Exports in the ship and yacht industry more than doubled in the first eight months of the year when compared to the same period last year, rising to TL 903.96 million (around $253.33 million), with Istanbul taking the lead by actualizing 69.5 percent of Turkey's overall exports in the sector.According to data compiled from the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TİM), exports in the ship and yacht sector soared to TL 903.96 million in the January-August period of this year from TL 449.43 million in the same period last year, marking a 100.9 percent upsurge.

Istanbul exported ships and yachts worth TL 628.65 million in the eight-month period, corresponding to 69.5 percent of overall exports. It was followed by Yalova with TL 190.34 million, İzmir with TL 43.42 million and Kocaeli with TL 19.72 million.The sector exported the largest number of ships and yachts to Malta, selling TL 146.96 million worth of goods to the country, which constituted 16.3 percent of the Turkish ship and yacht industry market. It was followed by Norway with TL 130.16 million and Iceland with TL 126.45 million.

On the other hand, the industry had exports to Kenya, India, Guinea, the Dominican Republic, Rwanda, Chile, Sudan, Malawi, Senegal, the Netherlands Antilles, Dubai, the Cayman Islands, Peru, Barbados, Haiti, Madagascar, Djibouti, Colombia, Vietnam and Bangladesh, which were not among its markets in the first eight months last year. The sector's exports to these countries stood at TL 12.4 million.

Iceland became the fastest-growing market for the Turkish ship and yacht industry, rising to TL 126.45 million at the end of the January-August period in 2017 from TL 1,500 in the same period last year.

Başaran Bayrak, the president of the Turkish Ship and Yacht Exporters Association, told Anadolu Agency that they achieved an increase of more than 100 percent in ship and yacht exports since the beginning of the year, adding that, if exports continue in the same momentum, the sector will reach TL 1.3 billion at the end of the year.

Bayrak pointed out that they predict an export figure of TL 1.1 billion at the beginning of 2017, emphasizing that export figures went beyond expectations - which is quite pleasing.

He stated that products related to repair; maintenance and the subsidiary industry are not reflected on export figures. He added that export figures in the ship and yacht sector, coupled with exports to free trade zones, have reached TL 1.5 billion.