Seven cargo bridges are planned to be built on the territory of the Baku International Sea Trade Port (the Port of Baku) in January-March, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev said.
“Warehouses, additional buildings and other infrastructure facilities are also planned to be built till March,” he said. “Moreover, the operational building of the Port of Baku is planned to be constructed in May.”
In total up to 1,500 people are involved and almost 300 units of various construction equipment are used in the construction work.
The minister added that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attended the opening ceremony of the Ro-Ro terminal in the Baku port, which was capable of receiving 1.8 million tons of cargo per year, in January.
Mustafayev said that upon the president’s decree, the first phase of the construction work was planned to be completed this year.
After the completion of the first phase of construction, the Baku International Sea Trade Port will be able to receive up to 10-11 million tons of cargo per year, and handle up to 50,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) annually.
The second stage of the project envisages the construction of three more cargo berths in the port, while two additional cargo berths will be built at the third stage.
At the second stage the capacity of the port will reach 17 million tons of cargo and 150,000 TEU, and at the end of the third stage – 25 million tons of cargo and 1 million TEU.
In 2017 the volume of cargo transportation through the Baku International Sea Trade Port (excluding the oil terminal) increased by 31% and reached 4.4 million tons compared to 2016. Thus, 85.7% of the total volume accounted for transit cargo transportation. (Trend/Business World Magazine)