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Türkiye will increase the gold franc value used to calculate fees for ships transiting the Turkish Straits without a port call to $6.70 on July 1, in the latest annual adjustment since Ankara began revising the fee benchmark in 2022.
The new rate represents a nearly 15% increase from the current benchmark of $5.83 and will remain in effect until June 30, 2027.
Under the framework of the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits, vessels transiting the Istanbul and Canakkale straits without a port call are charged for services such as health inspections, lighthouse operations and rescue assistance.
The fees are calculated based on a vessel's net tonnage (NRT) and denominated in gold francs, a historical accounting unit established under the 1936 convention. Equivalent to approximately 0.290322 grams of pure gold, the gold franc serves as the benchmark for calculating transit charges, with Türkiye setting its dollar value periodically.
A vessel with a net tonnage of 10,000 is expected to pay about $25,000 in total transit fees after July 1, 2026, according to calculations by Turkish news outlet milliyet.com.tr.
In 2022, Türkiye began updating the dollar value assigned to the gold franc, ending a 39-year period during which the benchmark had remained fixed at $0.80 despite significant increases in gold prices and maritime operating costs. Before the revisions began, a vessel with a net tonnage of 10,000 paid about $3,240 in total transit fees.
The benchmark was first raised to $4.08 on Oct. 7, 2022, before increasing to $4.42 in 2023, $5.07 in 2024 and $5.83 in 2025.
The higher benchmark has significantly boosted Türkiye's revenue from strait transits. Annual income from passage fees, which previously ranged between $20 million and $30 million, climbed to nearly $300 million last year.
According to the provided figures, 40,172 vessels transited the Bosphorus in 2025, carrying a total cargo volume of 619.3 million tons.
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