On November 16, 2022, following a letter issued by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure’s General Directorate of Maritime Affairs, the 13th article of the Regulation on the Traffic Arrangement in the Turkish Straits, Implementation Guidelines stated that all ships carrying dangerous cargo, ships of 300 GT and above, and tugboats passing through the Straits must have a valid P&I policy.
As is well known, since the implementation started, it has been required for ships transporting crude oil loaded in Turkish Straits, as well as ships transporting petroleum products listed in Annex I, Appendix 1 of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), to obtain a letter from their P&I insurance provider indicating that the P&I insurance is valid and comprehensive for the ship, voyage, and cargo in question.
Since the commencement of this application, after inspections and assessments conducted on cargoes loaded at our country’s ports and unloaded at our country’s ports, it has been concluded that ships carrying such cargoes, which meet the specific criteria, will be exempt from these regulations, provided that the relevant documentation proving that the cargo was loaded at Turkish ports and will be discharged at Turkish ports is added to the SP-1 report.
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