Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 31 / Trend T.Jafarov /
Iran will commission new port Astara in the Caspian Sea prior to September 2011, the ISNA agency reported with reference to Iranian Gilan Province Shipping Office Head Farhad Muntasar Kuhsari.
Kuhsari said $30 million of private investment and $ 10 million by the country's shipping was invested in the construction of the port.
"The installation of breakwaters and dredging of the sea has completed at the first phase of construction of the port," Kuhsari added.
According to him, construction of berths will begin over the next two months.
The Astara Port will have the capability of loading and unloading of 3.5 million tons, Kuhsari said.
The Iranian shipping company and KAVEH company signed a contract in 2009 to build a new port on the Caspian Sea in the town of Astara (bordering Azerbaijan). Contract period is 40 years. Construction of the port should be completed in 5-6 years. KAVEH leased the port of Astara for 40 years to turn the fishing port in the trade.
It is planned to build 30-meter breakwater and four berths to protect the port. Three of the docks are for loading and unloading of dry cargo, and one - for oil and petroleum products. Two million tons of the port's capacity fell to oil cargo, and the remaining half a million on other types of cargo. The total area of the port is 55 hectares. Three reservoirs in height of 5.5 meters to be built on its territory.
Iran has three ports on the Caspian Sea: Enzeli, Noushehr and Amirabad (the latter was merged with the port of Neka).
Port Amirabad located in the Bahshehr city of the Mazandaran province and is a free economic zone since 1997. Construction of port was started in 1996. The port's area is 1000 hectares. In the future it may increase to 2000 hectares. After completing the last phase of construction, this port will have 34 berths. At the moment the port is able to take five million tons of cargo. In the future, these volumes will be brought up to 10 million tons. This port is very important for Iran to traffic on North-South direction.
The Enzeli Port is located in the province of Gilan. Port territory is 34 ha. Currently, the port has 10 berths - nine for dry cargo and one for liquid cargo. The port will be built for another 10 berths for dry cargoes and three berths for oil cargoes. This port is a free economic zone since 2002. The port is the closest to the ports of other Caspian countries. It is also used to transport goods to North-South direction.
Construction of the Noushehr port was launched in 1930 and completed in 1939. This port is located in the province of Mazandaran. The port has four berths for petroleum and petroleum products and a pier for other types of cargo. The port is able to process 5.1 million tons of liquid and the same amount of dry cargo.
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