The capacity of a major port situated in Türkiye's southern province of Mersin is planned to be increased from 2.6 million TEU to 3.6 million TEU, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced on Monday.
Under a new expansion project, the port, already playing a significant role in the country's exports and connectivity would be able to host even larger ships than at present.
Mersin Port handles 22% of Türkiye’s exports in container cargo and 7% in conventional cargo, Uraloğlu said in a written statement.
The port is an import and export gate for Türkiye’s central Anatolia, Mediterranean and southeastern Anatolia regions as well as a transit center for Middle Eastern countries, the minister said.
"The port is connected to the country and the Middle Eastern countries by land, air and rail. Mersin Port is the most important connection point to the leading industrial cities of Türkiye, as well as to Iraq, Syria and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries," he added.
"We aim to get a larger share from the developing freight traffic of neighboring countries," he further noted.
Stressing that the Mersin Port plays an important role in the country's maritime trade, Uraloğlu said that 31.45 million tons of cargo were handled at the port in 2023, which accounted for 6% of all cargo handled at the Turkish ports.
Emphasizing the strategic position of the port in the maritime sector, the minister pointed out that it attracted attention with its successful handling of 1.94 million TEU containers in 2023.
"The total amount of containers handled throughout our country was recorded as 12.55 million TEU and Mersin Port's share in this area is 15.5%. Considering the performance of Mersin Port, the expansion project has gained importance to get a greater share of the sector," he noted.
He also informed that currently, one mega-ship can dock at the EMH-I Terminal, which was put into service in 2016, and that with the EMH-II Project, the EMH-I dock will be extended by 380 meters (nearly 1,250 feet) to serve two mega container ships at the same time.
With the completion of the Mersin Port Expansion Project, two 400-meter mega-ships can dock at the same time at the 880-meter dock, the minister said, adding that the expansion is expected to be completed in 2026.
