Turkish Straits See Nearly 41,000 Ship Passages in H1

Nearly 41,000 vessels transited through Türkiye’s key waterways — the Istanbul and Canakkale Straits — in the first half of 2025, Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu told Anadolu, CE Report quotes Anadolu Agency

Between January and June, 19,381 ships passed through the Istanbul Strait and 21,607 through the Canakkale Strait. These critical passages, connecting Asia and Europe, handled 754.6 million gross tons of cargo, with general cargo ships, bulk carriers, and container vessels making up the majority.

Separately, Turkish ports hosted 29,444 ships — 9,880 Turkish-flagged and 19,564 foreign — transporting 463.8 million tons of cargo.

Kocaeli saw the highest number of port calls (4,564), followed by Aliaga (3,075), Iskenderun (1,788), and Mersin (1,631).