President Aliyev launches new ferry terminal
By Aynur Jafarova
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attended the ceremony of opening of a ferry terminal on September 22.
The terminal was built as part of the first stage of construction of the New Baku International Trade Sea Port Complex.
The head of state first reviewed a model of the complex and a photo stand reflecting the work done, and made a speech at the event.
Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov and Hans Luijnenburg, the Regional Manager of Dutch Van Oord Company, which was engaged in the project, made speeches as well.
Then the head of state launched the terminal, and watched the loading and dispatch of ferries.
A photo was taken at the close of the ceremony.
A new port at the Alat settlement in Baku's Garadagh district is currently under construction by the Complex Construction Directorate under the Transport Ministry.
Construction work which started in November 2010 is carried out in three stages. The first stage of the project involves the construction of two ferries and three cargo berths for receiving containers and conventional bulk carriers; the second stage of the project envisions the construction of three additional cargo berths, and the third one concerns the construction of two more cargo berths.
In the first stage, the port will be capable of handling up to 10 million tons of cargo; in the second stage, its capacity will reach 17 million tons of cargo, and in the last stage, the port will handle 25 million tons of cargo.
In addition to a logistics center, a free economic zone will be established in the territory of the port in the future. Construction work will cost the Azerbaijani government more than $1.1 billion.
The Transport Ministry plans to fully commission the new port by the end of 2015.