Canakkale Strait (Dardanelles) Traffic Status

The two horizontal timeline bars represent today’s traffic schedule for the Dardanelles — one for northbound transits (vessels moving from the Aegean Sea toward the Sea of Marmara) and one for southbound transits (Sea of Marmara toward the Aegean). Each bar covers a full 24-hour period in Istanbul local time.

Green segments indicate open windows when traffic is flowing in that direction. Red segments indicate active or scheduled suspensions — most commonly caused by large-vessel transits, weather, or scheduled events. Grey segments show periods that are not yet planned. The black vertical line marked NOW shows the current moment, so you can see at a glance whether the strait is open in your direction right now and when the next change is scheduled.

The status panel above the timeline summarises live vessel activity: how many vessels are currently in transit, how many are scheduled for passage, and how many are ready and waiting at the anchorages. These numbers refresh continuously and give you an immediate sense of congestion at the north (Gelibolu approach) and south (Çanakkale / Aegean approach) waiting areas.

What the dashboard does not tell you. The schedule shows what is planned, but not why a suspension has been issued or how a particular vessel will be sequenced within an open window. Transit order within a window follows a first-come, first-served principle but is reshuffled by vessel size, cargo type, and special-permission requirements. For a definitive ETB, sequencing position, or interpretation of an active suspension affecting your voyage, contact our Transit Strait Desk — we are in continuous communication with TSVTS and can give you the operational picture behind the schedule.