What happened
Türkiye’s Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change says the Zero Waste Blue project is operating a sea-surface cleaning vessel and a boat-waste collection service in the Fethiye and Göcek area.
For vessel operators, the immediate requirement is to arrange waste collection through the DERİA system one day before handover. The ministry says the service is offered to boats in Göcek Bay whether or not they use its mooring buoys. Bookings allow waste to be transferred at a specified time during the day rather than discharged into the marine environment.
The TÜÇA91 cleaning vessel carries out sea-surface cleaning every day in selected bays. According to the DERİA operator, it works for two to three hours a day and can be directed to pollution incidents reported to the operation.
The ministry said the operating fleet currently comprises 14 mooring boats, four marine-inspection boats, one service boat and one waste-collection vessel, alongside the surface-cleaning operation.
Why it matters
The measures combine operational waste management with controls on how boats occupy bays. For tourism and charter operators, advance planning for waste handover is therefore part of using the area’s marine infrastructure.
DERİA’s digital mooring-management system records vessel density and length of stay in the Göcek-Dalaman bays. It is intended to prevent extended use of bays as accommodation and support a fairer allocation of space, according to the ministry.
The mooring-buoy system is also designed to reduce damage from anchors to seagrass meadows. The ministry identifies these habitats as an important marine ecosystem requiring protection. Reducing anchoring pressure, alongside collecting vessel waste and removing surface litter, addresses several sources of coastal-water impact through the same programme.
Operating rules and background
The ministry introduced the mooring-buoy management project in the Göcek-Dalaman bays under Zero Waste Blue, which is conducted under the patronage of Emine Erdoğan. DERİA was established as the project’s digital management platform.
DERİA’s operator says vessels can remain in an individual bay for up to three days, with a maximum stay of 11 days across Göcek. These limits sit alongside the monitoring of boat numbers and use periods.
What to do next
Boat owners and operators intending to use the service should make their waste-collection reservation via DERİA at least one day in advance. They should also account for the bay-stay limits and follow local instructions on mooring use. The ministry says the model first deployed in Göcek is intended to help safeguard bays elsewhere in Türkiye.
Source: Türkiye’s Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change.
