Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

The ferry terminal of the new international sea trade port in Baku's Alat settlement will be commissioned in the near future.

The news was announced by Azerbaijani Deputy Transport Minister Musa Panahov on September 17.

The construction of the port's ferry terminal is almost complete, he said, adding that its operation will allow moving the terminal beyond the capital.

Panahov also said the work is underway as part of the construction of dry cargo and ro-ro terminals.

The capacities of the new port are expected to come on stream in late 2015 and early 2016, he added.

The new port is being built in Alat settlement located 65 kilometers south of Baku. Its construction, which began in November 2010, is carried out in three stages.

The first phase of the project involves the construction of two ferry and three cargo berths for receiving containers of the "Roll-on/roll-off" type and simple (universal) dry cargo ships. The second phase of the project involves the construction of three cargo berths, while in the third phase two additional cargo berths will be built.

The port can receive up to 11.6 million tons of cargo per year.

In addition to a logistics center, a free economic zone will be created in the territory of the port in the future.