TEN-YEAR REVIEW, STRATEGY FOR THE NEW DECADE

The opening session of the conference began with speeches from Mare Forum President Ioannis (Jannis) Kostoulas, Turkish Shipbuilders' Association (GİSBİR) President Murat Kıran, and the Founding Partner of Esenyel | Partners Lawyers & Consultants, Conference Chair Attorney Selçuk Esenyel, who addressed the legal framework of the conference. The session's framework was built around Mare Forum's decade-long accumulation, Turkey's geopolitical and economic positioning in global shipping, and the competitive landscape shaped along the Europe, Asia, and US axis.

The opening speakers emphasized that Turkish shipping should be evaluated not only by tonnage and the number of shipyards but also by engineering depth, legal infrastructure, access to financing, and environmental compliance capacity. The question 'Why is Turkish shipping more important today than ever?' emerged as the guiding question of the panel.

PANEL 1: STORMS, SANCTIONS, AND SEA LANES

The first panel, held after the opening, titled 'Storms, Sanctions and Sea Lanes: Turkey in a Fractured Geopolitical Seascape,' addressed Turkey's position in a fragmented geopolitical landscape. The session was chaired by Erhan Esinduy, a member of GİSBİR's Foreign Relations Committee.

The panel discussed the US-China-Europe trade tensions, the risks of sanctions stemming from Russia and Iran, the rise of LNG in the context of energy security, and the vulnerabilities in critical passages such as Suez, Panama, Hormuz, Malacca, and Venezuela. The impact of fluctuations in the container, tanker, and dry bulk segments on freight rates, as well as the reflections of these mega trends on Turkish shipowners, shipbuilders, and service providers, were debated.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PANEL

Panelists stated that the operational and financial consequences of sanction regimes have now become a daily management issue for Turkish operators, emphasizing the need for simultaneous monitoring of ship inspections, letters of credit, and insurance coverages. Expectations for the 2026-2030 period in the container, dry bulk, tanker, and LNG segments were evaluated, along with the opportunities created by route changes for Turkish-flagged and Turkish-built vessels.

KEY POINTS FROM THE SPEECHES

STRONG PARTICIPANT LIST

The panel featured participation from Turkish Shipowners' Association Vice President Ali İbrahim Kontaytekin, Goldsea International CEO Jianjun (JJ) Wang, Managing Director of Rethymnis & Kulukundis Ltd and INTERCARGO Technical Committee Chairman Dimitris Monioudis, Marlow Navigation Turkey Director Diederik Legger, Conoship International CEO Geert Dokter, GİSBİR Secretary General Mehtap Karahallı Özdemir, Marketing Manager of Beşiktaş Shipyard Tağmaç Gürev, and Executive Consultant of Marine Chemist Shipping Aydın Erdemir.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF THE CONFERENCE

The assumption of the Conference Chair by Esenyel | Partners, which constitutes the legal corpus of the conference, drew attention in terms of integrating topics such as maritime law, arbitration, and sanctions compliance into the panel flow. In sessions coordinated by Attorney Selçuk Esenyel, it was emphasized that charter party disputes, insurance and P&I processes, and compliance obligations arising from sanctions would define the agenda of Turkish maritime trade in the upcoming period.

PROGRAM CONTINUES

Throughout 2026, Mare Forum Turkey will open discussions on market dynamics, financing, alternative fuels, smart port management, cybersecurity, operational excellence, and sustainability within a multi-layered panel flow. Detailed evaluations of the sessions will continue to be featured on maritime news pages following the completion of the event.

Source: SeaNews Türkiye