Sanmar secures a 20-year tugboat operation contract in Kocaeli-1 with a 34% public share, raising concerns over labor costs in the industry.
The critical tender organized by the General Directorate of Maritime Affairs of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure for the Kocaeli-1 Regional Service Area has concluded, encompassing the transfer of the 20-year tugboat operation rights for the region.
The winner of the bargaining and auction process, which started with a 30% base share for the increase and was closely followed by the sector, was Sanmar with a 34% public share offer. With this result, Sanmar has earned the right to provide tugboat services for 20 years in the Kocaeli-1 area, one of Turkey's busiest logistics routes.
The Silent Story Behind the Numbers: Pilotage and Tugboat Services
Sanmar's victory in the tender with a 34% public share has also brought about a natural comparison in the maritime sector. It is worth recalling that the pilotage tender conducted for the same region last October resulted in a remarkably high public share rate of 80%.
With the same sea, the same ports, and the same ships in question, this significant proportional difference between the two services has raised concerns within the sector. In industry circles, this situation is interpreted with the well-known saying, 'It is not the depth of the well, but the shortness of the rope,' reflecting a rather naive yet profoundly sad reality. The issue is not merely the low 34% share in the tugboat tender; rather, it is the heavy, human burden that the 80% share in the pilotage tender carries.
Steel Ships and Human Labor
The harsh realities of market conditions are always felt in maritime affairs. The costs of tugboats made from tons of steel, equipped with massive engines, are well-known in international markets; it is hardly possible to produce or operate them cheaply.
However, when it comes to human labor, the question arises as to how far the boundaries can be stretched. Discussions in the sector suggest that the easiest way to reduce costs and elevate the public share to such heights is, unfortunately, to sacrifice human labor.
Yet, pilotage is a profession too delicate and vital to be confined to numbers. Our pilot captains, who risk their lives while climbing meters high on a thin cross (rope ladder) amidst the fierce waves in the darkness of night, are the invisible heroes of maritime safety. While the market value of steel tugboats is preserved, the lives and hard work of the captains who climb that cross at the cost of their lives seem to have quietly turned into sacrifice under the shadow of that massive 80% share.
The maritime community now hopes for a balance where, alongside these high-standard physical investments, human labor and the seafarers who bear that labor will also receive the value they deserve.
Source: SeaNews Türkiye
