Regulation on Maritime and Inland Waters Navigation Notices Published

The Regulation on Maritime and Inland Waters Navigation Notices (“Regulation”), which establishes the procedures and principles for the preparation of navigation notices in order to ensure the safety of navigation, life, property, and the environment in Turkey’s seas and inland waters, as well as the authorities and responsibilities of the General Directorate of Maritime Affairs, the Seyir, Hydrography and Oceanography Department (“SHOD”), the General Directorate of Coastal Safety (“KEGM”), Port Authorities, facility-owning or operating institutions, and other relevant institutions, was published in the Official Gazette dated 28 August 2025 and numbered 33000.

The regulations introduced under the Regulation are summarized below for your information.

Notifications Required for the Preparation of Navigation Notices Established

With the Regulation, the situations requiring the issuance of navigation notices have been comprehensively specified. Accordingly, malfunctions or damages to navigation aids, wrecks, obstructions, shallows, and reefs that pose significant hazards to mariners, as well as newly established or decommissioned navigation aids, are designated as subjects for navigation notices. Furthermore, search and rescue operations, pollution prevention activities, submarine cable or pipeline laying works, military exercises, piracy, and armed robbery incidents are listed among the circumstances necessitating a navigation notice under the Regulation. In addition, tsunamis, meteorological developments, and health warnings of international navigational relevance that may directly affect maritime activities are also required to be communicated to relevant parties through navigation notices. In this manner, a legal framework has been established to ensure that all developments directly impacting the safety of mariners and navigational security are regularly, promptly, and in accordance with international standards, effectively communicated.

The Regulation also establishes the procedures for notifying the competent authorities of situations that may give rise to a navigation notice. In this context, the Regulation requires that, in order to ensure the safety of life and property at sea, the notification must, at a minimum, include information regarding the nature of the hazard, its location, its expected duration, and, if it is a planned activity, the periods it will cover. Accordingly, circumstances necessitating the issuance of a navigation notice must be reported to the SHOD either by electronic mail or through the “Navigation Hazard Notification Form” annexed to the Regulation. Such notifications are classified, depending on their nature, as regional, coastal, or local notices, and are subsequently disseminated to mariners through various communication channels.

Furthermore, in accordance with the Regulation, meteorological warnings that may directly affect maritime activities are required to be transmitted directly to the Turkish Radio Stations Center by the General Directorate of Meteorology.

Duties and Responsibilities of Competent Authorities

Within the scope of the Regulation, the duties and responsibilities of various authorities have been comprehensively defined to ensure that maritime activities are conducted safely and in an orderly manner.

i. Directorate General of Maritime Affairs: The Directorate General of Maritime Affairs acts as the central authority in the determination of maritime safety policies and strategies. In this capacity, it is responsible for ensuring that communication and notification services, including distress signals, between ships and other maritime vessels in national and international waters are properly conducted; for guiding national maritime policies and strategies; and for evaluating requests for permits that require navigational warnings while coordinating with the relevant authorities and institutions as necessary. In addition, the Directorate General monitors developments related to maritime safety at the International Maritime Organization and other international bodies, issues notifications related to search and rescue operations, and, where necessary, ensures the dissemination of local notices through the Main Search and Rescue Coordination Centre.

ii. SHOD: SHOD serves as the national authority responsible for the preparation and coordination of navigational warnings. By evaluating the notifications submitted to it, SHOD prepares the navigational warnings in both Turkish and English in accordance with the S-53 standard of the International Hydrographic Organization; determines the broadcasting stations and schedules for such warnings; and communicates them to the relevant authorities. Furthermore, SHOD is responsible for verifying the accuracy of issued warnings, ensuring the updating of charts and nautical publications, disseminating information regarding newly established or modified navigational aids to mariners, and maintaining the necessary archival records.

iii. KEGM: Acting as the National NAVTEX Coordinator, KEGM is responsible for disseminating navigational warnings received from the Directorate General of Meteorology and SHOD to mariners via the NAVTEX system in accordance with international standards. KEGM is also obliged to promptly forward any reported hazards to SHOD, ensure the updating of information regarding changes to navigational aids, maintain records of broadcasts made through NAVTEX, and monitor international developments to implement necessary adjustments.

iv. Other Relevant Institutions, Organizations, and Mariners: They are obliged to report any situations that may threaten navigational safety to the relevant Port Authorities and SHOD in accordance with applicable legislation, fully comply with the procedures and requirements set forth therein, and contribute to the maintenance of navigational safety.

Duties and Responsibilities of Port Authorities

Port Authorities hold a key role in ensuring maritime safety at the local level and are responsible for identifying hazards that have occurred or may potentially occur within their areas of jurisdiction, as well as for submitting the necessary notifications. Within this scope, their duties and obligations can be summarized as follows:

i. Reporting Navigational Hazards: In the event that situations arise or are likely to arise within their area of responsibility that may endanger navigation, life, or property, such incidents shall be promptly reported to SHOD.

ii. Coordination with Local Stakeholders: Collaborate with fishing cooperatives, marinas, municipal facilities, city piers, and other relevant establishments to ensure that any changes related to facilities and navigational aids are communicated to KEGM and SHOD.

iii. Monitoring Coastal Lines and Depths: In cases where construction activities or natural events result in changes to coastal lines or sea depths that may affect navigation safety, report such changes to SHOD to facilitate the necessary hydrographic surveys.

iv. publication of Local Notices: Ensure the dissemination of local navigational notices provided by SHOD to mariners in Turkish and/or English, oversee their publication, maintain records of when and by which means these notices are published, and report as necessary.

v. Reporting of Malfunctions: Ensure that any malfunctions of navigational aids occurring within their area of responsibility are reported to KEGM.

Duties and Responsibilities of Facility Owners or Operators

Facility owners or operators bear direct responsibility for ensuring the continuity of navigational safety. Within this framework, the duties and obligations of facility owners or operators can be summarized as follows:

i. Obligation for Periodic Inspection and Monitoring: Regularly inspect the facilities they have constructed or are responsible for operating, and ensure monitoring of any elements that may compromise navigational safety.

ii. Obligation to Report Malfunctions and Hazards: In the event of malfunctions, breakages, displacements, or drifting of any components that could affect navigational safety, promptly notify the relevant port authority through the fastest available communication channel, specifying the time the incident occurred.

iii. Malfunctions of Navigational Aids: In cases where navigational aids under their operational responsibility malfunction, report the situation to the port authorities without delay.

Administrative Sanctions

Under the Regulation, facilities as well as fishing associations/cooperatives that bear maintenance and upkeep responsibilities are obligated to fulfill their duties concerning navigational safety. Accordingly, in the event of the displacement, breakage, or drifting of objects that may endanger navigational safety, non-compliance of lighthouses and lighted buoys with national and international standards, absence of required compliance certificates, or failure to timely report malfunctions to the relevant Port Authorities, administrative fines shall be imposed on the parties failing to fulfill these responsibilities by the relevant Port Authorities in accordance with Article 11 of the Ports Law No. 618.

Effective Date

The provisions of the Regulation, to be executed by the President, entered into force on the date of its publication, 28.08.2025.