With 2,600 guests flocking to Istanbul from every corner of the world on 28 June, the Bosphorus Ship Brokers Dinner 2024 set a record attendance reflecting Turkey’s growing stature in the global maritime scene.
“Turkish shipping has had a good three years after Covid … it is in a good state now,” said host Ismail Sahin, president of the Turkish Shipbrokers Association.
The bitter experience of a previous boom-and-crash cycle about 20 years ago has made players on the Bosphorus wiser, according to Sahin, who sees owners reinvesting excess profits in shipping rather than outside the industry.
The growth in Turkish tonnage also spills over into increased business for the local broking scene.
“Chartering houses are growing a lot,” said Sahin.
The crowds gathered at the 6th Ship Brokers Dinner reflect the growth amplified by Turkey’s strategic location and its predominant role in short-haul shipping in the region.
Managers, brokers and owners involved with coasters, multipurpose vessels, general cargo ships and chemical tankers were particularly conspicuous, mixing with sale-and-purchase and newbuilding brokers from Athens, Genoa, and the representatives of Japanese yards and Far Eastern leasing houses.
The growth of the Turkish Shipbrokers Association is also characteristic of the booming shipping scene. From modest beginnings uniting a dozen brokers in 2010, Sahin now leads a more influential organisation with 400 members. Bahadir Tonguc, chairman of the Turkish branch of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS), reminisced how he was invited to a small office to help found the association 14 years ago.
“I knew how to design a logo, make a website and do bylaws, so they made me vice president,” he said.
In another sign of how far the local shipbroking scene has come, the ICS used this year’s Bosphorus dinner as a fitting backdrop to formally launch the Turkish branch as the ICS’ 27th chapter worldwide and the 20th outside the UK.
“This has been a long time coming … the ICS does not open branches lightly,” said ICS director Robert Hill, who attended a ceremony alongside ICS international chairman Louis Bernat.
ICS Turkey offers a telling example of the advantages of Turkey’s unique location.
One-quarter of the growing number of students sitting ICS exams in Istanbul are currently brokers from Ukraine and Russia.
“In Ukraine, it is too dangerous to hold ICS exams and in Russia it’s impossible,” said Roman Sorochenkov, a board member in charge of educational matters for ICS Turkey.
Tamer Kiran and Cihan Ergenc, heads of the Turkish Chamber of Shipping and the Turkish Shipowners Association, respectively, provided key support to establish the ICS Turkey branch.
“We are a still small community in a big country — we have to move together, this is how we gain strength,” Tonguc said.
