By Patrick Sykes
On August 9, 2026 (Bloomberg) – Turkey has started allowing ships to pass through its straits towards the Black Sea again after some vessels faced delays. These delays happened amid rising security concerns in the region.
The crude oil tanker Aegean Dream entered the Dardanelles Strait on Sunday, after waiting since Thursday. The ship was headed for the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal in Novorossiysk, Russia, according to tracking data. Another container ship, Mehmet Kahveci A, also passed through early Sunday, also heading to Novorossiysk.
Recently, Turkey’s Directorate General of Coastal Safety informed some ships headed for Russian and Ukrainian ports that they were not issuing transit permits for those voyages, Bloomberg reported on Saturday.
No explanation has been provided for this decision, and authorities have not commented on it publicly. The Transport and Infrastructure Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
These delays followed increased concerns from Turkey's government regarding attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea, many of which targeted vessels owned by or flagged in Turkey.
According to Bloomberg on Saturday, Ukraine has agreed to assist in ensuring safe passage for some non-Russian oil tankers, as reported by a US official.
Turkey has urged both Ukraine and Russia to agree on a “moratorium” on attacks in the Black Sea. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan shared this in an interview with the state-run Anadolu Agency.
“We have several measures regarding this matter that we presented to our president. We are putting them into action,” he stated.