Azernews.Az

By Leman Mammadova

The first Kazakhstan feeder vessel Turkistan loaded with containers departed from Kazakhstan's Aktau Port to the Baku Port along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR).

The feeder vessels will be used to transport containers with a capacity of 225 pounds, which will ensure the delivery of two fully-loaded container trains.

Consolidated transit cargoes will be transported from China to Europe in an accelerated mode together with the export cargoes of Kazakhstan. Now cargoes moving from China's Lianyungang to Turkey's Istanbul will be transported within 16 hours, through the territories of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

Feeder vessels will run weekly, which will contribute to an increase in cargo traffic along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route and the further development of cargo containerization in the Caspian region.

Chairman of Kazakhstan Railways Sauat Mynbayev noted that TITR is a key link in the Eurasian transport arteries and completes Kazakhstan's transit corridor system. He said that a low tariff has been established to attract cargo transportation from Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan to China, which makes this route competitive.

“We hope that with the launch of a regular feeder link between Aktau and Baku, we will be able to transport almost 75,000-100,000 containers per year,” he added.

A feeder is a small-tonnage vessel capable of cruising at a relatively shallow depth. The marine operator of this project is NMSC Kazmortransflot LLP.

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route runs through China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia and further to European countries.

TITR was established in February 2014 with the participation of relevant agencies involved in cargo transportation of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Georgia. Then, Ukraine, Romania and Poland have joined the association.

At present, this route extends from the Chinese-Kazakh border to the European countries, passing through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The corridor has defined a single transit route along the entire route, with the principle of 'single window' and container trains are successfully transported through the route within this project.

One of the most important achievements in improving the competitiveness of TITR is the commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway. It creates conditions for the growth of freight traffic between Europe and Asia, contributing to the development of cooperation and trade not only between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, but throughout the whole region of Eurasia.

Earlier, in April 2018, the Azerbaijani feeder vessel Mahmud Rahimov made the first test trip in order to serve the regular feeder container traffic on the TITR.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

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