Cyprus-Forum.com

[Lit]

Turkey has sent ships to carry out dredging and deepening works in the ports and the fishing shelters in the occupied areas of Cyprus

Under the front-page title Is it oil? Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (28.07.09) reports that unusual pictures are seen in the touristic harbour of occupied Keryneia, where two huge ships from Turkey have anchored. The paper notes that this fact caused comments related to the researches for oil in the Mediterranean Sea.

Officials stated that the special ships will carry out dredging and deepening works in the TRNC ports and the fishing shelters, writes the paper adding that the self-styled minister of public works and transport, Hasan Tacoy said that other legal works will also be carried out, but he did not clarify what these works are. The ships under the name of Kazar 3 and Camur 7, which are bound to the General Directorate of Izmirs Railways, Ports and Airports, will be carrying out dredging and deepening works in all the ports and fishing shelters of the occupied areas of Cyprus as of today starting from the western coasts.

The paper notes, inter alia, the following: The works will last four months. Hasan Tacoy, noting that the legal works will be completed within a short period of time, said that in September we shall bring it to a situation so that it will be possible for it to be taken to the assembly. It was noted that the protocol regarding this issue was signed between Turkey and the TRNC on 21 May 2009.

[Nikitas]

They are obviously preparing the way for the rail link between Turkey and the TRNC.

[YFred]

They are obviously preparing the way for the rail link between Turkey and the TRNC.

I know nothing about shipping, but I 'd say they are preparing the ports for containers and oil tanker handling. And it's just a hunch.
What is the opininon of Kicking Shit?

[Kikapu]

They are obviously preparing the way for the rail link between Turkey and the TRNC.

I know nothing about shipping, but I 'd say they are preparing the ports for containers and oil tanker handling. And it's just a hunch.
What is the opininon of Kicking Shit?

It's so nice that you have finally leaned your place with me, YFreak.!

I think they are going to build a underwater rail tunnel so that all those goods that the "trnc" produces to the 70+ million Turks can get there much faster, because at present, the ferry takes way too long.!

[Nikitas]

Container handling is a matter of ground installations- cranes, tractors, etc plus the logistics and software to keep track of thousands of containers.

Handling tankers, especially ULCC and VLCC sized vessels is beyond the ability of any Cypriot port. In fact it is beyond the ability of most ports which is why there are specialist offshore pumping stations to allow the ships to unload from some distance.

The draft- below surface depth- of supertankers is about equal to the height of the ship when unloaded, which is to say it is bloody deep, no amount of dredging can make Kyrenia or Famagusta tanker capable.

Judging by the time estimated, ie a few weeks of dredging, this sounds like a narrow scope operation to clean up the sea bed of the ports and nothing more.

[shahmaran]

Maybe they are preparing for the marinas and ports people were talking about?

[Nikitas]

Holy shit, not another marina enthusiast!

What on earth is a yachtsman going to do in Cyprus! Ever thought about that? You think it is fun to sail around a big island with nor particular beauty spots or other islands within a short distance?

Cypriots hear of marinas in Turkey and Greece and think "if they can we can". It is not the same. You leave a marina in the Aegean and within an hour you are on another island. You dont have to be pouned to a pulp in a floating box, which is what a boat is to most summer sailors. You leave Kyrenia harbor and in one hour you go where exactly? Same goes for Limassol marina, you go to..... Paphos. Wow, what a change of scene that is!

Lay off the marinas guys, north and south. Cyprus is not now and will not be in the future a yachting paradise.

[shahmaran]

Holy shit, not another marina enthusiast!

What on earth is a yachtsman going to do in Cyprus! Ever thought about that? You think it is fun to sail around a big island with nor particular beauty spots or other islands within a short distance?

Cypriots hear of marinas in Turkey and Greece and think "if they can we can". It is not the same. You leave a marina in the Aegean and within an hour you are on another island. You dont have to be pouned to a pulp in a floating box, which is what a boat is to most summer sailors. You leave Kyrenia harbor and in one hour you go where exactly? Same goes for Limassol marina, you go to..... Paphos. Wow, what a change of scene that is!

Lay off the marinas guys, north and south. Cyprus is not now and will not be in the future a yachting paradise.

Well as a matter of fact we did own a yacht for years and used to spend a lot of time sailing around the North coast in the past and also recently with a rental yacht. I have also spent time sailing between Istanbul and the Western coasts of Turkey.

So I have difficulty understanding what you mean Nikitas?

What DO you mean?

Are you saying people who cross the Atlantic are just wasting time because there is nothing to see in the next hour?

Are you saying that our coasts are simply shit and not worth the effort?

If I had the time and the opportunity I would absolutely LOVE to travel the Southern coasts and the coasts facing Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Libya, up to Crete, across the Southern coast of Turkey and back home

Unfortunately it is hard to care fora yacht over here for the moment as there are not enough facilities plus the fact that you get illegally harassed by the coast guard of the RoC if you have even visited the North coasts, let alone being from the TRNC

[Nikitas]

The people who are able to cross the Atlantic are not the kind of people who make the bulk of summer yachties, ie the clients who leave money.

Money is made from tourists who want to pretend they are yachtsmen and like short daily sails in safe conditions. Short sails with a variety of scenery is what the Aegean offers. This is called flotilla sailing.

Then there are the megayacht owners who like to moor their boats and use them as floating hotels and expect an interesting and sophisticated harbor scene, ie Monte Carlo.

These are the clients that make marinas worth building. These are the clients who will not come to CYprus, north or south.

Cyprus simply does not have the scenery or the sheer class to attract this kind of tourist. I may be a Cypriot but have travelled around the Med a lot and can tell you that for all our pride in our island, well, it is not exactly a beauty spot.

[shahmaran]

Well I do see your point but for me the beauty of Cyprus is definitely an acquired taste

I am assuming some people do see that there is an opportunity on the island or they would not spend millions on building the marina.