Port News & Information Mediterranean, Black & Caspian Seas

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest lake on Earth by both area and volume. It is bordered by Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. It has a surface area of 371,000 km². The ports of the littoral states include key trading hubs in international transport corridors and the new Silk Road; including Baku, Aktau & Astrakhan. The sea has become topical since the Russian invasion of Ukraine (started 24.02.2022) as traders seek routes which do not pass through Russian territory. The heavily-sanctioned states of Russia and Iran also have interests in the Caspian Sea’s transport capacity.

Russian ports handled 214.3 mln tonnes of cargo in Q1’24

Moscow, Russia (Ports Europe) April 18, 2024 – Cargo turnover of Russian seaports in January-March 2024 decreased by 3.3% compared to the same period of last...

Eurasian Development Bank sees regional infrastructure needs

Moscow, Russia (Ports Europe) April 5, 2024 – Last month, the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) published a report entitled “Infrastructure in...

Russia’s North-South corridor lacks infrastructure, Caspian sinking

Moscow, Russia (Ports Europe) March 25, 2024 – There were no changes in the transit of goods from/to India and Southeast Asia to Russia in 2023 via...

Makhachkala port to be cheaply privatised

Makhachkala, Russia (Ports Europe) March 22, 2023 – The long-delayed privatisation of Russia’s Caspian Sea port of Makhachkala, which was to be completed...

Update: Seaport cargo in Russia in Jan-Feb’24

Moscow, Russia (Ports Europe) March 17, 2024 – Cargo turnover of Russian sea ports in January-February 2024 decreased by 0.5% compared to the same period of...

Russian ports handled 139.6 mln tonnes of cargo in Jan-Feb’24

Moscow, Russia (Ports Europe) March 13, 2024 – Cargo turnover of Russian seaports in January-February 2024 was 139.6 million tonnes, 0.5% less than the same...

Russian navy builds a new base in Caspian Makhachkala

Makhachkala, Russia (Ports Europe) March 5, 2024 – The Russian navy, exposed and vulnerable in the Black Sea, is building a new base for its ships in the...

Russia’s problems with dredging in Arctic and elsewhere

Moscow, Russia (Ports Europe) March 2, 2024 – “Definitely bad” is how Nikolay Tyrtyshny, General Director of Rostov central design bureau Stapel that...

Kazakhstan to dredge Kuryk and Aktau ports

Astana, Kazakhstan (Ports Europe) February 26, 2024 – Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea ports of Kuryk will be dredged in 2024, while Aktau, the country’s...

50,000 tonnes of Kazakh ammonium nitrate to be exported via Aktau-Hovsan-Batumi ports

Aktau, Kazakhstan (Ports Europe) February 21, 2024 – After exporting KazAzot’s ammonium nitrate (3,000 tonnes) through the Caspian Sea port of Aktau in...

Caspian Sea water levels study to inform Aktau Port adaptation

News – HR Wallingford – February 20, 2024 Over the next 18 months, HR Wallingford will be carrying out a study for The World Bank to assess how...

Plans for a Turkmenbashi-Amirabad feeder line

Amirabad, Iran (Ports Europe) February 19, 2024 – Turkmenistan and Iran are planning to resume shipping between the Caspian Sea ports of Turkmenbashi and...

Update: Russian ports handled 71 mln tonnes of cargo in Jan 24

Moscow, Russia (Ports Europe) February 15, 2024 – Cargo turnover of Russian seaports in January 2024 decreased by 6.2% compared to the same month of last...

Iran invests in port development

Tehran, Iran (Ports Europe) February 13, 2024 – The capacity of Iranian ports has increased to 290 million tonnes, Ali-Akbar Safaei, head of the...

Aktau port handled 360,000 tonnes of cargo in January’24

Aktau, Kazakhstan (Ports Europe) February 13, 2024 – Cargo turnover of Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea port of Aktau in January 2024 increased by 12.7%...

Russian ports handled 71 mln tonnes of cargo in Jan 24

Moscow, Russia (Ports Europe) February 13, 2024 – Cargo turnover of Russian seaports in January 2024 decreased by 6.2% compared to the same month of last...

$31 billion investment for Kazakhstan rail, sea, air & road transport

Astana, Kazakhstan (Ports Europe) February 13, 2024 – A pool of investment projects worth more than $31 billion in the fields of railway, sea, aviation...

World Bank, HR Wallingford step into shrinking Caspian problem

Aktau, Kazakhstan (Ports Europe) February 12, 2024 – Alarmed by the shrinking waters of the Caspian, Kazakhstan invited the World Bank (WB) to conduct a...

Turkmenistan joins IMO’s convention on bunker oil pollution damage

Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan (Ports Europe) February 8, 2024 – The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has approved Turkmenistan’s accession to the...

Double increase in icebreaker-assisted ships in Russia‘s Caspian ports

Astrakhan, Russia (Ports Europe) February 7, 2024 – There is an unexplained almost double increase in the number of ships assisted by ice breakers in and out...

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