Our objective is to be in the top 10 in the world rankings

The maritime sector, which is recognized as one of the strategic sectors in the world, provides a very important potential and advantage for countries that can develop and effectively use these opportunities and capabilities in accordance with world conditions. Throughout history, countries that have been able to take the advantage of maritime presence, protect and develop their maritime rights and interests have achieved more success than others, and have been able to have a larger share in world welfare.

Currently, about 86% of the world's cargo is transported by sea. Today, maritime transportation is the lifeblood and backbone of world trade and the global economy. We have recently seen the problems that can be caused if maritime transportation and trade are disrupted; the container crisis that emerged after the pandemic, the container ship Ever Given running aground in the Suez Canal, the grain crisis as a result of the war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, and finally the suspension of many voyages or the deactivation of the transit route due to the security problem in the Red Sea. While all these events have led to increased transportation and insurance costs and economic losses, they have highlighted the global importance of maintaining and utilizing open maritime transportation routes.

It is imperative for us to make progress in the maritime field

Türkiye is a country surrounded by seas on three sides, and is strategically located as a bridge between Europe and Asia. Considering our geographical position and national interests, it is imperative for us to be one of the leading countries in the maritime sector.

In 2023, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Türkiye with great excitement, pride and enthusiasm. The proclamation of the Republic, while handing over the administration of the Turkish State to the Turkish Nation, initiated a radical transformation, and our country made significant progress towards civilization.  The date 1923 is also very important for our commercial maritime history. Over the course of a hundred years, Turkish maritime has made commendable progress.

When we evaluate the Turkish maritime industry today, our national merchant fleet has reached approximately 1962 ships and 47.9 million DWT, ranking 12th among the countries with the largest fleet in the world.

We rank first in tugboat exports

Today, Türkiye has become a country that has achieved great success in shipbuilding, repair, maintenance and repair. By 2023, the number of shipyards has increased to 85 and annual production capacity to 4.79 million DWT. The Green Deal, which can be summarized as a comprehensive growth plan that includes clean, green and sustainable future goals with environmental awareness at the forefront in order to make the European Union economy sustainable, has led the sector to turn to different areas and in this context, the orders for new technology ships to our shipyards have increased.

Hosting projects such as the world's first tugboat with LNG, the first floating energy ship (powership), electric tugboats, electric-hybrid polar passenger ships, electric-hybrid ferries and fishing vessels, our local shipyards have also realized a significant increase in the production of tugs with green energy propulsion systems ordered from Northern European countries, and have surpassed China, the leader in tugboat exports, to rank first. 

The yacht and boat manufacturing industry is a sector that has a very high added value, provides employment and has a high export rate. This industry is a branch of industry that produces by combining the products of many industrial branches such as machinery, iron-steel, wood, paint-chemistry, electrical-electronics, textiles, decoration, rubber-plastic, etc. in shipyards and receives services from various service sectors. Türkiye has shown a steady rise since 2007, especially in the construction of superyachts of 24 meters and above, and as of January 2021, while maintaining its third place in the world with a length of 3,497 m, it ranks 4th with 73,011 GT according to 2023 data.

We are assertive in defense industry

In recent years, defense industry projects have gained great momentum. Currently, Türkiye is among the top 10 countries that design, build, project and construction control and execution of a warship.

Moreover, Türkiye has a large and strategically important maritime area for the Black Sea, Western Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Therefore, the port sector plays a vital role in the Turkish economy, especially in foreign trade.

In the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Türkiye has been at the center of an important initiative shaping international trade, hosting the Grain Corridor Agreement.

We are a candidate to be a logistics hub

In parallel with the increasing importance of logistics practice in the world, the ports of our country have recently been developing in accordance with container loads and multi-modal transportation systems and making investments in this direction. In today's world, where world trade has evolved into combined transportation and port services are provided with high-tech products, Türkiye is a candidate to become an important international logistics base connecting three continents, especially by rapidly realizing the railway connections of ports serving container ships.

In 2023, the total amount of cargo handled at our ports increased to 521 million tons. Türkiye has now become a leading country in Europe in cargo handling with its adequate port infrastructure.

We have an outstanding tourism potential

Everyone is aware of the extraordinary potential that our country has in terms of tourism.  In this context, in our country, which is surrounded by sea on three sides, "maritime tourism", which includes a variety of activities such as cruise tourism, blue cruise activities, daily boat tours for tourism purposes, yacht tourism, marina management, diving tourism and water sports activities including a series of similar activities, stands out as one of the tourism branches with the highest demand in addition to sea-sand-sun.

Our maritime tourism accounts for approximately 25% of our country's overall tourism revenues. In this regard, I must frankly state that we believe that this share is even higher if we move from the fact that most of the tourists who come to our coasts in the Aegean and Mediterranean come for the sea.

In 2023, the number of foreigners visiting Türkiye reached 56 million 693 thousand. In the same year, the number of visitors visiting our country by sea increased by 49.7% compared to 2022 and reached 4 million 768 thousand. This increase also shows the effect of the increase in yacht traffic in the Aegean and Mediterranean and the rising popularity of our country's coasts.

We are pleased to observe an increase in cruise tourism, which is one of the most important components of maritime tourism, to regain its former potential after the contraction we experienced in 2016.  In 2023, 1,192 cruise ships and 1 million 542 thousand passengers visited our country's ports, and we are very pleased to receive signs that the number of ships and passengers will increase and the number of arrivals will reach 2 million in 2024. 

As a result, our income from maritime tourism reached 13.5 billion dollars in 2023. In 2024, our country targets 60 million tourists and 60 billion dollars in tourism revenues. Based on the 25 percent share calculation, the target of maritime tourism is at least 15 billion dollars.

Our most important goal is to be in the top 10 in world maritime

Founded on 26 August 1982, Turkish Chamber of Shipping is the umbrella professional organization of the Turkish maritime industry. Headquartered in Istanbul and serving with 9 Branches and 15 Representative Offices throughout Türkiye, our Chamber has 48 Professional Committees covering all areas of the maritime sector and has approximately 11 thousand members.

The establishment of the Chamber of Shipping, the flagship of our civilian navy, has been a turning point for our sector. This turning point paved the way for institutionalization and recognition as a sector in maritime. Starting its activities 42 years ago, our Chamber has pioneered the development and flourishing of the sector in every field, and has made the greatest contribution to the laying of many building blocks while reaching today's situation.

In the coming period, while we continue our efforts in line with our goal of obtaining a larger share from world maritime with our strategic position in the geography where we are located, our young population, our maritime experience and our know-how our most important goal will be to take place among the 10 leading countries in the world in maritime.