Istanbul’s massive new canal

Work is due to start on the largest infrastructure project ever undertaken in Turkey – a waterway to bypass the congested Bosphorus Strait. Critics fear an ecological disaster

BLACK SEA 
SEA OF MARMARA 
Dardanelles
TURKEY 
BLACK SEA
AEGEAN SEA

Bosphorus: One of world’s busiest waterways with 53,000 vessels passing through in 2017 – compared with 17,000 in Suez Canal and 12,000 in Panama Canal
5km 3 miles

CANAL ISTANBUL
Istanbul New Airport: Under construction
Sazlidere reservoir
Sazlidere Dam
Lake Küçükçekmece
EUROPE
ASIA
TURKEY 
ISTANBUL
Historic centre
Istanbul Atatürk Airport
SEA OF MARMARA

Three groups of islands will be built from earth dug for canal

CANAL ISTANBUL
Length 45km
Width: 250m-1,000m 
Depth: 25m 
Capacity: 160 vessels per day 
Cost: $10-$20 billion 
Completion: 2023

Enviroment: Project could displace thousands of people, destroy forests, threaten city’s fresh water supply and increase oxygen levels in Black Sea, impacting wildlife

Legality: Fee for transit through new canal could violate 1936 Montreux Convention that ensures free passage through Bosphorus


Sources: Turkey’s Ministry of Transport, The Journal of Commerce Picture: Newscom © GRAPHIC NEWS