Construction of new seaport in Azerbaijan 'slightly delayed'
By Aynur Jafarova
Operations within the first phase of a new international sea trade port construction in Azerbaijan are expected to be completed in 2014.
The new seaport is under construction in the Alat settlement in the Garadagh district of the capital Baku. The construction work is being carried out by the Complex Construction Directorate under the Transport Ministry. Under the project, Dutch contracting company Van Oord will fulfill work in the maritime part of the new port and local company Azerkorpu is to conduct preparations for the main operations on its ground part.
Earlier, the operations within the first phase of the project were scheduled to be completed by late 2013.
"The operations are slightly delayed, but taking into account that the project is quite a large-scale one, this delay is insignificant," a source close to the project said.
Despite the slight postponement in the first phase completion date, the operations are being conducted rapidly, the source said, adding that the port construction will be fully completed in 2015.
The construction work, which started in November 2010, is carried out in three stages. The first phase of the project involves construction of two ferries, three cargo berths for receiving containers and conventional bulk carriers. The second phase of the project envisions the construction of three additional cargo berths and the third one -- the construction of two more cargo berths.
During the first stage, the port will be capable of handling up to 10 million tons of cargo. In the second stage, the capacity will reach 17 million tons of cargo. During the last stage, the port will manage handling of 25 million tons of cargo.
A free economic zone will be created in the territory of the port in the future in addition to a logistics center. Construction work will cost the Azerbaijani government over $1.1 billion.
Currently, the shipment capacity of the old Baku Port is 5-10 million tons of loads per year. Transportation of cargo from the port takes a long time due to the location of the port in the center of Baku and busy traffic in the capital city. The construction of the new international sea trade port will allow to significantly increase the flow of goods and the volume of transit cargo.
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