Seven Tunnels for Seven Hills Project

Seven Tunnels for Seven Hills Project

Construction is continuing on the so-called Seven Tunnels for Seven Hills of İstanbul, aimed at easing traffic congestion in the city. Actually, construction of some 34 by-pass tunnels are envisioned in the project, which will cost at least $1 billion.

Several of the tunnels have been completed and opened to traffic, including the Kağıthane-Dolmabahçe Tunnel Road, which aims to end traffic jams in downtown Taksim. The vehicles coming from Sütlüce on the Golden Horn and from Trans European Highway (TEM) and Alibeyköy are taken to the tunnel via a junction, reducing travel time between Dolmabahçe, near Taksim, and Kağıthane, on the upper reaches of the Golden Horn, from 35 minutes to four.

Construction work has started on the Eurasia Tunnel, the second tube crossing the Bosphorus. The project, expected to cost $1.1 billion, will run 1.8 km south of the Marmaray from Kazlıçeşme and Cankurtaran, on the European side of the city along the Sea of Marmara, to Göztepe on the Asian side of the city and be completed in 3.5 years. Multiple entries are envisioned. Some 5.4 km of the 14.6 km highway will be underground.

“Today we are witnessing a new project for Turkey. We will construct a highway beneath the Bosphorus. With this project, it is aimed to decrease the traffic on the bridges and in the city,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told a ground-breaking ceremony in İstanbul on February 28, 2011.

A Turkish-Korean joint venture – Yapı Merkezi from Turkey and SK E&C, Kukdong, Samwhan Corp. and Hanshin from South Korea – won the tender and formed a new company ATAS-Avrasya Tunnel Construction to build the project under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme.

The Directorate of State Highways set an August tender for the 414-km Northern Marmara Highway Project by August 23, 2011.The $6.5 billion project, to be crried out on a BOT model also calls for a controversial third Bosphorus Bridge, which will connect Garipçe village on the European side of the Bosphorus to Poyrazköy on the Asian side.

Environmentalists have demurred, saying the bridge and highway will decimate İstanbul’s remaining green areas on both sides of the Bosphorus.

Tenders for four major projects for the expansion of the existing metro and light rapid rail system for İstanbul are also expected to be launched soon.

Ports - More privatization is Planned

Sea transport accounts only 0.01% of total passenger transportation and projects are on the agenda to improve this situation. The establishment of private ports and the trend towards private management of state-owned ports have gone some way towards mitigating overcrowding and inefficiency in recent years. The operational rights of the Port of Mersin were sold for $755 million.

The Privatization Higher Council (OYK) approved the sale of the State Railway’s (TCDD’s) Port of Derince, in the Gulf of İzmit, along the northeastern shores of the Sea of Marmara, for $195.250 million. Türkerler Investment Enterprise Group was the highest bidder for the transfer of the operating rights of the port. The port is located close to key industrial regions of İstanbul, İzmit and Adapazarı and is operated by the TCDD. Under the tender specifications, the winner will operate the port for 36 years, and will have to carry out $250 million in new investments. A contract will be signed pending approval from competition authorities.

Çelebi Joint Venture placed the highest bid for Turkish State Railways Administration’s (TCDD’s) Port of Bandırma, along the Asian shore of the Sea of Marmara with a $175.5 million offer. Six companies or groups bid for the Port of Samsun, along the Black Sea Coast.

The Privatization Administration (ÖİB) is likely to hold a new tender for the transferof the operating rights of the Port of Izmir possibly in 2012 after Global Holding and Hutchison Joint Venture, which also included the Aegean Exporters’ Association and Deutche Bank, failed to line up financing for $1.275 billion purchase. Deutche Bank withdrew from the consortium when the global economic crisis struck the European banking system, leaving the winning consortium in a financial lurch. The consortium appeared to have failed to find a new banking partner and could not come up with financing. The ÖİB had invited the consortium for contract signing last fall after the Council of State waved aside a 20-month court injunction against the privatization of the port, but decided to invite the rival Çelebi Holding in its place when the consortium sought to postpone contract signing indefinitely. The State Railways Administration (TCDD) owns the port, Turkey’s third biggest maritime gateway after Haydarpasa Port in İstanbul and the Port of Mersin on the Mediterranean. Under the tender conditions, the new owners will operate the port for 49 years.

The Council of State, Turkey’s supreme administrative court, indefinitely blocked the sales of the Port of Iskenderun, on the Mediterranean.

The İstanbul Municipality sold the İstanbul sea bus company, İstanbul Deniz Otobüsleri A.Ş. (İDO), which operates 25 high-speed sea buses and 10 high-speed ferry boats to a Turkish-Scottish Joint venture (See section on privatization).

The operation and rehabilitation of Salıpazarı Port, İstanbul’s passenger liner gateway, is being retendered in 2011. An earlier tender, won by a consortium led by Royal Caribbean Cruises with a bid of $4.3 billion, was cancelled by the Council of State because of irregularities.. The government wants to transfer the operational rights of the port, rather than privatize it, on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT Scheme). The new port, formerly known as Galataport, will help transform Karakoy (Pera), a former 15^th Century Venetian neighborhood with rundown, crowded, old apartment buildings, shabby business offices, port facilities, mosques, churches and synagogues, into the “new Barcelona” of İstanbul, in a major urban renewal. Some 5,000 historic buildings in the district will be renovated, and İstanbul’s public brothels, located in Karakoy, will be moved outside the city. Salıpazarı Port, located between TDI Headquarters in Karakoy, next to the ferryboat landings, and Chamber of Maritime Commerce in Findikli, would include three hotels, restaurants, cinemas, convention centers, new customs facilities, cultural centers, playgrounds, a shopping center, a museum and a large automobile park, and a new quay.

Ege Ports Company has invested $20 million in Kuşadası Port since 2003, when it was given the operational rights of the port. On the occasion of the hosting of Emerald Princess in early April 2007, the biggest cruise ship ever to come to Turkey with 3,000 passengers aboard, Gregory M. Kiez chairman of the board of Ege Ports, said that the company started to earn back on its investment, made in 2003, and that Ege Ports has become an important port for cruise ships. He also said that they expect 32 new ships to start cruises within the next three years. “We will invest another $10 million to enlarge the port by 100 square meters,” said Kiez.

He also added that Ege Ports is a model for all other Turkish ports because it owns the ISPS Code, which is unique in Turkey. The company secured routine voyages of world's first class cruise ships by offering international standards in its port.

According to Kiez, investments had a positive effect on traffic because the number of passengers increased from 275,000 in 2004 to 360,000 in 2005 to 425,000 in 2006. He expected the number to increase to 650,000 with 626 voyages planned for 2007.

Ege Ports also own 40% of the Antalya Port, in which it plans to invest $5 million in 2007.

Royal Caribbean Cruises, the second largest cruise company, owns 27.5% of the shares of Ege Ports. The remaining shares belong to Global Investment Company of İstanbul.