Photos

In Istanbul in the ferries between Asia and Europe continents is possible to see always interesting people. This fiddler is one of them. From a boat to another he is strolling for gaining some money from the travellers.

Ferryboats sail on 15 lines serving 27 seaports on the shores of Bosphorus and Sea of Marmara. The 20 older ferryboats carry 61 million passengers yearly.[In the 1980’s 150 million people were transported.For modernization purposes, the Maritime Co. was handed over in 2005 to İDO, which operates the sea buses in Istanbul.

The first steam ferries appeared on the Bosphorus in 1837 and were operated by private sector companies. On January 1, 1851, the Şirket-i Hayriye (literally The Goodwill Company, as the Istanbul Ferry Company was originally called) was established by the Ottoman state. The Şirket-i Hayriye continued to operate the city's landmark commuter ferries until the early years of the Republican period; when they went under the direction of Türkiye Denizcilik İşletmeleri (Turkish State Maritime Lines). Since March 2006, Istanbul's traditional commuter ferries have been operated by İstanbul Deniz Otobüsleri (Istanbul Sea Buses) which also operates the high speed catamaran Seabus.