Turkey Raises Transit Fees for Bosphorus and Dardanelles by 15%

Turkey will increase transit fees for ships passing through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits by 15% from early July, according to Interfax. The updated tariff will reach $5.8 per tonne.

Turkish Minister of Transport Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said the revenues from transit fees continue to support improvements to the straits’ infrastructure. Ankara is also working on upgrading the vessel monitoring system.

Uraloğlu added that Turkey earned $227.4 mln from ship transits last year.

The Bosphorus and Dardanelles are two strategic straits in Turkey linking the Black Sea with the Mediterranean. Both are vital for maritime trade and are governed by the Montreux Convention of 1936.

Earlier, Kursiv Uzbekistan reported that the Salang Pass in Afghanistan was closed to trucks from June 10.