Kazakhstan, Astana / corr. Trend K.Anirova / The existing transportation capacities in the Mediterranean may not to be sufficient for the volume of hydrocarbons produced in Kazakhstan. For this reason, new routes, especially a Eurasian navigable canal from the Caspian to the Black Sea, are being prepared, said the Chief of Department for Monitoring, Analysis and Forecasting of Transport-Communal Development of the Transport and Communications Ministry of Kazakhstan, Daniyar Salimbayev.
The canal is intended to be constructed from the Caspian Sea to the influx of the Don River via the Kumo-Manich pit. The canal will be 650km in length, 80m in width, 6.5m in depth and the number of gateways will total six.
The canal is envisaged for the passage of the vessels of "river-sea" class with a capacity of 3,500-5,500t with the future use of vessels of a new class with a capacity of up to 10,000t. The duration of these navigations is assessed at ten to twelve months with a capacity of 40mln tons per year. The period of the cargo delivery from the Caspian Sea to the influx of the Don River is nine to twelve days. The cost of the project is estimated at $2.5bln and a construction period of three to five years.
"Realizing this canal will not have a negative effect on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway project because they will complete each other. Part of the cargos that cannot be transported via railway will go via sea and in addition, there are differences in the structure of the cargos via railway and canal," Salimbayev said.