Turkey resumes ship transit to Black Sea after delays

Turkey has resumed the passage of merchant ships through the straits towards the Black Sea after several days of delays for voyages to Russian and Ukrainian ports.

This is reported by Bloomberg.

According to ship tracking services, on Sunday, the tanker Aegean Dream, which is heading to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal in Novorossiysk, and the container ship Mehmet Kahveci A, which also indicated Novorossiysk as a destination, passed through the Dardanelles.

On the eve, the Turkish Coast Guard notified individual ships that transit permits for voyages to Ukrainian and Russian ports were temporarily not being issued. The reasons for this decision were not officially explained.

Against this background, Ankara has intensified calls on Moscow and Kyiv to agree on a moratorium on attacks on merchant shipping in the Black Sea.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in an interview with Anadolu that the Ukrainian side has already made a corresponding proposal. According to him, Turkey has forwarded it to Russian representatives and is awaiting a response.

“We have called on both sides to create a mechanism to declare a moratorium on this issue. The Ukrainians already had a corresponding proposal. We have forwarded it to our Russian colleagues and are awaiting a response,” Fidan said.

According to Bloomberg, Ukraine has also agreed to facilitate the safe passage of individual oil tankers that are not linked to Russia.

Fidan noted that Ankara is particularly concerned about the spread of attacks on merchant ships, including those owned by Turkish owners, flying the Turkish flag or with Turkish crew members. Earlier, USM reported that Turkey had begun restricting the passage of ships to the Black Sea amid attacks on the merchant fleet.