Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2
By Anvar Mammadov – Trend:
Azerbaijan’s Caspian Marine Services Ltd., which operates a fleet of auxiliary vessels involved in oil and gas projects on the Caspian shelf, has started using the loan issued by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), says an EBRD message posted on its website.
The loan was issued as part of the “Fast Crew Boat Financing” project and will be used to finance a part of acquisition costs on a new fast crew boat, to be operated in the Caspian Sea.
Total cost of the project is $34 million, some $20.4 million out of which accounts for the loan.
An alliance was created between Caspian Marine Services and Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR based on a contract signed by the parties in May 2006. According to the contract, the alliance uses the vessels of SOCAR’s Caspian oil fleet in order to render services to foreign companies, and also modernizes the vessels.
Main customers of the alliance are SOCAR, BP Azerbaijan, and LUKOIL.
Azerbaijan has been cooperating with the EBRD since 1992.