BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 22. Dredging work in the Kazakh Kuryk port on the Caspian Sea will be completed at the end of 2024 and will improve the efficiency of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, Middle Corridor), Trend reports via the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO).
“As a result of the dredging work, the bottom there will be two meters lower than the current level, and the total depth of the sea in this zone of the Caspian Sea will reach 36.5 meters. This will allow more ships to be received.
As part of the project, it is planned to create five additional overpasses there. The work will contribute to the development of the Middle Corridor,” ASCO emphasized.
Meanwhile, about 1.05 million tons of cargo were transshipped through the Kazakh seaport of Kuryk from January through June this year. A total of 668,000 tons were delivered by rail from China and Kazakhstan itself, and 384,000 tons by road (14,082 vehicles).
The Kuryk Port was established as part of the implementation of the Kazakhstan President's Message from November 11, 2014, under the "New Silk Road" project.
The port is located on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, south of the port of Aktau, and is situated in a natural bay that provides favorable weather conditions for its operation. The port can handle both automobile and railway ferries year-round.
Since July 2024, cargo trucks carrying goods from China have been transported from Kuryk to Baku on ASCO ferries, based on an agreement between China, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan for the development of the TITR.
The Middle Corridor project has been operating for 10 years, but it has been developing most rapidly since 2023.
In 2023, 2.7 million tons of cargo passed through the TITR (an 86 percent increase from 2022), with plans for over 4.2 million tons of cargo this year.