Passage Planning Guide for the Turkish Straits - 2026-27 Edition

This Guide summarises the essential information that Masters require in preparing for a transit of the Turkish Straits and requirements in Türkiye, in addition to providing navigating officers with the necessary guidance to prepare a comprehensive passage plan.

The Turkish Straits is 164 NM long in total, between the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, and is the only available route by sea and all within the sovereign sea territory of Türkiye.

The Guide details situations in which:

• Traffic in the Straits would be suspended
• vessels require one-way traffic
• vessels require daylight-only transit.

The Turkish Straits is one of the world's busiest shipping routes, with approximately 130 ships a day transiting (~50,000 ships per year). 20% of all ships are tankers. Suezmax tankers (<300 m LOA) can safely navigate the Turkish Straits while maintaining acceptable margins of safety. Tankers >300 m LOA can transit the Turkish Straits, but will be subject to additional restrictions.

Managing traffic in the Turkish Straits is a challenge, with one-way traffic measures leading to a transit time of broadly 12 hours Northbound and 12 hours Southbound (typically led by a tanker). This all results in the average waiting time for a ship to enter the Bosphorus Southbound being 14.5 hrs for large ships waiting in 'hold'. Such waiting times can increase to 3-4 days, or even a week on occasions, due to heavy traffic or other circumstances such as poor weather or as a result of a major incident in the Turkish Straits. The Guide clearly sets out all of this information to provide scheduling advice for the Master.

In the Turkish Straits, vessels may encounter strong currents, with rates in excess of 7 knots, while navigating in confined waterways that narrow to only 698 m at points, as well as having to safely make large alterations of course of up to 80?. In addition to these challenges, concentrations of traffic are often heavy in the Bosphorus, as ferries and local traffic make over 2,500 crossings of the waterway per day.

This 2026-27 Guide provides clear and comprehensive guidance for the Master and navigating officer, accompanied by annotated chartlets for each stage of the transit, all presented in an easy-to-use format and layout.

A Note on Place Names
Reference PDFs to Download for the Region
Glossary
Note on Spellings
Charts and Nautical Publications
Section 1 Guidance Notes on the Turkish Straits
1.1 Turkish Straits ? Introduction
1.2 The Canakkale Strait (Çanakkale Bogaz?) Overview
1.3 The Bosphorus (Istanbul Bogaz?) Overview
1.4 New Development: The?Istanbul Canal (Kanal Istanbul)
1.5 Master?s Guidance for Arriving Ships (Notification and Papers)
1.6 Transit Restrictions (Height, Day/Night, Wind/Currents, Geopolitical)
1.7 The Russia/Ukraine Conflict ? Implications for the Turkish Straits
1.8 Preparations for Transit of the Turkish Straits
1.9 Turkish Straits ? Anchorages and Waiting Areas
1.10 Turkish Straits VTS and Turkish Straits Reporting System
1.11 Pilotage: Mandatory/Recommended and Pilot Booking Procedure
1.12 Pilot Boarding Grounds
1.13 Shiphandling, Overtaking and Manoeuvring in the Turkish Straits
1.14 Guidance for OOW Bridge Team in the Turkish Straits
1.15 Use of ECDIS in ?Two Colour/Four Colour? Depth Shading Mode
1.16 Traffic to be Expected
1.17 Currents in the Turkish Straits
1.18 Restricted Visibility Due to Fog/Smog
1.19 Prevailing Winds and Weather
1.20 Escort Tugs
1.21 Emergency Response
1.22 MARPOL
1.23 BWM in the Turkish Straits and the?Black Sea
1.24 Cruise Ships
Section 2 Groundings, Collisions and Incidents in the Turkish Straits ? Northbound
2.1 Groundings, Collisions and Incidents ? Northbound ? the Canakkale Strait (Çanakkale Bogaz?/Dardanelles)
2.2 Groundings, Collisions and Incidents ? Northbound ? the Sea of Marmara
2.3 Groundings, Collisions and Incidents ? Northbound ? the Bosphorus (Istanbul Bogaz?/Istanbul Strait)
Section 3 Groundings, Collisions and Incidents in the Turkish Straits ? Southbound
3.1 Groundings, Collisions and Incidents ? Southbound ? the Bosphorus (Istanbul Bogaz?/Istanbul Strait)
3.2 Groundings, Collisions and Incidents ? Southbound ? the Canakkale Strait (Çanakkale Bogaz?/Dardanelles)
3.3 Groundings, Collisions and Incidents ? Southbound ? the Sea of Marmara (Marmara Denizi)
Section 4 Northbound ? Passage Notes
Section 5 Southbound ? Passage Notes
Annexes
Annex 1 ? Pre-Entry Bridge Team Meeting
Annex 2 ? Turkish Authority Contacts
Annex 3 ? TÜRKIYE SAR

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