Turkey Hikes Bosphorus and Dardanelles Transit Fees by Nearly 15%

Turkey has raised the cost for ships passing through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits by almost 15%, bringing the fee to $6.70 per ton. The new rate took effect on July 1, according to the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. The move is expected to boost Ankara's revenue from one of the world's busiest maritime chokepoints.

Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu previously estimated that between July 2025 and June 2026, Turkey will collect $254 million from transit fees—$31 million more than the year before. More than 40,000 vessels navigated the Bosphorus in 2025, roughly 70% of which were dry cargo ships, container carriers, and tankers. In 2024, the strait saw over 41,000 ships.

The transit fee has been adjusted annually on July 1 since 2022, when it was quintupled from $0.80 per ton—a rate that had remained unchanged for nearly four decades. The latest increase brings the fee from $5.83 to $6.70 per ton, reflecting Turkey's strategy to leverage its control over these strategic waterways for greater economic gain.