On January 15, 2015, "Berkarar", the first ferry (Ro-PAX) of fraternal Turkmenistan visited Baku International Sea Trade Port for the first time.
A welcome ceremony of the ferry in Baku Port was attended by the ambassador of Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan. The ferry has been constructed by Pula Shipyard of Croatia and its presentation was held in December of 2014 in the Turkmenbashi International Seaport.
This vessel is intended for the transportation of passengers, trucks and other vehicles. The vessel may transport 200 passengers and 53 trucks. The sailing speed of the vessel is 17.6 mile/hour, which allows to arrive in Baku from Turkmenbashi after 9-10 hours. Dead weight makes 2,400 tonnes.
Permanent operation of this vessel on the Baku-Turkmenbashi line will allow realizing motor transport load flow in Europe-Caucasus-Asia transport corridor in a larger scale. Operation of BERKARAR vessel on this line will increase transportation opportunities and allow to receive and send trucks, which move from Turkey toward the Central Asia and average annual quantity is 50,000, in a shorter time.
In this visit, BERKARAR has brought to Azerbaijan 47 trucks, 1 car and 8 passengers. The vessel is expected to visit with full load and more passengers in the future. Currently, works on drawing up the sailing schedule of the line are underway.