TÜRKIYE Law and Practice Contributed by: Türker Yıldırım, Semih Sander, Gülistan Baltacı Hatay and Selçuk Sencer Esenyel, Esenyel|Partners Lawyers & Consultants
Esenyel|Partners Lawyers & Consultants Levent Mah. Sümbül Sok. No 61 34330 Beşiktaş, İstanbul Türkiye Tel: +90 212 397 19 91 Email: info@esenyelpartners.com Web: www.esenyelpartners.com
1. Maritime and Shipping Legislation and Regulation 1.1 Domestic Laws Establishing the Authorities of the Maritime and Shipping Courts Maritime Courts Civil courts of first instance and appeal courts are established as per Law 5235. Pursuant to Articles 4 and 5 thereof and the Turkish Commercial Code (TCC), commercial matters shall be referred to com - mercial courts, and one or more in each province can be identified as functioning as a maritime court. For instance, the Istanbul 17th Commercial Court and Izmir 5th Commercial Court have been designated as maritime courts. Common Maritime Disputes Disputes arising from carriages – such as vessel and container demurrage and cargo damage – are com - mon, along with ship arrests and cargo liens due to maritime claims or charterparty disputes. Further, the number of disputes stemming from under-declaration of bunkers or a deficiency in bunkers has been stead - ily increasing. 1.2 Port State Control Türkiye applies port state control (PSC) based on the Mediterranean and Black Sea Memorandum of Understanding. The Ministry of Transport and Infra - structure (the “Ministry”) is the highest authority for PSC. The Directorate General of Maritime Affairs and the port authorities, operating under the Ministry, are the main bodies authorised to implement PSC through
authorised PSC officers (PSCOs). By implementing PSC, the Ministry aims to: • verify that vessels engaged in shipping within Turkish jurisdiction comply with applicable interna - tional maritime instruments in respect of navigation safety, life, property and environmental protection, as well as seafarers’ living and working conditions; and • take enforcement action against sub-standard ves - sels. The authorities and powers of the PSCOs are regu - lated under Law 4922 and other relevant regulation. PSCOs shall, inter alia: • inspect foreign-flagged vessels calling at Turkish ports or anchorage areas; • assess compliance with International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules regarding safety, pollution prevention and crew welfare requirements; • order that deficiencies be remedied; and • suspend operations or detain vessels where seri - ous non-compliance is found. 1.3 Domestic Legislation Applicable to Ship Registration Ship registration in Türkiye is regulated by specific provisions under the TCC and the relevant second - ary legislation. Ship registries operating under port authorities – for instance, the Office of the Istanbul Harbour Master – handle domestic registration of ves - sels.
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