WIDE RANGE OF OPPORTUNITIES

“The opening of the Baku International Sea Trade Port means that we have accomplished all the tasks related to the development of our transport infrastructure,” said the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the opening ceremony of the Alat Seaport in the Garadagh District of Baku.

He noted that today Azerbaijan has the largest naval fleet in the Caspian (260 ships). Over the past few years, the national fleet purchased another 18 ships. “I have initiated the construction of a shipyard in Baku, where we can build all kinds of vessels, hence eliminating our dependence on foreign partners,” said Aliyev.

By the way, the construction of the Alat Seaport was also initiated by Mr. Aliyev. It covers an area of 117 hectares and has 12 berths. The cargo handling capacity of the port is 15 million tons, including 100,000 containers annually. The total length of berths is about 2100 meters. The length of the supporting wall made of reinforced concrete and considered one of the latest engineering innovations is 1777 meters. The port has two berths for Ro-Ro vessels, a universal dry cargo and container terminal, consisting of 7 berths, 2 ferry berths, and a berth for the ships of the service fleet.

Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev said that currently the port provided access to ships with deadweight of 7-8 thousand tons. However, the port is designed with an increase of the bottom of the water area in mind, which will provide access for larger ships in the future. The design of the international passenger terminal is also ongoing, said Mr. Mustafayev.

After the completion of the second stage, the port capacity will increase to 17 million tons of cargo and 150,000 containers, the third stage - up to 25 million tons of cargo and 1 million containers.

Dutch company Royal Haskoning prepared the feasibility study of the port construction project, while the local company Evrascon carried out the construction works.

The territory for the construction was not chosen accidentally. Alat is a settlement located at the intersection of international motorways and railways passing through the territory of Azerbaijan. Access to waterways will make it possible to turn this territory into an international transport hub with wide export potential. Thus, the rich transit potential of the new port will provide a basis for carrying out strategic functions normal for an internationally recognised transport hub for the shipment of transit cargo, as well as efficient, fast and safe ferry crossing across the Caspian Sea. This complex will serve as a direct cargo pick-up point for the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line. All these efforts will provide for the establishment of efficient and sustainable logistics chain ensuring the collection of goods entering Azerbaijan from various directions (north, south, east, and west) and transporting them along the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line to Europe, or in easterly direction via vessels. In the adjoining territory, including the territory of the new port, it is planned to create a free economic zone, which will enable more opportunities for transit and transportation of cargo in and out of the port.

As indicated by Ilham Aliyev, “With no direct access to seas in Eurasian space, Azerbaijan will turn into a transport and logistics hub of the region”.