What is ‘The Kanal Istanbul Project’ all about?

Kanal Istanbul is the name of the project which the Erdogan Government has been postponing since 2011 due to financial problems and environmental concerns. The Turkish Government simply explains that the project aims opening an artificial seaway between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea in order to mitigate the oil tanker traffic through the Bosphorus as well as constructing new earthquake-resistant residential areas along the channel.

The project has once more divided the already divided Turkish nation.

CHP, (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi in Turkish) the major opposition Party of Turkey claims such a construction would violate international treaties, damage the environment and will increase the risk of massive earthquakes.

The Bosporus is currently one of the most crowded waterways in the world. Thousands of oil tankers make up part of the 85,102 civilian and military vessels that transited through the Bosporus in 2018.

According to the Turkish Government the main objective of this project is to reduce potential risks posed by ships carrying dangerous materials, passing through the Bosporus.

The sight is common for the city’s residents: every day about 115 vessels cross the Bosphorus Strait.

It is a fact that accidents happen in this narrow natural waterway that divides the Turkish city’s European and Asian sides and links the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea. In April 2018, a cargo ship failed to stop and crashed into an 18th-century Ottoman the Hekimbaşı Salih Efendi Mansion in Istanbul’s Anadoluhisarı.

The accident happened after the ship’s rudder failed and it smashed into the mansion around 4 p.m. The mansion was built in the 18th century and has been used to host weddings and concerts.

During the period from 1953 to 2018, 462 maritime incidents occurred in the Istanbul Strait or in its southern entrance at the Marmara Sea. The majority were collisions.

December 14, 1960 – Yugoslavian-flagged M/T Petar Zoranić of Croatian operator from Zadar Jugotanker (today Tankerska plovidba), carrying 12,065 tons of highly inflammable 90-octane benzine and 11,330 tons of diesel fuel, collided with the Greek tanker M/T World Harmony at Kanlıca Point. 20 ship’s officers and crew died, both masters included. 18,000 tons of oil spilled and caused pollution. Fire lasted for some weeks and suspended transit traffic. The Turkish vessel Tarsus crashed into the Zoranić and burnt with it.
September 15, 1964 – Norwegian-flagged vessel Norborn collided with the wreck of Petar Zoranić at Kanlıca Point. Fire broke out and oil spilled.

March 1, 1966 – Two Soviet-flagged vessels, M/T Lutsk and M/T Kransky Oktiabr, collided at Maiden’s Tower Point. 1,850 tons of oil spilled, caught fire and caused the Turkish passenger ferryboat Kadıköy and the ferry boat terminal of Karaköy to burn completely.[3]

July 3, 1966 – Turkish passenger ferryboat Yeni Galatasaray collided with the lumber-carrying Turkish coaster Aksaray. 13 people died in the following fire.
November 18, 1966 – Turkish passenger ferryboat Bereket hit the Romanian-flagged Ploeşti. 8 people drowned.

July 1, 1970 – Italian vessel Ancona ran ashore and caused the collapse of a building under construction. 5 people died.

December 27, 1972 – Two Turkish vessels, the passenger ferryboat Turan Emeksiz and the cargo ship M/V Sönmezler, collided. 5 people died.

April 21, 1979 – Romanian-flagged vessel M/V Karpat collided with the Turkish ship M/V Kefeli. 11 people died.

November 15, 1979 – Romanian-registered tanker M/T Independenţa collided with Greek freighter M/V Evriali at Haydarpaşa Point and exploded. 42 people died on the tanker. 94,600 tons of crude oil spilled and the following fire lasted weeks.

April 2, 1980 – Greek ship M/V Elsa collided with the Soviet vessel M/V Moskovosky. Two people died.

November 9, 1980 – British vessel Nordic Faith collided with Greek-flagged ship Stravanda. Fire broke out.

September 24, 1985 – Turkish Navy fast attack boat TCG Meltem collided with a Soviet Navy warship. Meltem sank and five Turkish marines died.

October 29, 1988 – Maltese-registered ammonia carrier M/T Blue Star allided with the Turkish crude oil tanker M/T Gaziantep, which was at anchor at Ahırkapı Point. 1,000 tons of ammonia spilled into the Marmara Sea.

March 25, 1990 – Iraqi tanker M/T Jampur, carrying gasoline, collided with the Chinese-flagged bulk carrier M/V Da Tung Shang at Sarıyer Point. 2,600 tons of oil spilled from Jampur and caused severe pollution.

November 14, 1991 – Philippines-flagged M/V Madonna Lily collided with the Lebanese-flagged livestock carrier M/V Rabunion XVIII at Anadoluhisarı Point. 5 people died. 21,000 sheep drowned in the sunk Lebanese vessel and their corpses caused major pollution.

March 13, 1994 – Crude oil carrier M/T Nassia collided with the bulk carrier M/V Shipbroker, both Cyprus-registered. 27 people were killed. 9,000 tons of petroleum spilled and 20,000 tons burnt over four days, severely affecting the marine environment. Traffic in the strait was suspended for several days and Shipbroker burnt totally.

December 29, 1999 – Russian tanker M/T Volganeft-248 grounded at Florya Point with 4,000 tons of fuel oil on board and split into two pieces. 1,500 tons of oil spilled to the sea. Clean-up operation of the contaminated recreational beaches took about two years.

October 7, 2002 – Maltese vessel M/V Gotia stranded at Bebek Point. 22 tons of oil spilled, causing environmental damage to the boats in the marina and the structures at the waterfront.

