Turkey Increases Transit Fees for Commercial Vessels through Bosporus and Dardanelles

The transit fee for foreign commercial vessels passing through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits has been raised to $5.07 per net ton as of July 1, increasing from the previous rate of $4.42 implemented a year ago. This decision was adopted by the Turkish Ministry of Transport.

The document indicated that the increase in fees is planned. Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu had previously stated that the fee revision is being carried out under a decree signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on October 7, 2022.

According to the Montreux Convention signed in 1963, which regulates navigation in the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, a fee is charged for transit of commercial vessels for medical inspections, pilotage, and towing services. Since 1983, these fees have been calculated based on the gold franc, amounting to $0.80 per net ton of the vessel. In October 2022, this regulation was modified, and the rate was increased to $4.08.

Turkish authorities had previously announced that the increase in fees brings in an annual revenue of $900 million from the use of the straits for the transit of foreign vessels.