Bodrum mayor hails second port
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Doğan News Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 23, 2009 00:00
MUĞLA - Bodrum is about to have its second port as the government approves the İçmeler Port project.
The Ministry of Public Works and Settlement approved Bodrum Municipality’s plan to build a second port to the popular holiday district in Muğla, which is an important station in marine routes in the Aegean and Mediterranean and currently hosts 4,500 boats. With its capacity of 700 yachts, the İçmeler Port will provide more space for yachts.
The construction of the port will be finished in two years, and will require a cost of about $ 25 million. Speaking at a meeting by the Bodrum Mariners Foundation, Bodrum Mayor Mazlum Ağan welcomed the decision.
"In the only port in Bodrum, yachts are packed," said Ağan. "The İçmeler Port project will solve this overcrowd problem."
Ağan added that the lack of space in ports forced the owners to pull their yachts to the mainland. "Millions of dollars are spent in yachts, owners can only preserve their yachts by taking them to the mainland during the winter," he said.
The head of the Bodrum branch of the Chamber of Shipping, Gündüz Nalbantoğlu, said that this is an important step, even if it is late.
"As the marine sector is spending billions of dollars every year, the state was left behind, that is why the building of the second port is very important," he said. "While our tourism rival Greece has three or four ports in every island, we try to settle with one 60-year-old port. If we want to make money out of the sea, we need more investments."
The construction of the port will be finished in two years, and will require a cost of about $ 25 million. Speaking at a meeting by the Bodrum Mariners Foundation, Bodrum Mayor Mazlum Ağan welcomed the decision.
"In the only port in Bodrum, yachts are packed," said Ağan. "The İçmeler Port project will solve this overcrowd problem."
Ağan added that the lack of space in ports forced the owners to pull their yachts to the mainland. "Millions of dollars are spent in yachts, owners can only preserve their yachts by taking them to the mainland during the winter," he said.
The head of the Bodrum branch of the Chamber of Shipping, Gündüz Nalbantoğlu, said that this is an important step, even if it is late.
"As the marine sector is spending billions of dollars every year, the state was left behind, that is why the building of the second port is very important," he said. "While our tourism rival Greece has three or four ports in every island, we try to settle with one 60-year-old port. If we want to make money out of the sea, we need more investments."