TÜRKIYE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Türker Yıldırım, Semih Sander, Gülistan Baltacı Hatay and Selçuk Sencer Esenyel, Esenyel|Partners Lawyers & Consultants
discrepancies have resulted in inconsistent decisions by Turkish courts, particularly where Turkish seafarers work aboard foreign-flagged vessels. In some cases, seafarers employed on Turkish-flagged vessels may face adverse results before Turkish courts simply because their employment contracts were drafted in MLC-compliant form due to operational requirements abroad, even though their legal relationship should normally fall under the MLL. For the reasons set out above, leading figures in the maritime sector – including practitioners, ship-owners and industry associations – have jointly expressed the need to revise and modernise the MLL. Their view is that any renewal of the legislation should align to the extent possible with the standards set out under the MLC. Consequently, in the coming years, the legislative agenda is expected to focus on either the ratification of the MLC and its incorporation into domestic legisla - tion, or a comprehensive reform of the MLL. Implementation of the new Regulation on Pilotage and Towage Services On 11 February 2025, the Regulation on Pilotage and Towage Services (the “Regulation”) entered into force following its publication in the Official Gazette. Upon publication of the Regulation, the former regula - tion dated 8 January 2020 was abolished. Under the renewed Regulation, fundamental amendments have been made to the former provisions relating mainly to minimum requirements, conditions of rendering ser - vices, tender processes and sanctions. The principal amendments under the Regulation are as follows. • The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (the “Ministry”) will grant authorisation for the fulfil - ment of pilotage and towage services through a tender procedure. • Port facilities are required to obtain a “service authorisation certificate”, as defined under Article 20 of the Regulation, in order to provide pilot - age and towage services. Further, the transfer of service authorisation certificates is prohibited, and similarly the subcontracting of such services has
also been restricted. Accordingly, services may only be procured from a third-party company with the prior approval of the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs of the Ministry (the “Directorate”). • For the fulfilment of towage services, it is required to have at least the number of tugboats and moor - ing boats specified separately for each regional service area in Annex 1 of the Regulation. • In pilotage service tenders, companies are required to have already employed at least the number of pilotage masters specified for each regional service area in Annex 1 of the Regulation. • Substantial administrative fines will be imposed on individuals and companies that fail to comply with their obligations and administrative requirements under the Regulation. • The Directorate has been granted the authority to transfer the services covered by the Regulation for a period not exceeding 20 years. Such transfer will also be carried out through a tender procedure, and companies participating in the tender must meet the technical, administrative and financial criteria set out in the Regulation and its Annexes. • The transitional provisions regulate that service authorisation holders who were previously author - ised or appointed within the relevant regional service areas before the Regulation entered into force on 11 February 2025 may continue to pro - vide services. However, this is conditional upon their maintaining compliance with the terms under which they were originally authorised or appointed. Accordingly, they may continue their operations until the completion of the tender processes stipu - lated in the Regulation and the commencement of services by the newly selected companies. • Participation in tenders through a consortium structure is prohibited, and applications are permit - ted only under a joint venture model. • Finally, it is also forbidden to participate in tenders for both pilotage and towage services within the same regional service area. Overall, the Regulation introduces a significantly more structured and transparent framework for pilotage and towage services, aiming to increase the quality and persistence of the services, increase operational standards and ensure compliance across the sector.
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