The Turkish Straits continue to facilitate the passage of tens of thousands of international vessels and have served over 40,000 ships in the first half of this year, according to a report on Tuesday.

During the first half of the year, when traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted due to the U.S.-Iran war and the global trade system underwent significant shifts, the Turkish Straits maintained their strategic importance.

Despite intensified drone attacks between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea, a total of 40,218 vessels transited Türkiye's Istanbul and Çanakkale straits in the first six months of the year, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA) from the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs (DGM).

Of these, 19,277 ships passed through the Istanbul Strait, while 20,941 transited the Çanakkale Strait.

In the same period last year, a total of 40,988 vessels passed through the two straits, including 19,381 through the Istanbul Strait and 21,607 through the Çanakkale Strait.

By vessel type, 13,127 were general cargo ships, 7,777 were bulk carriers, and 5,188 were container ships.

In the same period, 604 livestock carriers, 258 vehicle carriers, and 87 cement carriers also passed through the Turkish Straits.

Overall, vessels totaling 767.5 million gross tons transited the straits during the period. Of this, ships passing through the Istanbul Strait accounted for 301.5 million gross tons, while those using the Çanakkale Strait totaled 466 million gross tons.