Active in disaster response seaway alternative proposal in Turkey; Disaster ships

Our country, which is surrounded by seas on three sides and has its own inner sea, has a coastal length of 8333 kilometers (Deniz Kuvvetleri Komutanligi, 2018). The population density of the coastal regions in line with the existing coastal length is more than 45 million according to the Turkish Statistical Institute's data of 2019. These provinces such as Istanbul, Kocaeli, Yalova, Duzce, Bursa, Balikesir, Edirne, Tekirdag, Canakkale, Izmir, Mugla, Aydin, Antalya, and Hatay are in high danger according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency's 2018 Turkey Earthquake Hazard Map. In a possible disaster to take place in our coastal provinces, it is a vital necessity to work on the existing plans on the highways, railways, and airways, as well as on the seaways for the aid teams to reach the area affected by the disaster as soon as possible. Today, it is seen that there is an increase in the variety of disasters and their frequency. Although earthquake comes to mind first when disasters are mentioned in our country, it is vital to remember that many different types of disasters and emergencies are possible to occur in coastal regions such as tsunamis, cyclones, floods, shipwrecks, airplane crashes, immigrant movements. In many developed countries around the world, there are hospital ships within the borders of those countries either to carry out aid activities or to provide services in coordination with the military marine forces. These ships are assigned to provide health care services in disaster areas in foreign countries when the call for help is received. Throughout history, aid ships have been sent to disaster areas by many civilizations in cases of war, famine, drought, earthquake, etc. However, considering the quality of the task, it is seen that these ships that are assigned to help in disasters have never been defined as disaster ships. In order to respond quickly and effectively to a possible disaster that may occur in the coastal areas, the use of seaways must absolutely be included in the disaster response plans and pre-prepared disaster scenarios. All the personnel to work on the ship that will be designed for disaster preparation must consist of professional teams and their job definition must be defined in legal regulations. In the disaster ship, exercises must be performed in order to respond to disasters occurring not only in our country but also in foreign countries as well as being equipped with aid materials that are unique to types of disaster and equipment. Keywords: Integrated Disaster Management, Disaster Logistics, Disaster Ships.