TÜRKIYE Law and Practice Contributed by: Türker Yıldırım, Semih Sander, Gülistan Baltacı Hatay and Selçuk Sencer Esenyel, Esenyel|Partners Lawyers & Consultants
salvage reward constitute maritime liens under Turk - ish law. 3.3 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims Türkiye is a party to the 1976 Convention on Limita - tion of Liability for Maritime Claims, as amended by the 1996 Protocol, and maritime claims in Türkiye are subject to global limitation. The Convention’s provi - sions are incorporated into the TCC by way of Article 1328 thereof. Regarding the 2012 amendments, under the tacit acceptance procedure introduced by the 1996 Proto - col, in 2024 the Istanbul Maritime Court ruled that the limitation fund should be constituted in accordance with the increased limits set out in the 2012 amend - ments. However, there remains an ongoing debate as to whether the increased limits introduced by the 2012 amendments have entered into force in Türkiye. 3.4 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties Türkiye is not a state party to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 (the “Vienna Convention”). However, certain principles of the Vienna Convention are applied on the basis that they constitute univer - sally accepted legal standards. 3.5 Procedure and Requirements for Establishing a Limitation Fund A limitation fund is set up upon an application to the competent maritime court. The court would then determine the limitation amount and grant the appli - cant time (usually a few weeks) to deposit the money or provide security. The limitation amount is calculated with reference to the ship’s tonnage. Items such as interest and potential legal costs are taken into con - sideration as well. 3.6 Seafarers’ Safety and Owners’ Liability While Türkiye signed the Maritime Labour Conven - tion 2006 (MLC), the process for Türkiye to become a formal party to the MLC has not been completed. The rights and safety of seafarers are regulated by international conventions to which Türkiye is a party, as well as by domestic laws, regulations and deci - sions of the competent authorities. Türkiye is currently
a party to several International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions regulating seafarers’ rights and safety, including the Conventions numbered 55, 73, 134 and 69. Further, seafarers working on Turkish- flagged vessels, regardless of their nationality, are entitled to the rights set out under Maritime Labour Law 854. For matters involving foreign-flagged ves - sels, the TCO shall apply.
4. Cargo Claims 4.1 Bills of Lading
Türkiye has ratified the dated Hague Rules. Although Türkiye has not ratified either the Visby Rules, the Hamburg Convention or the Rotterdam Rules, these have influenced the TCC, particularly in terms of the carrier’s limitation of liability. For instance, non-con - flicting innovations introduced by the 1968 Visby Pro - tocol and the 1979 Special Drawing Rights Protocol were incorporated into the TCC. 4.2 Title to Sue on a Bill of Lading The legal holder of a bill of lading shall have title to sue by relying on the bill of lading. The insurer may also have title to sue if it has subrogated the rights of the legal bill of lading holder. The title to sue may be transferred to third parties without any limitation. 4.3 Ship-Owners’ Liability and Limitation of Liability for Cargo Damages Liability In principle, the ship-owner is liable for any damage caused to third parties because of the fault of the crew or the compulsory or voluntary pilot while performing their duties. If, however, the ship-owner is the carrier at the same time, it shall be liable under the provisions of the TCC governing the carrier’s liability. Pursuant to Article 1180, the carrier is obliged to exer - cise the care and diligence that a prudent carrier is expected to show in the performance of a contract of carriage, particularly in loading, stowage, handling, carriage, preservation, supervision and discharge of the goods. For a carrier to be held liable for cargo damage, the damage must have occurred while
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