Turkiye has decided to adopt new implementations.
As is known so far, the port authorities may apply new additional conditions to the vessels that enter and depart from Turkish waters. The rules mentioned below are said to be applied in practice:
Just as vessels coming from Israel will not be allowed in Turkish ports, a vessel will also not be allowed to sail directly to Israel from Turkish ports.
It is prohibited for Turkish-flagged vessels to call at Israeli ports.
Counterparty Due Diligence (KYC-Know Your Customer): It has been stated that vessels associated with companies identified as having links to Israel in CSR/ISM/BIMCO procedures will not be permitted to enter Turkish ports, and that documents evidencing the vessel’s management chain (e.g., the BIMCO SHIPMAN 2009 agreement) may be requested during the delivery order process.
A prohibition will also be applied on cargoes that are considered as having a link to Israel. No such cargo will be allowed to be processed in Turkish ports, including container transport; yet, cargoes on transhipment that are not to be processed will be allowed, excluding IMO 1 and IMO 7 type. IMO 1 is a code for explosives, and IMO 7 means radioactive materials; these types of cargoes will not be allowed even in transhipment.
The Turkish Port Regulation explicitly states that berthing / mooring / anchoring shall not be allowed without submission of the delivery order. Although the types of documents which shall be requested during the process were not individually identified and listed, in the Turkish Port Regulation, authorization to take necessary measures has been given to the port authorities. In this regard, Turkish port authorities are entitled to request specific documents during this delivery order process. Since BIMCO SHIPMAN 2009 can be considered as a proper tool to identify and determine the management of the vessel, it was advised to the port authorities that this document can be requested at the time of the proceeding.
It is stated that no official declaration / notice or paper will be issued regarding the new situation; therefore, the application of these measures is to become more solid as time goes by. However, in order to prevent encountering any issues, some pre-checks may be conducted, i.e., in-depth checking such as owner, time charterer, bareboat charterer, origin of the cargo, previous call ports of the vessel, etc.
The new chapter on the Turkish shipping industry will be shaped in the future step by step, and until then, parties involved in the shipment shall be even more cautious and shall collaborate with their agencies, which are other links in this chain. Agencies are also requested to boost their checking and control mechanisms, and in order to induce the agencies to comply with these new measures, administrative fines may be imposed.