The failed military coup will not delay Turkey’s plans to construct a 48-kilometer ship canal, the Kanal Istanbul, which would serve as a by-pass for the Bosporus Strait, the country’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted by Platts as saying.
Back in April, the Turkish parliament adopted new legislation which allows the allocation of land for the canal which, if built, will run parallel with the Bosporus and link the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea.
The plans to open the tendering procedure for the construction of the canal by the end of the year have remained unchanged, and the process “will be pushed ahead rapidly,” Erdogan was quoted as saying.
The project was first announced in 2011 with the aim of removing tanker traffic further from Istanbul, the country’s biggest city. The canal will have a depth of 25 metres and the width of 150 metres, allowing for the passage of the largest VLCCs and ULCCs.
The project has faced several setbacks and route changes so far, with the issue of the canal’s viability being brought into question several times.
World Maritime News Staff