Turkish Straits
| Topics: |
This content is not assigned to a topic
|
The Bosporus and Dardanelles are the Turkish Straits and divide Asia from Europe.
The Bosporus is a 17-mile long waterway that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles is a 40-mile long waterway that links the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean and Mediterranean (Mediterranean Sea) Seas. Both are located in Turkey and supply Western and Southern Europe with oil from the Caspian Sea Region.
Increased oil exports from the Caspian Sea region make the Turkish Straits one of the busiest and most dangerous chokepoints in the world supplying Western and Southern Europe.
An estimated 2.9 million bbl/d flowed through the Turkish Straits in 2010, almost all of which was crude oil. The ports of the Black Sea are one of the primary oil export routes for Russia and other former Soviet Union republics. Oil shipments through the Turkish Straits decreased from over 3.4 million bbl/d at its peak in 2004 to 2.6 million bbl/d in 2006 as Russia shifted crude oil exports toward the Baltic ports. Traffic through the Straits increased again as crude production and exports from Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan rose in recent years.
Only half a mile wide at its narrowest point, the Turkish Straits are one of the world's most difficult waterways to navigate due to its sinuous geography. With 50,000 vessels, including 5,500 oil tankers, passing through the straits annually it is also one of the world's busiest chokepoints.
Turkey has raised concerns over the navigational safety and environmental threats to the Straits. Commercial shipping has the right of free passage through the Turkish Straits in peacetime, although Turkey claims the right to impose regulations for safety and environmental purposes. Bottlenecks and heavy traffic also create problems for oil tankers in the Turkish Straits. While there are no current alternate routes for westward shipments from the Black and Caspian Sea region, there are several pipeline projects in various phases of development underway.
