Capai Kesepakatan Tentu Asuransi Dengan Turki, 19 Kapal Tanker Menjatul Selat Bosphorus

Illustration of queues of tankers. (Wikimedia Commons/Joost J. Bakker)

JAKARTA- Turkey welcomed the agreement reached with a number of its partners on Tuesday regarding the continuation of a new regulation requiring crude oil tankers to show insurance confirmation letters before transiting in the Turkish strait.

Turkey's actions, which took effect on December 1, require ships to provide insurance evidence during transit through the Bosphorus Strait or when anchored at the Turkish port.

The regulations led to delays in shipments, up to 20 tankers waiting at the same time in the Black Sea last week, as they sought to show the required documents.

Turkish Maritime Authority said 22 of the 26 crude oil tankers arriving at Bosphorus had provided the necessary letters, 19 of which had passed the strait.

Four ships are still waiting in the Black Sea and authorities are still waiting for an insurance confirmation letter, before allowing them to pass through Bosporus, which divides Istanbul, he added.

"It would be nice that the talks we had with our colleagues have ended, with the acceptance of our new regulation that would protect Turkey's straits and maritime trade continuing as usual," the maritime authorities said.

Separately, Western insurance companies said the regulations meant they should provide protection even if ships violate sanctions against countries including Russia, which is something they are not ready to do.

Meanwhile, Norwegian ship insurance company Gard confirmed an agreement had been reached that would allow the ship carrying the crude cargo to continue their voyage.

A Gard spokesman added that they were pleased the deal was finally reached.

Industry sources said the new templates had been used by several Western insurance companies to allow some tankers caught in sailing.

It is known, the average waiting time in Bosphorus for the south-ward tanker fell to 2.9 days to 3.4 days from 3.8 days to 4.3 days on Monday, shipping agency Tribeca said. The average waiting time peaked above 6 days last week.

Turkish regulations come into force before a price limit of 60 US dollars per barrel is imposed on Russia's cross-sea crude on December 5.

Millions of barrels of oil per day move south from Russian ports through the Strait of Bosphorus and Turkey's Dardanelles, to head into the Mediterranean.