Turkish straits looking for greater safety
Mar. 5, 1998 New regulations to improve vessel safety along the crowded Turkish straits are awaiting cabinet
approval. "We have prepared the new Act to fully ensure the safety of the environment and of all persons using this
international shipping route," maritime under-secretary Resat Ozkan said.
Turkey first issued a set of regulatory measures in 1994, after a tanker collision in which 28 seamen were killed,
and 20,000 tonnes of oil spilled.
Several countries, notably Russia, objected that the rules were an infringement of the Montreux Convention. Russia
relies on the straits for shipping to and from its Black Sea ports.
Turkey is seeking the construction of a pipeline to carry the oil from the Azeri capital, Baku, to its Mediterranean
crude outlet at Ceyhan, bypassing the Black Sea. Russia favours a pipeline crossing north across its territory to
Black Sea ports.
Mr Ozkan rejected the idea that such considerations had played any part in preparation of the new regulations. "We do
not calculate anything in the straits according to assumptions about petroleum, the question is purely one of
physical geography," he said.
Mr Ozkan said safety would be greatly enhanced with a new radar system to monitor traffic. The tender results for the
$ 110 mm system were expected to be announced in May.
