Turkey will switch on an integrated vessel traffic services network on 20 July, linking surveillance infrastructure around the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus with a control centre in Mersin, according to Turkey’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.
The dual-centre system will provide round-the-clock vessel monitoring using coastal radars, cameras, communications equipment, Automatic Identification System feeds and other sensors. It comprises a vessel traffic services centre in Gazimağusa and surveillance stations at Karpaz, SadrazAMKöy and Çayırova.
AIS data from Selvitepe and combined AIS and radar feeds from Kantara will also be integrated. Operational data will be transmitted simultaneously to the centres in northern Cyprus and Mersin. Remote backup infrastructure and operator consoles have been installed at the Mersin Vessel Traffic Services Centre.
The surveillance stations use SERDAR 7M coastal radars manufactured by Turkish defence electronics group ASELSAN. The network will support vessel identification, traffic regulation, navigational information, general warnings and hazard alerts. It will also monitor designated areas and suspected illegal activity, receive notifications of accidents, fires and other emergencies, and transmit meteorological information to ships.
Construction, equipment installation and software integration have been completed. Turkey’s Directorate General of Maritime Affairs is overseeing the project, with HAVELSAN serving as contractor.
The project agreement was signed in January 2024 in the presence of Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Prime Minister Ünal Üstel and Public Works and Transport Minister Erhan Arıklı. Completion had initially been scheduled for the first half of 2026.
HAVELSAN, established in 1982, is a subsidiary of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation. Its activities include command-and-control systems, simulation and training, information and communications technology, autonomous systems and cybersecurity. The company also supplied the vessel traffic services system commissioned in the Istanbul and Çanakkale straits in 2022.
ASELSAN is a Turkish Armed Forces Foundation company active in defence electronics, communications, radar, electro-optics and command-and-control systems.