Turkish exporters are looking into the possibility of utilizing maritime logistics to reduce the traffic jams at the border between Turkiye and Bulgaria. It is now focused on the transportation of vehicles into Romania through the sea. This is a strategy to alleviate bottlenecks encountered at the Kapikule and Hamzabeyli frontier gates that are the main transportation points for Turkish exports to Europe. Border crossings are often subject to long lines, especially in the peak shipping seasons. This is which is made worse by Bulgaria’s entry to the Schengen Zone and extensive pesticide testing of residues in agricultural goods.

In order to address the challenges that face them, Turkish exporters, supported by frameworks of institutions they have started the operation of a sea route. In spite of previous discussions about possible routes for Greece as well as Italy The focus now is to Constanta in Romania’s Constanta Port as a viable alternative, says Umit Mirza Cavusoglu, the president of the Western Mediterranean Exporters’ Association (BAIB). The idea is to load some of the trucks on vessels at Turkiye’s Sakarya Port and transporting them to Constanta through Constanta via Black Sea, facilitating onward journeys to different European markets.

Cavusoglu called attention to the arbitrarily delayed delay and negative experiences that nearly half the truckloads, and attributed the issue to a secret blockade enforced by Europe which has been recurring during the past three years. To address the issue, a team of Turkish exporters met recently with Romanian port officials, a sign of notable progress. It also included the setting up of a lab in Romania to conduct residue tests of vegetables and fruits, to ensure compliance to European requirements.

If the maritime option is it is implemented, will result in an initial delivery of 300 trucks a day to Romania and the potential to boost this number to 600. Although currently, the initiative is controlled by the private sector but with the support of the government within the next few months. Some concerns have been expressed about possible objections coming from Bulgaria which could lead to an escalated matter towards members of the European Union. However, the proposal has been embraced by the industry’s stakeholders, such as Serafettin Aras, head of the International Transporters’ Association, who criticized the inadequateness of the current infrastructure for border crossings in handling the movement of both import and export trucks.

Source: Daily News