Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, April 11
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
It is planned to launch the Turkmenbashi-Makhachkala passenger ferry in the near future, Bashimguly Mamijayew, deputy head of the international sea port of Turkmenbashi told Golos SNG (sng.fm) online radio station, Trend reports.
According to him, negotiations for the transportation of goods with the Makhachkala seaport are also underway. Currently, passengers ferries are traveling in the direction of Turkmenbashi-Baku.
The port of Turkmenbashi, commissioned in 2018, is intended to become the most important link in the formation of a modern shipping system, creating the most favorable conditions for access to the Black Sea coasts, to Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, allowing for a significant reduction in distances and travel time for large-scale freight traffic, said Mamijayew.
"The port is part of the TRACECA project, which unites the entire transport sector, particularly railways, automobile roads and sea terminals connecting Central Asia and Europe. Located on the Europe-Caucasus-Asia trade route, the port is able to receive vessels throughout the year, handling cargo around the clock. Now ships are passing through the port in transit to Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and also cargo from Afghanistan is being headed via transit to Turkey in the direction of Lapis-lazuli. The port is widely used for exporting local products abroad. In particular, coke, polyethylene, polypropylene, sulfur, salt and petroleum products are exported to Afghanistan, Turkey, Russia, Romania, Belarus and Bulgaria," Mamijayew pointed out.
The port cooperates with such countries as Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Russia, Turkey, Spain, Romania, and Bulgaria.
The annual throughput capacity of the port is 17-18 million tons. Together with the previously operating port, this figure reaches 25-26 million tons. The international ferry and passenger port can serve 300,000 passengers and 75,000 trailers annually. The container terminal has an average annual capacity of 400,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units). The cost of the project implemented by Gap Insaat Company (Turkey) is more than $1.5 billion.