Türkiye Raises Turkish Straits Fee Basis to $6.70 From July 1

By Bosphorus News Economy Desk

Türkiye will raise the Gold Franc value used to calculate fees and charges for non-stop vessel passages through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles to $6.70 from July 1, updating the fee basis applied under the Montreux Convention framework for the July 2026-June 2027 period.

The Directorate General for Maritime Affairs set the new value for the period from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. The calculation applies to vessels passing through the Turkish Straits without stopping, and covers charges linked to services including lighthouse, salvage and health inspection fees.

The update continues Türkiye's annual revision of the Gold Franc value used in Strait passage calculations. The Transport and Infrastructure Ministry said in 2025 that Türkiye had moved to annual updates after the value stayed around $0.80 for 39 years before being revised in 2022.

The ministry raised the value by 15 percent to $5.83 for the July 2025-June 2026 period. The new $6.70 value extends the same revision track into the next year.

The fiscal effect is now visible. Passage-fee income that had previously been reported in the $20 million to $30 million range rose to nearly $300 million last year, turning what was once a long-frozen technical calculation into a larger maritime revenue file.

The scale of traffic explains why the revision carries weight beyond the fee table. Official figures show that 40,172 vessels passed through the Turkish Straits in 2025, carrying 619.3 million tons of cargo across the Bosphorus and Dardanelles route.

The change should not be read as a canal-style toll. The Bosphorus and Dardanelles are governed by the 1936 Montreux Convention, which gives Türkiye control over the Turkish Straits regime while preserving rules for merchant shipping and naval passage.

The fee update adds a commercial layer to Türkiye's management of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, where legal control, shipping safety and transit revenue now meet in the same calculation.

Sources: Directorate General for Maritime Affairs, Türkiye's Transport and Infrastructure Ministry, Türk Deniz, Bosphorus News review and reporting.