Shipping 2026

TÜRKIYE Law and Practice Contributed by: Türker Yıldırım, Semih Sander, Gülistan Baltacı Hatay and Selçuk Sencer Esenyel, Esenyel|Partners Lawyers & Consultants

7. Enforcement of Law and Jurisdiction and Arbitration Clauses 7.1 Enforcement of Law and Jurisdiction Clauses Stated in Bills of Lading Turkish courts generally recognise and enforce law and jurisdiction clauses stated in bills of lading. How - ever, there has been an ongoing debate regarding whether Turkish courts could seize jurisdiction where a bill of lading with a foreign law and jurisdiction clause has been executed on behalf of a foreign carrier by a Turkish agency in Türkiye. This debate stems from Article 105 of the TCC. Further, a risk exists that an asymmetric jurisdiction clause granting one of the parties the right to refer to different courts in different jurisdictions could be found invalid by Turkish courts. 7.2 Enforcement of Law and Arbitration Clauses Incorporated Into a Bill of Lading Turkish courts recognise and enforce the law and arbi - tration clause of a charterparty incorporated into the relevant bill of lading, on the condition that the bill of lading contains a specific reference to the charter - party and a copy of the charterparty has been shared with the ultimate holder of the bill of lading. Under Article 1237 (3) of the TCC, if it cannot be proven that the charterparty has been represented to the ultimate holder of the bill of lading, the provisions of the char - terparty shall not bind such person. 7.3 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards Türkiye is a party to the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbi - tral Awards. Under Turkish law, the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards are regulated under the provisions of International Private and Pro - cedure Law 5718. 7.4 Arrest of Vessels Subject to Foreign Arbitration or Jurisdiction The TCC adopts the lex fori principle regarding the arrest of a vessel. Therefore, the Turkish courts would order the arrest of a vessel even if the claim is gov - erned by a foreign law, and would respect application

Time Limit of Maritime Passenger Claims Pursuant to Article 1257 of the TCC, all compensation claims arising from the death of or personal injury to passengers shall be caught by the time bar after ten years. It is further stipulated that all other claims aris - ing from passenger contracts, including receivables for loss of or damage to luggage, are subject to a time bar of two years as of the date the passenger dis - embarks or ought to have disembarked. For all other receivables, the two-year time bar begins on the date of maturity. In the case of an international voyage, the time limits under the Athens Convention 1974 and the 2002 Pro - tocol shall apply. Limitation of Liability on Owners The carrier is liable for the damages arising from the death of or injury to passengers on the ground of a shipping incident. Liability of the carrier is limited to SDR250,000 per passenger for each shipping inci - dent. The carrier is released from liability if it proves that the incident resulted from war, terrorism, civil war, insurrection or an exceptional natural event that could not be avoided or prevented, or from an act or omis - sion of a third party committed with the intent to cause the accident. If the carrier is at fault, it is also liable for the portion of the passenger’s damage exceeding the above-mentioned limits. The burden of proving the absence of fault rests with the carrier. However, the carrier’s liability is limited to SDR400,000 for the death of or injury to passengers howsoever caused. The carrier’s limit of liability for luggage claims is regu - lated under Article 1263 of the TCC, and the applica - ble limit varies between SDR2,250 and SDR13,700 depending on the circumstances and the location of luggage damaged. Maritime Lien Loss of life or personal injury to passengers would give rise to maritime lien claims, whereas other claims would qualify as maritime claims.

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