November 10, 2003 – Georgian-flagged cargo ship GGC Svyatoy Panteleymon ran aground off Anadolufeneri and broke in two. Around 500 tons of oil spilled and caused pollution.

May 4, 2013 – The ferries Erdem Karadeniz and Kalamis collided in heavy early-morning fog, injuring four passengers.

September 6, 2013, the Turkish general-cargo ship Erhan Araz (IMO 8512059) ran aground near Beykoz.

September 14, 2013 – Togolese general cargo ship Captain Omar (IMO 7396654) experienced engine failure during transit of the straits. She was towed to Beykoz.

October 1, 2013 – Turkish general cargo ship Anafarta (IMO 6720066) took on water at the Black Sea entrance to the strait. She was intentionally grounded to prevent her from sinking. The crew were safely taken off.

October 22, 2013 – Cambodian general cargo ship Volgo-Balt 193 (IMO 8230302) suffered a mechanical problem in transit near Maiden’s Tower that required her to be towed to a safe harbor.

October 28, 2013 – Maltese chemical tanker YM Miranda (IMO 9554755) suffered an engine fire in the straits. In distress, the master deployed one or more anchors. These destroyed one fiber-optic undersea cable and damaged another near Anadolu Hisari. The straits were closed as tugboats rendered assistance.

November 13, 2013 – Liquid propane gas tanker Tala (IMO 8012114) suffered an engine failure requiring the assistance of a tug.

Turkey counts on Kanal Istanbul to prevent more crashes by offering an alternative crossing point for ships through the city’s European side. But when it comes to the environmental and social costs of what President Erdogan dubbed his “crazy project”, the consensus falls away.

Opponents of the project claim its environmental toll, in the pristine parts of the city, is too heavy to ignore and has not been studied properly.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that Kanal İstanbul will cost 10 billion dollars to build but experts estimate that the final bill will be around 20 billion dollars. According to the estimates, the 30-35 percent of the cost of the project will be compensated from Istanbul Municipality, which is now under the control of the CHP, the major opposition party of Turkey.

Geopolitical Perspective

It is not a secret that The Montreux Convention is a key to the Black Sea’s regional security.

While China and Russia, two land powers, are keen to limit the rights of passage of ships in their territorial waters and by extension do not want to change the status of the Montreux Convention. On the other hand, maritime powers such as the US, the UK and NATO advocate strongly for freedom of navigation.

Abdullatif Sener, a major figure in CHP, opposition Party of Turkey claims that there are two hidden objectives of the project. One is creating business for Erdogan’s close circle in construction business and second changing the status of Montreux Convention in favor American interests. Currently military vessels are limited in number, tonnage and their duration of stay in the Black Sea. However, applying the Montreux Convention to the new canal would mean amending the convention, a difficult legal process with its own ramifications which Sener believes that U.S will find a way to evade the current status quo through the new canal.

Even though Turkish Government made it clear that the new canal will not affect the status of Montreux Convention, the conspiracy theorists seem convinced that the new project will serve the U.S. interests in Black Sea.

But does it make sense?

Turkey’s Black Sea policy has always been at an historical crossroads. Since the 19th century, Turkey has balanced Russian power through active Western military support. Now, however, it is not a secret that Turkey has distanced itself from the Western hemisphere and Erdogan views the West as a threat. There is no indication that this trend will overturn soon. Within these circumstances, Erdogan cannot find a new way to balance a resurgent Russia. The U.S.-led Transatlantic alliance seems that it cannot even prevent such a partnership from happening.

It should be remembered that one of the biggest maritime vessels in the world transited through the Bosphorus in Istanbul in 2018 after completing the first line of a new gas pipeline between Russia and Turkey beneath the Black Sea.

The vessel Pioneering Spirit, the size of several football pitches, passed through the Bosphorus towards the Mediterranean after laying the first section of the hugely ambitious TurkStream project.

TurkStream, a project championed by President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, aims to pump Russian gas to Turkey and Europe while avoiding Ukraine.

The 1936 Montreux Convention gives Turkey control of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, the strait that leads into the Mediterranean; but it also requires Turkey to grant freedom of passage to commercial and naval ships.

NATO ships arrive on port visits and training missions. Vast cargo ships carry multi-coloured containers, and in summer tourist cruisers dock in the city centre. But it’s the Russian ships that have caught international attention as President Vladimir Putin made clear that he was reasserting Moscow’s muscle in Syria and the wider region. The Bosphorus is a vital link between Russia’s Black Sea ports and its naval bases in the coastal towns of Latakia and Tartous. The Bosphorus is the only gate for Russian trade ships to the Mediterranean as well.

Russia actually supports the project. About the free passage rights provided by the Montreux Convention, Russian Ambassador Erkhov -in an interview with Murat Yetkin last week-, said that oil exporters could compare the queue costs of the ships; such a channel would not change the traffic situation much, even if it could relax the traffic through the Bosporus. ‘I see it as a very long-term project, I mean really for the future. But the Montreux Convention has established a legal regime for the Black Sea. This legal regime not only establishes the passage through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles straits but also regulates the total tonnage of the ships of the coastal and non-coastal states. The presence of a new artery does not change the regime. The Montreux Convention sets certain limits to be obeyed during the passage in and out of the Black Sea; a new artery does not change those limits.’

From the geopolitical point of view, it is a fact that Russian influence, political and economic interests rely on Bosporus. Once the Kanal Istanbul come to existence, the influence of Russia in the region and the speed of the Russian trade ships will be doubled.

from Politurco.com| Informs and Inspires by Facts and Analyses http://www.politurco.com/what-is-the-kanal-istanbul-project-all-about.html