The Istanbul Canal (Turkish: Kanal İstanbul pronounced [kɑnɑɫ isˈtɑnbuɫ]) is a project for an artificial sea-level waterway planned by Turkey in East Thrace, connecting the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, and thus to the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. The Istanbul Canal would bisect the current European side of Istanbul and thus form an island between Asia and Europe (the island would have a shoreline with the Black Sea, Sea of Marmara, the new canal and the Bosporus). The new waterway would bypass the current Bosporus. The canal aims to minimise shipping traffic in the Bosporus. It is projected to have a capacity of 160 vessel transits a day – similar to the current volume of traffic through the Bosporus, where traffic congestion leaves ships queuing for days to transit the strait. Some analysts have speculated that the main reason for construction of the canal is to bypass the Montreux Convention, which limits the number and tonnage of warships from non-Black Sea powers that could enter the sea via the Bosporus, as well as prohibiting tolls on traffic passing through it. Indeed, in January 2018, the Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım announced that the Istanbul Canal would not be subject to the Montreux Convention. The Istanbul Canal project also includes the construction of ports (a large container terminal in the Black Sea, close to the Istanbul Airport), logistic centres and artificial islands to be integrated with the canal, as well as new earthquake-resistant residential areas along the channel. The artificial islands are to be built using soil dug for the canal. Transport projects to be integrated with the canal project include the Halkali-Kapikule high-speed train, the Turkish State Railways project, the Yenikapi-Sefakoy-Beylikduzu and Mahmutbey-Esenyurt metro lines in Istanbul and the D-100 highway crossing, Tem highway and Sazlibosna highway. Financing the canal is expected to be via a build-operate-transfer model, but could also be funded through public-private partnerships. The government is expecting to generate US$8 billion in revenue per year from the Istanbul Canal, in part from a service fee for transits. Critics, such as Korkut Boratav, have questioned this number and said that the net revenues could be negative. Other criticisms include the need to direct resources for focusing on earthquake readiness and addressing economic issues, and potential negative environmental impacts.
History A canal linking the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara has been proposed at least seven times.
Early proposals The first proposal was made by the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (reigned 1520–1566). His architect, Mimar Sinan, was said to have devised plans for the project. The project was abandoned for unknown reasons. On March 6, 1591, during the reign of Sultan Murad III, an imperial ferman (order) was issued and work on the project recommenced, but, again for unknown reasons, the project was stopped. In 1654, during the reign of Sultan Mehmed IV, pressure for the recommencement of the canal was applied, but to no avail. Sultan Mustafa III (reigned 1757–1774) attempted twice in 1760, but the project could not go ahead because of a lack of funds. During the reign of Sultan Mahmud II (reigned 1808–1839), an Imperial Ottoman Committee was established to examine the project once again. A report was prepared in 1813, but no concrete steps were taken.
Modern proposals The Energy Ministry's Consultant Yüksel Önem suggested constructing an alternative waterway to the Bosporus in the 1985 magazine of the Turkish Standards Institution and in the Science and Technical Magazine of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey in 1990. In 1991, Nusret Avcı, head of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Environment Commission, proposed that a canal 23 km (14 mi) long be constructed between Silivri and Karacaköy. He suggested that this channel would significantly reduce hazards of maritime traffic and pollution in the Bosporus. Finally, on January 17, 1994, shortly before the local elections, the leader of the Democratic Left Party (DSP) Bülent Ecevit proposed a canal connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. Canal Istanbul was announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in June 2021. It would be large enough to accommodate VLCC class vessels.
Project
Purpose
The stated purpose of the project is to reduce the large marine traffic through the Bosporus and minimise the risks and dangers associated particularly with tankers. About 41,000 vessels of all sizes pass yearly through the Istanbul Strait, among them 8,000 tankers carrying 145 million tons of crude oil. International pressure is growing to increase the marine traffic tonnage through the Turkish straits, which brings risks for the security of marine navigation during the passage. The Bosporus sees nearly three times the traffic of the Suez Canal. The canal will further help prevent the pollution caused by cargo vessels passing through or mooring in the Sea of Marmara before the southern entrance of the Bosporus. According to data of Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, there was a decrease in total amount of vessels, but an increase in the amount of very large vessels and the total gross tonnage. The data are shown in the following table:
Layout On January 15, 2018, the route of the project was declared. The final route for Istanbul Canal was selected after studies on five alternative routes. The Ministry of Transport announced that the project will pass through Lake Küçükçekmece near the Marmara Sea. It will pass through the districts of Avcılar and Başakşehir before reaching the Black Sea in the Arnavutköy district north of the city. Seven kilometers of the route passes through Küçükçekmece, 3.1 kilometers goes through Avcılar, 6.5 kilometers goes through Başakşehir, and the major 28.6-kilometer part of the route goes through Arnavutköy. The waterway will have a length of 45 km (28 mi), with a depth of 20.75 m (68.1 ft). Its width will be 360 m (1,180 ft) on the surface and 275 m (902 ft) wide at the bottom. The largest ship sizes that can pass through the canal were determined as 275–350 meters long, 49 meters wide, draft of 17 meters and an air draft of 58 meters.
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