Ship navigation in the Black Sea, which was temporarily restricted due to safety concerns stemming from the Russia-Ukraine war, has resumed.

Reuters reported on the 9th local time that a Turkish government official stated that vessels are smoothly moving into the Black Sea through the Turkish straits.

Bloomberg also cited vessel tracking data, stating that the crude oil tanker Aegean Dream, which had been waiting nearby since the 6th, entered the Dardanelles Strait, and the container ship Mehmet Kahveci A also passed through the strait on the same day.

The destination for both ships is the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

Previously, Bloomberg reported on the 8th that Turkey's Directorate General of Coastal Safety had not been issuing transit permits for certain vessels heading to Russia or Ukraine.

This was interpreted as a measure following an increase in attacks on merchant vessels in the Black Sea due to recent clashes between Russia and Ukraine.

Earlier on the 6th, a cargo ship owned by a German company was targeted by a Russian drone attack in the Black Sea, and on the 3rd, two Turkish merchant vessels departing from Novorossiysk came under drone attacks.

In response, Turkey has urged both Russia and Ukraine to halt attacks in the Black Sea and take measures to ensure navigational safety.

Turkish officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that temporary measures were implemented due to concerns over the security situation, but passage through the straits remains permissible under the Montreux Convention.

Concluded in 1936, the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits grants Turkey control over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits—the sole passage connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean—while guaranteeing the freedom of passage for civilian vessels.

(Photo: Yonhap News)