Which court for your port? Jurisdiction over a vessel in Türkiye

In Türkiye the port decides the court. For a foreign-flagged vessel the arrest can be ordered only by the court of the place where she is anchored, moored to a buoy, berthed or on a slipway (TCC art. 1355); for a Turkish-flagged vessel that court or the court of the port of registry (TCC art. 1354). The enforcement office of the same place executes the order (TCC art. 1364), and the harbour master of the port is notified (TCC art. 1366). This guide explains how that works across the fifteen ports on this site, and what it changes for a claimant.

Why the flag does not decide

The Code's rule for foreign-flagged vessels is exclusive: no other Turkish court can order the arrest (TCC art. 1355), and a Turkish court is competent to order it even though the contract points to arbitration or a foreign court and even though foreign law governs the claim (TCC art. 1356). If proceedings on the merits are already pending abroad, the arrest is still sought from the court of the port until a final judgment or award (TCC art. 1357). Absent an agreed forum, the arrest court then also hears the action on the merits and the executing enforcement office conducts the enforcement (TCC art. 1359).

Which court in which port

Where there are several commercial courts, the Council of Judges and Prosecutors may assign one or more of them exclusively to cases on maritime commerce and marine insurance (TCC art. 5). It has done so in Istanbul and İzmir: in Istanbul, where since July 2026 a single set of commercial courts at the Çağlayan courthouse covers the whole province, maritime cases go to the 17th Commercial Court, and in İzmir to the 5th Commercial Court, whose jurisdiction covers the whole province, Aliağa included.

• Provincial commercial courts. Elsewhere the commercial court of first instance with jurisdiction over the port is the court of the port: Kocaeli (Gebze for its own district), Tekirdağ, Bursa for Gemlik, Muğla for Bodrum, Marmaris and Fethiye, Antalya, Mersin, İskenderun for the whole of Hatay, Samsun and Trabzon.
• No commercial court. Where none sits — at Çanakkale — the civil court of first instance hears commercial cases (TCC art. 1292).

Court allocations are set by the Council and change from time to time; we confirm the court when we file. Each port page states the court, the enforcement office and the harbour master for that port, and the tool gives the same answer from the port name.

What it changes for the claimant

• Vessel at anchor. A vessel waiting at anchor — in the Straits anchorages at Çanakkale or off the Bosphorus, or in the roads off Mersin or Samsun — is arrested by the court of the anchorage place. A vessel in transit is not at anchor; the order can still be enforced with coast guard help until she leaves Turkish waters (TCC art. 1367), but the application must be made where she is.
• Three business days. The order must be taken to the enforcement office within three business days or it lapses (TCC art. 1364). Filing in the right courthouse, close to the enforcement office that will act, is what makes that possible.
• Sister ships. Where the vessel connected with the claim is not in Türkiye but another vessel of the person liable is, the application goes to the court of the port where that vessel lies (TCC arts 1355, 1369).
• Collisions. Evidence may be preserved before any action by the commercial court at the place of the collision — in Istanbul, the court that deals with maritime matters (TCC art. 1292).
• Crew claims under the Maritime Labour Law. For a Turkish-flagged vessel, disputes under the employment agreement go to the labour court at the port of registry unless the agreement provides otherwise (Law No. 854 art. 46); the arrest, however, is still sought where the vessel lies.

Updates to this guide