Turkish Pavilion at Sea Japan (Photos taken by the author)
The relationship between Japan and Turkey dates back to 1890, when the Turkish navy warship Ertuğrul was lost off the coast of Kushimoto Town , Wakayama Prefecture. Since then, the foundation of friendly relations between the two countries has become deep and includes the rescue of Japanese nationals from Iran by Turkish aircraft during the Iran-Iraq conflict and mutual support activities in the two earthquake-prone countries. The year before last was the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey, last year was the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Turkey, and this year marks the 135th anniversary of the Ertuğrul disaster.
Right: A movie has been made about the Ertuğrul disaster. (Source:125 Years Memory)
In addition, the number of Turkish shipowners has been decreasing, so they have not been very visible internationally. Recently, however, we have heard news that Turkish shipowners are ordering new ships from Japanese shipyards, and it seems that the Turkish maritime industry is entering a new dimension.
I believe it is necessary for us to continue exchanges in the maritime field in order to further strengthen the relationship between Japan and Turkey, which are historically and physically linked by the sea. We would like to continue our efforts to promote this kind of exchange and build on the close relationship we have with Turkey in our own way.
More than 200 maritime companies, mostly Turkish, exhibited at Expomaritt Exposhipping Istanbul 2025 (February 18-21), which was held during my visit to Istanbul, attracting nearly 10,000 visitors. The participants were mainly from Turkey, and the exhibition was a good opportunity to learn about the state and scale of the Turkish maritime industry.(Photos taken by the author)
The Bosporus Boat Show (indoors) was held at the same venue, with more than 200 shipbuilders and parts suppliers participating and more than 300 vessels being built. The majority of the shipbuilders were Turkish manufacturers. Japanese manufacturers such as Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Tohatsu had a strong presence in the small boat outboard motor segment. In addition, every fall, there is the Bosporus Boat Show (outdoors) held at the marina, where more than 300 vessels of 500 brands from around the world are exhibited.(Photos taken by the author)