Marina in Mersin awaits its manager

One of the biggest marinas of the Eastern Mediterranean with a capacity for 500 yachts in the water, 320 yachts on land and infrastructure worth $17 million, Mersin Marina has turned into a maintenance center for fishing boats, and a training field for inexperienced drivers. Privatized by the build-operate-transfer model, the marina still waits for a well-planned management to start its operations.

"The marina is set to be managed by ERS Construction Group; however, the firm has not yet taken over the marina, letting the infrastructure investment of $17 million be destroyed. Unless the necessary precautions are taken, the superstructure expenses will increase," said Korer Özbenli, secretary general of Mersin Chamber of Maritime Trade. "Any investor who aims at an investment worth $5 million or $6 million here will want to compensate his expenses in a few years."

According to the regulations of the General Directorate of Ports and Airports Construction, or DLH, any bidding has to be turned into action in 18 months.

Six-year wait
However, it will take more than five or six years for the Mersin and Kumkuyu Marinas to start operations, which means that any investor will invest $6 million in the project, but need to wait for six years to get a favorable result. This is a deterrent factor for investors," Özbenli said.

Highlighting that regarding its geographical locations, Mersin and Kumkuyu Marinas are not as popular as the Göcek, Kuşadası and Fethiye Marinas, Özbenli said, "We expect the yacht traffic in this region to gain importance in the next five to six years with Alanya's Marinas beginning to operate. For this reason, it is necessary to extend the investment duration and to alleviate some of the bidding conditions."

Noting that Seka-Taşucu Port in Silifke district, which is successfully operating, is about to be turned into a marina, while the two ports in Mersin cannot be managed successfully despite the biddings that have been ongoing for five years, Özbenli said, "The annual ship capacity of the port is around 700 to 800. Managed by the Sümer Holding, the port will gain more importance if privatized. The best example of this is the Mersin Port."

Seka-Taşucu Port should be privatized
He added that they do not have a direct interest in a plant ground’s being converted into a tourism facility; however, the fact that an active port’s being turned into a marina means to deprive Mersin of further contributions.

"According to the construction plan, the land concerned has a construction area of 1.2 million square meters, which means a huge facility, having a capacity of 20,000 beds."

Asserting that Seka-Taşucu Port should remain as a port, and be privatized in order to contribute to the local and national economy, Özbenli said, "If this can be well-handled, the port will operate at a much better capacity than before. This will facilitate the Mersin Port to be ideal for general cargo and bulk freight.

"The port will also gain an identity of a second port as an alternative to the Eastern Mediterranean and Mersin upon the betterment of its working capacity and handling equipments."