ABSTRACT

Today, about 90% of trade activities are carried out by sea, however the utilization ratio from maritime transportation for domestic transport in Turkey is quite lower than this ratio.

Considering negative aspects such as the growing traffic problem in highway transport and requirements for higher budget in the airway transportation among other transportation modes in our country which is surrounded by sea on three sides, maritime transport has become a preferred location. The investments regarding infrastructure in our coastal cities are significant due to the geopolitical position we have. Statistics on the number of passengers and vehicles transported in cabotage shared in the study have been a sign that the demand for sea transportation has continued to increase for years.

In this study, vehicle and passenger transportations in the sea of Marmara have been studied, economic analyses have been carried out for Ro-Ro ships sailing in the Ambarlı-Bandırma route line by considering in 3 different categories and mentioned ships have been investigated in the scope of unit passenger transportation costs. It is pointed out that the most effective parameter for unit passinger transportation costs is fuel costs subject to the results of the analyses. Moreover, fullness ratio of the ships is also one of the prominent factors effecting transportation costs. As a result of the analysis carried out, it has been found that the transportation costs on the vessels decrease as the occupancy rate increases. It is seen that the transport ratio of passengers and vehicles has increased in the Marmara Sea over the years.