Bosporus ship traffic rises as Erdogan plans alternative route

Ship traffic through Turkey’s Bosporus Strait rose in 2021, including record transits by the chemical tankers and large vessels that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cites to support his $15 billion plan for a new alternative waterway.

Journeys through the strait, which links the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean beyond, increased by 147 to 38,551, according to Transport Ministry data published Tuesday, as the recovery from the pandemic boosted trade to buck the trend of falling traffic since 2007.

Transits by ships longer than 200 meters (650 feet) and chemical tankers both hit their highest on record, at 5,306 and 2,701 respectively.

Erdogan first outlined plans for a new 45-kilometer (28-mile) waterway called Canal Istanbul a decade ago, calling it his “crazy project.” His government says the canal would relieve congestion and improve safety on the Bosporus by diverting large ships with dangerous cargo away from population centers. Opponents say it would damage Istanbul’s water supplies and isn’t worth the $15 billion price tag.

In the two decades that Erdogan has ruled Turkey, he’s poured tens of billions of dollars into giant infrastructure projects to cement voter support. So far, the new waterway remains little more than a proposal as Turkey seeks ways to finance it.