About Us
History
1977 it was founded in Ayvansaray.
1980 the first Marpol service in Turkey started to be presented with the Gemi Sintine Servisi (Ship Bilge Service) identification mark (brand).
The first company in Turkey with the sector name, İş Güvenliği Malzemeleri San. Tic. Ltd Şti. (Occupational Safety Materials Industry and Trade Limited Company), gathered all businesses including bilge service and established on 14th of February 1984 on St. Valentine’s Day.
It became the only company to serve all NATO navy ships by receiving the "Safe Supplier" title from the American Navy.
In 1994, it provided oil spill response service in the M/T Nassia tanker accident upon an invitation from the Navy, leading to the establishment of Kemerli, MEKE Deniz Temizliği ve Atık Toplama Hizmetleri Sanayi ve Ticaret Ltd. Şti. (Marine Cleaning and Waste Collection Services Industry and Trade Limited Company).
MEKE's seashore cleaning methods and minimum waste output performance during the M/T Volgoneft 248 accident in 1999 at Florya were documented by the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF).
In 2004, MEKE was chosen as the oil spill engineer for the BTC (Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan) pipeline and continued its pioneering role by founding Sesmeke Ltd with an American company.
MEKE started manufacturing smaller, land-transportable sea surface cleaning boats in 2007.
In 1998, it began manufacturing marine barriers and skimmers, a first in Turkey.
Following the regulation of Law No. 5312 in 2007, the company launched a new formation under the MEKE Akademi (MEKE Academy) brand to provide training and engineering services under one roof, and also introduced MekeSlik® software in the same year.
From 2010, it began offering its services internationally to governments and large oil companies.
With brands and companies like Antipollution, Mekosea, Sesmeke, Tuzla Arıtma, Enviro, and others in three countries across the Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Indian Ocean, Middle East, and Mediterranean Sea, MEKE established MEKE A.Ş. (MEKE Inc.) in 2013.
Our Founder
Mehmet Kemerli
Mehmet Kemerli was a good listener, researcher, writer, and broad-visioned person. He proved to society that there are things to do for a better world and also what it means to be bigger than life with his optimistic, energetic, determined personality. He always told his grandchildren not to avoid taking initiative in order to leave a better world for them. He always said that development is the most important step for progress. Manufacturing was something indispensable for him. With the principle of constantly learning, being constantly informed, developing himself, and improving everything he can access without giving up trying, the vision of its employees, the perspectives of suppliers to work have reached different points and this development cycle continues. He always said, “If someone can produce something at world we can do better here,” and worked with this target.
He was a pioneer in many fields in Turkey. He tackled for fisher boats to use Turkish-made water-cooled engines and also he was the mastermind in founding this engine’s factory. He was the founder of the waste collection from vessels business (MARPOL) in Turkey. He was the founder of the oil spill response business (OPRC) as well as he manufactured the very first oil boom and oil skimmer in Turkey. He proved that the private sector can tackle marine litter business if the public sector is not interested. He globalized his company in order to share his experiences with the world, firstly to Turkic countries then to the rest of the world.
While he was working at Shell, he noticed that Marpol service was not active in Turkey. He decided to build this business in the country as he was aware that the biggest heritage to children would be clean seas. After leaving Shell, he focused on occupational safety as he observed that international companies valued their employees more than Turkish companies. He thought that oil spill response equipment importation is Turkey’s resource loss. He started to manufacture these equipments after necessary R&D and investments. He proved that oil spill response process including readiness and engineering details can be performed successfully in Turkey. He built and proudly operated special vessels for marine litter collection.
He was deeply impressed with coot (meke) birds which were living in the rocky coast behind his home while he was at his boyhood town Gelibolu as they were the first animals that suffered from oil spill. When he established the oil spill response company, the name merged with the company and Meke Marine was born. He worked hard about MARPOL and oil spill response fields. He lobbied about these subjects at ministries, joined international conferences, and contributed to boost Turkey’s image on these issues. He was the founder and mastermind of modalities of MARPOL business in Turkey.
He endeavored about current Turkey’s Law no 5312 Principles of Emergency Response against Oil and Other Harmful Substances Pollution of Marine Habitat. He worked hard for creating public sensitivity about this law on bureaucrats, soldiers, the public, and private sector. He aimed to give sea scouting and sea love to children by Sea Protectors Association. He proved that competing companies could unite for marine environment. He was one of the founders of OSRAM (Oil Spill Response Alliance for the Mediterranean). He also spent time and worked hard for associations with similar aims like Turmepa and Tüdav.
Mehmet Kemerli is always with us as a guide in our works and with love. The memory of Mehmet Kemerli is summarized for us with his own words, “Let’s leave clean seas to our children,” which is also our motto.
MEKE was founded by Mehmet Kemerli, a maritime and environmental lover and entrepreneur who wanted to set up his own business after leaving Shell Oil Company, as a private company in 1977 in Ayvansaray, Istanbul's shipyard region at that time. Provided MARPOL service under the brand Gemi Sintine Servisi (Ship Bilge Service) for the first time in Turkey, the company directed its efforts towards emergency response in oil accidents with its intervention to petroleum-derived waste spilled from an exploded bilge hose, and has become the first private company in the sector. MEKE takes its name from one of the first affected seabirds in oil accidents. A black Eurasian Coot symbolizes a cleaned sea in the middle of oil spill with its white stain at its forehead. The company has a leading position at the Marine Environment Protection and Cleaning sector and carries out its services with the goal of "Leaving Our Children Clean Seas". The company which has improved its services and created different brands in these years, was gathered under one roof, MEKE Marine Teknoloji A.Ş. (Marine Technologies Inc.). Providing services in the fields of response and cleaning of oil pollution at sea and on land, equipment manufacturing and related trainings, MEKE was established to ensure its integrated management system to be a living, effective and sustainable system for making said services and activities sensitive to the environment which keep human health as priority and structured in way to create quality and customer satisfaction.
Our Policy
MEKE Marine Teknoloji A.Ş., as the pioneer in the marine environment protection and cleaning sector it created, aims to “Leave Our Children Clean Seas.” It provides services in the field of intervention and cleaning of oil pollution at sea and on land, manufacturing of equipment, and related trainings. MEKE has established an Integrated Management System to ensure that these services and activities are sensitive to the environment, prioritize human health, provide quality and customer satisfaction, and are living, effective, and sustainable.
• It commits to making quality, environment, occupational health and safety, and anti-bribery management systems a top priority with the participation of all employees, creating a safety culture.
• It pledges to identify hazards in advance, minimize risks, and record and share possible accidents and near misses with all staff.
• It will use natural resources in the most efficient and economical way.
• It commits to preventing and reducing all types of pollution at the source and conducting environmentally friendly and sensitive production.
• It aims to educate all employees and relevant parties to enhance their awareness of responsibility and competence.
• It will constantly improve the quality of its services and products.
• It will comply with all national and international laws, regulations, conventions, and other requirements in every area of activity.
• It is committed to fulfilling all customer requests and ensuring uninterrupted customer satisfaction.
• It will enforce anti-corruption laws in all its activities to prevent, detect, and respond to corruption.
• MEKE promises to continuously review, improve, and develop its Integrated Management System, and to implement a sustainable system with objectives, announcing this to customers, subcontractors, suppliers, third-party companies, and authorities in an appropriate manner of communication, and assisting them in better understanding MEKE's values and services.
Our Certificates
Meke Marine has always adopted as a professional principle the acquisition of necessary certifications to ensure its activities are carried out in accordance with national and international legislation and rules.
