According to the Shipowners’ Association report, Turkey was the country that expanded its fleet the most in 2024. Turkey doubled the global growth rate with 8.2 percent. While sector representatives emphasize that the old coastal vessel fleet renewal project must be urgently implemented for this momentum to be permanent, they are calling for not missing the financing opportunity brought to the agenda by the World Bank after 70 years.
According to the news by Ekonomim Newspaper writer Aysel Yücel, Turkey was the country that expanded its fleet the most in 2024.
According to the sector report published last week by the Turkish Shipowners’ Association (TAB), the total tonnage of the Turkish-owned merchant marine fleet increased by 8.2 percent in 2024, doubling the global average. The number of ships reached 2,092 last year. Although there were losses in the fleet due to some groups like Ciner going abroad, the growth in the fleet continued in 2025 as a result of the increase in the number of foreign companies establishing businesses in Turkey, parallel to the changing balances in the Black Sea basin especially after the Russia-Ukraine war.
According to the latest data announced by the Ministry, as of September 2025, the Turkish-owned fleet grew by 2.2 percent on an annual basis, reaching 53.1 million DWT and rose to the 10th rank globally. However, according to sector representatives, for this growth to be permanent, the old coastal vessel fleet needs to be renewed urgently.
The 7th Joint Professional Committees Meeting of the IMEAK Chamber of Maritime Commerce (DTO), held with the participation of Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, took place in Sapanca on November 29. Speaking at the meeting, IMEAK DTO President Tamer Kıran emphasized that investments focused on green and digital transformation must be accelerated to sustain the growth achieved by the Turkish merchant marine fleet in recent years and called for support from the ministry.
Kıran stated that the scrap incentive for renewing the coastal vessel fleet could not be utilized sufficiently due to increasing costs and financing problems, and said that the incentive needs to be made implementable together with supports from the Ministry of Industry and Technology.
