ISTANBUL - The process of finding materials to fully load a ship has been getting harder each day. Under these conditions many ships remain anchored offshore near by Istanbul’s Ahırkapı, Tuzla and Kartal districts, key locations for Turkey’s sea trade. Due to a lack of business, load transportation prices have declined as much as 98 percent.

Daily ship rental, which peaked in 2006 at $200,000, has declined to anywhere between $3,000 to $4,000 nowadays, said Erol Yücel, assembly chairman of the Turkish Chamber of Shipping, or DTO.

The daily cost of a 100,000-ton ship remaining anchored offshore is around $7,000, Yücel said, demanding a better location to dock until the impact of the crisis lessens. "A ship anchored offshore consumes two tons of diesel a day just to operate its generators. Adding personnel costs to that figure really escalates the cost of keeping a ship anchored offshore."

Cutting costs

Demanding an area for ships to dock from authorities, Yücel said, "We can keep the ships there until the crisis is over. Then we can at least cut our diesel and staff costs. We can solve our problems simply with a few guards. That would be enough to reduce our costs to $1,000 or $2,000." Yücel said there were appropriate locations, particularly in the region south of Marmara, such as Erdek.

Ship prices down

Due to the crisis, ship prices have declined significantly, said Yücel. "A ship that would be sold for $30 million six months ago, today can get a buyer for only $3 million," he said, "[The prices have declined drastically] because many people are trying to sell their ships as soon as possible, as it is hard to keep up with the expenditure an inactive ship creates."

People are not only trying to get rid of ships they own, they have also been backing out of their ship orders. The construction of 193 ships has been canceled due to the crisis, said Yücel.

Jobs in the industry have also been suffering, said Murat Bayrak, chairman of the Turkish Shipbuilders’ Association, or GİSBİR. The industry used to have trouble meeting demand prior to the crisis. However, following the impact of the crisis, many orders have been withdrawn and employees have been affected by this drop in business volume, said Bayrak, "To date, approximately 8,000 workers have been laid off. If the impacts of the crisis continue at this rate, the figure is likely to rise further."