Clearance from Istanbul to Bulgaria May 2006

Created by doina. Last modified on 2006-06-21 09:09:01
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Countries: Turkey

Clearance Procedures in Istanbul are tedious and require a day to complete. We made the mistake of clearing on May 1. Unbeknownst to us it was a Bayran holiday dedicated to the workers. The ferries that normally run from Kadikoy to Karikoy were not operational until 5 pm. Had it not been a holiday the clearance would have been completed in about 4 to 5 hours, ours however became an 8-hour nightmare.

The worst part of the dilemma is that none of the official’s offices are located in the same area. We were fortunate to have a ride to the Hydrapasa Port and dropped off in front of the appropriate gate by a fellow yachtsman’s wife on her way to work at 10.30 am. Without their assistance, we would have been hard pressed to find the place on our own. The Immigration, Passport Police are located in the commercial port at Hydrapasa. This is on the Asian side of the Bosphorus and because we were docked at Kalamis/ Fenebache Marina it made sense to see them first. The ambiguity of the English translation on the transit log also gave us the impression that we were to clear with them first. Reluctantly they stamped us out with specific instructions that we were to return with the signed and stamped copy of the Y2 Transit log from the harbourmaster. Next time we will know to see the harbourmaster first.

The harbourmaster’s office is about 3 km north of Karikoy across from the waterfront and just past a large university. The office is upstairs on the second floor. The sign outside the building is plainly marked in both English and Turkish.

With the ferries not running to Karikoy we had to take the ferry to Bakrikoy, which is next door to Atakoy Marina. We decided to save time by taking a taxi from Atakoy Marina to the harbourmaster. After approximately a 30 minutes wait and much humming and hawing on behalf of the official we finally cleared out. Others had reported to us that bribes were necessary but since we played it calm and ignorant we did not encounter this unpleasantness. The harbour fees amounted to 5.50 YTL, we were given an official receipt, but no explanation. As to what this fee is based upon, I have no idea.

We tried to find a taxi that would take us over the bridge to Hydrapasa but to no avail. We walked back towards Karikoy discussing our options. We knew we could take a ferry from Bakrikoy to Kadikoy but we would have another long walk to Hydrapasa as there was no buses or taxis in the city. Once in Karikoy we discovered that ferries would commence around 4.30 or 5 pm. We stopped for a very late lunch on the waterfront. It was three pm by this time. The first ferry to Hydrapasa was 16:45 and we were on it. We walked through the dirty port among the shipping containers and train cars until we found the Passport Police again. We were required to clear with Customs as well.

Customs fortunately is also in the Hydrapasa Port but without the help of a friendly fellow, we never would have found the office. I couldn’t begin to explain where inside the container terminal the office was and I doubt I could find it again myself. If we spoke Turkish it might have been a simpler matter.

Again, we encountered the usual delays. Why did we have two logs? The first one expired Jan 2006 and a second one issued, but since it was early in the New Year, 6 of January, the woman in Bodrum who completed the log had written 2005 instead of 2006. With the usual blush and oops she crossed out her error and wrote the revised date. This naturally caused problems for us as it looked like we had perhaps forged the document. Our friendly helper explained that since all the official stamps were correct it was an obvious error too easily done at the start of a new year. We stood, smiled, and waited patiently for the fuss to settle until finally cleared by Customs. This time we were able to taxi back to the Kalamis/Fenebache Marina. It was 6:30 pm.

Clearance procedures in Istanbul are a nightmare and should we be in need of doing it again I would certainly look at other possible ports to clear from or into. If we thought exit was tedious, we can only harbour a guess at the additional requirements on official entry.

Sue Antifaoff, S/Y Tala