Our History

History

The legal regulation for the establishment of the Chambers of Shipping in Türkiye was made in 1981 with Law numbered 5590. Following the first Chamber of Shipping established in İstanbul in 1982, Mersin Chamber of Shipping was established on March 13, 1989, with the approval of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (approval number 12521).

Mersin Chamber of Shipping, which is subject to the provisions of the law numbered 5174 on the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye and Chambers and Commodity Exchanges published in the Official Gazette numbered 25479 on June 01, 2004; is a “Professional Organization with a Legal Entity and Public Institution Status” established to meet the common needs of its members and to facilitate their professional activities, to ensure the development of the maritime profession in accordance with the general interests, to provide services written in the law, to protect professional discipline, ethics and solidarity to make honesty and trust prevail in the relations of its members with each other and with their interlocutors in both domestic and abroad.

As one of the two independent Chambers of Shipping in Türkiye, Mersin Chamber of Shipping’s jurisdiction is within the borders of Mersin province and there are many coastal facilities within its jurisdiction. These coastal facilities are;

• Mersin International Port Management Inc. (MIP),
• Port of Mersin Free Zone Company,
• Mersin-Ataş Fuel Terminal,
• Mersin Poaş – NATO Fuel Terminal,
• Karaduvar Akpet Petroleum Oil Buoy,
• Kazanlı Opet Petroleum Oil Buoy,
• Kazanlı Altınbaş Petroleum Oil Buoy,
• Karaduvar Savka Offshore Platform,
• Kazanlı Nergis (Balpet) Oil Buoy,
• Kazanlı Euroil Petroleum Oil Buoy,
• Adanalıoğlu Energy Petroleum Oil Buoy,
• Adanalıoğlu Euroil Petroleum Oil Buoy,
• Ceyport Taşucu Port,
• Taşucu Municipality Pier,
• Yeşilovacık Medcem (Cement) Port,
• Anamur Municipality Pier.

Furthermore, coastal facilities such as Mersin Marina, Erdemli Kumkuyu Marina and fishing ports (Karaduvar, Erdemli, Taşucu, Yeşilovacık, Aydıncık and Bozyazı) located in our region are other facilities in the field of activity of the Mersin Chamber of Shipping.

Mersin Chamber of Shipping was established in 1989 and the Chamber carried out its services between the years 1989 and 1992 in the office of the Mersin Association of Shipowners and Agents at the Sülün Office Building on İstiklal Street, and afterwards served on the 2nd floor of the Mersin Chamber of Commerce and Industry Service Building until 2002. On May 11, 2002, Mersin Chamber of Shipping moved to its own service building at “Pirireis Neighbourhood, İsmet İnönü Boulevard, No:45, Yenişehir District, Mersin Province” and continues to provide its services at the same address. Mersin Chamber of Shipping, which primarily provides services for the maritime sector, also supports activities carried out in Mersin in the fields of education, culture and arts, sports, etc. and engages in social and cultural activities.

Educational support, particularly maritime education, has been among the priority issues of the Chamber since its establishment. In 2009, Mersin Chamber of Shipping Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, whose construction was completed by our Chamber, was delivered to the Provincial Directorate of National Education by providing educational materials and was taken into service in the 2009-2010 academic year. The high school, which bears the name of our Chamber, has continued to be supported since then, and efforts have been made to improve the quality of education. Mersin Chamber of Shipping is currently the tutelar of Mersin Chamber of Shipping Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School within the scope of the protocol signed between the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), the Ministry of National Education, and the TOBB University of Economics & Technology.

The support provided by Mersin Chamber of Shipping to maritime education continued to cover both the Faculty and the High School while supporting the Mersin University Maritime Faculty and Mersin University Vocational School of Maritime in terms of materials and education. In 2020, the construction of a new building was started in Mersin University Çiftlikköy Campus to increase the equipment and education capacity of the Faculty and to support it to become a preferred faculty throughout the country. It is aimed that Mersin University Mersin Chamber of Shipping Maritime Faculty, whose rough construction has been completed by 2022 and will bear the name of our Chamber, will be delivered to Mersin University in 2024.

Among the supports provided for education by our Chamber, mainly in the field of maritime, there are scholarship support for higher education students, stationery and equipment support in coordination with our umbrella organization, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye. In addition, various activities are carried out by our Chamber to endear the sea and seafaring, and support is provided to increase the success of Mersin and our country in sea sports such as swimming and sailing. Our Chamber contributes to awareness raising activities and training on the marine environment. In this context, our Chamber cooperates with the Coast Guard Mediterranean Regional Command, plans and implements training and beach clean-up activities with other non-governmental and voluntary organizations such as TURMEPA, Slow Fish, etc. operating in this field. In the field of sea sports, Yiğit Aslan, a successful swimmer in the stars category, has been supported for 5 years, and Miray Ulaş, a young athlete, has been supported since 2020.

To promote the maritime in the city, Mersin Chamber of Shipping has given support to the establishment of the Mersin Maritime Museum in 2011 and continued its support in the following years. Within the scope of the Ertuğrul Project, artefacts recovered from the Ertuğrul Frigate, which sank in Japan in 1890, have been permanently exhibited at the Mersin Maritime Museum since April 2016 thanks to the initiatives of our Chamber. Mersin Chamber of Shipping, which also contributes to the social and cultural life of the city, has supported the construction and technical material needs of health and cultural centers such as Mersin Cultural Center, Mersin Diabetes Hospital, Mersin University Hospital, and has contributed to the events bearing the name of the city such as Mersin Music Festival and Mersin Citrus Festival.