The $15 billion Istanbul Canal, an artificial alternative to the Bosporus, has reached the tender stage, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday. Expected to take a decade to dig, the 500-meter wide canal would allow liquefied natural gas cargo ships to enter the Black Sea for the first time. Further weakening Russia’s position in the Black Sea, the canal would not be subject to the Montreux Convention. This 1936 agreement places limits on the size and number of non-Black Sea navy ships allow to pass through the Bosporus.
The $15 billion Istanbul Canal, an artificial alternative to the Bosporus, has reached the tender stage
