Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

Work on the second phase of a project on construction of the Petlim container port in Turkey is planned to be completed in the first quarter of 2017.

Azerbaijan’s energy giant SOCAR, which owns shares in the project, announced that the preparation of map projections of the seabed at the pier that will take large container ships, as well as of the manoeuvre platform Petlim, which is the largest port in the Aegean region, will be completed soon. After that, it will be possible to penetrate to a depth of 16 meters.

Work on the first phase of the port construction was completed this week, and the cargo terminal has already started commercial operations. The port’s transshipment capacity amounts to 800,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) within the first phase of its construction project.

“Petlim is aimed at providing current and future logistics needs of SOCAR. When the Port will operate at full capacity, it will be the only one on the Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean seas where vessels with a capacity of up to 11,000 containers will be able to enter it,” the message stated.

In March 2013, Turkish petrochemical complex Petkim and the Dutch APM Terminals inked an agreement for the construction of the Petlim port with a capacity of 1.5 million TEU. Its capacity will exceed the capacity of the Turkish Aslancak port by approximately 50 percent.

SOCAR Turkey has a controlling stake in Petkim. Overall, SOCAR Turkey has been implementing many projects to help reinforcing economic relations between the two countries, which enjoy fraternal relations.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz