Azerbaijan, Baku, July 4/ Trend, E. Ismayilov /
By October 2012 the Azerbaijan State Caspian Shipping Company (CASPAR) plans to acquire two new Croatian production ferry vessels, CASPAR head Aydin Bashirov said on Saturday.
In May 2011, CASPAR and the Croatian Uljanik Shipyard signed a contract in Baku to build new ferries for Azerbaijan. The vessels will meet international standards and international navigation conventions. The shipyard will manufacture ferries for Azerbaijan under the "2 +3" scheme. One vessel's construction cost will be 22 million euro.
According to Bashirov, the new ferries will accommodate between 54 and 56 cars, and passenger capacity will be about 24 people.
Bashir said that funds to purchase ferries have already been transferred, and construction work has already begun.
The vessels will be delivered to Azerbaijan by the end of the navigation season in the Volga-Baltic Canal.
"CASPAR plans to purchase new vessels, both tankers and dry cargo ships, and update its fleet," Bashirov said. "Service life of some vessels under CASPAR is about 30 years, although in accordance with the requirements of the International Maritime Organization and requests of a number of foreign companies, including BP and Chevron, these terms should be at most 15 years. CASPAR intends to renew its fleet."
Although, he said, CASPAR vessels meet all necessary technical requirements, allowing them to maintain their service life.
At present, there are approximately 115 vessels with CASPAR, about 80 of which are shipping (dry cargo ships and tankers); the rest are service vessels.
Cooperation between the Caspar and Uljanik shipyards has been ongoing since 1984. All CASPAR ferries were constructed by this shipyard.