Entry into Turkish Ports

C25052 | 24 September 2025

Notice to: Ship Owners/ Managers/ Operators

The Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure has published a Port State Control Implementation Regulation, which applies to foreign-flagged ships arriving at or anchoring in port facilities and offshore installations, and to their personnel. An unofficial translation can be found here.

The Regulation covers:
• Part 1 – Introductory Provisions
• Part 2 – Obligations of the Administration and Port State Control Officer
• Part 3 – Procedures and Principles of Inspections
• Part 4 – Miscellaneous and final provisions

Points to Note:

Detentions and Bans

• Any ship detained in Turkey, or a MoU country, which departs without authorization, or fails to call at a repair yard it declared, will be banned from entering any Turkish port for 6 months.

• Ships detained in Turkey three or more times within the last 36 months shall be banned from entering Turkish ports for 12 months. Any further occurrences within 12 months of the ban expiring will result in a further ban of 24 months.

• Banned ships shall be inspected at their first Turkish port of call after expiry of the ban.

• A ship which has been banned twice and subsequently is detained will be permanently banned from entering Turkish Ports.

• Any regional bans applied by MoUs due to detention numbers shall also apply.

• The Administration may restrict the entry of ships under black-listed or non-performing flags or listed as substandard.

Right of appeal

• Owners, operators, or flag States may appeal detention decisions. Appeals do not suspend detention and must be submitted to the Administration within one month of receiving the detention.

• If a ship is unduly detained or delayed, the owner/operator may pursue legal action; the burden of proof lies with the owner/operator.

Follow-up inspection after detention

• If deficiencies cannot be corrected at the detention port, the ship may be allowed to proceed to the nearest repair yard selected by the master and approved by the Port Authority, and under conditions agreed by the flag State and accepted by the PSCO.

• The Port Authority may permit entry of a banned ship for urgent safety or pollution-prevention reasons.

Inspection Fees

• The operator, or their representative, bears the fees for two or more inspections of the same ship. Each subsequent boarding doubles the previous fees.

• Fees for inspections of banned ships after the expiry of the ban are borne by the operator, or their representative.

• Fees for services outside working hours at port authorities shall also be borne by the operator or representative.

• Detentions continue until all fees are paid.

Act now

Ship Owners/ Managers/ Operators should take note of the contents of the Regulation and be guided accordingly.