AN ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS APPROACH TO THE ANALYSIS OF SHIP LENGTH FACTOR IN THE STRAIT OF ISTANBUL

An analytic hierarchy process approach to the analysis of ship length factor in the Strait of Istanbul

Tuba Keçeci, Cemil Yurtören

Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Maritime, Tuzla 34940, TURKEY

Abstract

The Strait of Istanbul is an ‘S’-shaped narrow channel of difficult nature with heavy, complex and irregular currents, and sharp turns. Due to these characteristics, the Strait is considered to be one of the most critical waterways in the world. The density of maritime traffic has increased from an annual count of 4500 ships in 1936, when the Montreux Convention was signed to regulate navigation in the Straits, to a current average of 54,000 vessels per year. This increase in traffic density has led to the rise in the number of maritime casualties. In order to cope with this problem, Maritime Traffic Regulations in the Turkish Straits were established in 1994 and revised in 1998. In these regulations, the concept of a large vessel came to the fore and is defined in the definitions and abbreviations: Article 2. When considering the increase in length of vessels passing through the Strait of Istanbul, the question, ‘What is a large vessel?’ becomes important. This paper investigates what a large vessel is in terms of its length factor in the Strait of Istanbul. In this study, experts from VTS, pilot captains of the Strait of Istanbul and experienced captains are consulted.The AHP method is utilized to identify the quantitative importance of each efficient and some future works are suggested as a result of the findings.

Keywords: Maritime traffic management criteria, decision making, AHP method, the Strait of Istanbul

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