ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Jan. 28
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan cooperate in the field of port control, Trend reports referring to the Turkmen State Customs Office.
Use of ContainerCOMM can be mentioned as an example of cooperation between port control groups of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, said the report. In particular, the ContainerCOMM was used for exchange of information in this sphere in December 2019 and January 2020 between the Alat seaport (Baku) and the Turkmenbashi seaport.
ContainerCOMM is an internet based multifunctional communication system developed under Container Control Program (CCP) jointly developed by UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) together with the World Customs Organization (WCO).
The Turkmen State Customs Office joined the ContainerCOMM under CCP in December 2013. As part of the program, port control groups were created in the international terminal of Ashgabat city and Turkmenbashi seaport.
The opening ceremony of the new port in Turkmenbashi city was held on May 2, 2018. The annual port capacity reaches 17-18 million tons. Together with the existing other port, this figure is reaching 25 million tons.
The cost of the project implemented by Turkey’s Gap Inshaat company is worth more than $1.5 billion.
After the commissioning of the new Caspian Sea port, great opportunities have appeared for transporting goods which are loaded in Turkmenbashi along the Silk Road route from Asia-Pacific countries and then to the European countries through the ports of Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran.
The refrigerated containers may be stored in the port. There are covered warehouses with an area of more than 9,000 square meters.
The container terminal has been equipped with a satellite monitoring system and the entire current information is available at the operator’s monitors and complies with Container Terminal Quality Indicator (CTQI) standard.
The container terminal with an average annual capacity of 400,000 TEU (conventional units) can simultaneously handle three vessels with a total carrying capacity of 5,000 tons. The cargo terminal is designed for handling four million tons of cargo per year, namely, building materials, metals, wood, machinery, equipment, etc.