Turkey Restricts Black Sea Ship Traffic After Surge In Attacks

By Patrick Sykes and Weilun Soon

Aug 8, 2026 (Bloomberg) –Turkey is restricting commercial ship traffic into the Black Sea, according to people familiar with the matter, following growing concern from the government after an uptick in Russian and Ukrainian attacks on vessels in the area.

The Directorate General of Coastal Safety has told multiple ships bound for Russia’s Novorossiysk – a key oil and grain export hub – that it isn’t currently issuing transit permits for such voyages or needs more time to review applications via the Dardanelles Strait, the people said.

Authorities haven’t given any explanation for the move,