Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.27
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
Ministry of Transport of Azerbaijan plans to commission a new dry cargo terminal of the New International Sea Trade Port in the Alat settlement in 2016, the deputy transport minister Musa Panahov told reporters Nov.26.
He said that the previously commissioned ferry terminal operates normally, and last month it handled 4,500 cars.
Panahov also said that a 3-4 percent increase in transportation is projected for 2015. "It is connected with a significant improvement of infrastructure as well, and also with the possibility of the Kazakh side to transport their goods through our transportation corridor," said the deputy minister.
Construction of a new international port began in November 2010 and is being carried out in three phases. The first phase of the project involves the construction of two ferry and three cargo berths for receiving containers, "ro-ro" vessels and conventional (universal) dry cargo ships. The second phase of the project involves the construction of three more cargo berths, the third - the construction of two additional cargo berths.
Commissioning of new port facilities within the first phase is expected in late 2015 or early 2016.
The port will be able to receive up to 11.6 million metric tons of cargo a year.
The creation of a powerful port infrastructure is important in terms of provision of goods transportation by Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) rail, which is planned to be fully commissioned in 2015.
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