Azerbaijan, Baku, 6 July / Trend E. Ismailov /
The Azerbaijan State Caspian Shipping Company (CASPAR) has placed an order for ten ships at the new shipyard, which is currently being built in Baku's Garadagh district, the head of CASPAR Aydin Bashirov told reporters.
"In particular, the new shipyard will build five cargo ships and five tankers," Bashirov said.
SOCAR's new shipyard will ensure the need for ships not only in Azerbaijan, but also in the entire water area of the Caspian Sea. The first ship will be launched in 2013.
The area of the new plant will be 880,000 square meters, closed production area - 75,000 square meters and the length of berths - 1,300 meters.
Investment in the construction of the plant amounts to $450 million.
The plant's capacity is 25,000 tons of steel per year. It will be capable of producing four tankers annually with deadweight of 15,000 tons, or two tankers with deadweight of 70,000 tons. Also, the plant will produce annually four maintenance and towing vessels and provide repair for 80-100 various vessels.
To date, all orders on shipbuilding for CASPAR were placed at shipyards of other states.
According to Bashirov, negotiations are currently underway to acquire vessels with manufacturers in Turkey, Croatia and Russia.
"The first phase of the international seaport will be commissioned in the near future, and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway put into operation next year, which will lead to an increase in traffic on this route. Accordingly, a number of new vessels meeting modern standards should be available in the shortest possible time," he said.