22 BULKDISTRIBUTOR
Terminals & Storage
March/April 2016
Georgia port looks to the Silk Road
G
eorgia’s Ministry of Economy & Sustainable Development
has announced that the Anaklia Development
Consortium LLC has been awarded the contract to build and
develop a deep sea port in Anaklia.
Situated in the Black Sea coast, the US$2.5 billion project is being
claimed as establishing a new maritime corridor between China and
Europe.
The Anaklia Development Consortium is a joint venture between
TBC Holding LLC, which is based in Georgia, and Conti International
LLC, a US-based infrastructure developer. Other key partners include
port designer Moffatt & Nichol and the port transaction advisor
Maritime & Transport B usiness Solutions from the Netherlands.
The government of Georgia, which initiated the project, has
committed to invest $100 million.
Mamuka Khazaradze, founder and president of TBC Holding and
founder and chairman of TBC Bank JSC, said the Anaklia project
represents a “one-of-a-kind” investment in the restoration of the
Silk Road that would pay dividends for generations of workers in
Asia and Europe. “The government of Georgia deserves much credit
for its foresight in initiating this project and ensuring it receives the
support necessary for its completion,” he commented.
Construction is scheduled to launch by the end of this year, subject
to completion of environmental reviews. The port will be operational
undertake the infrastructure
development of Anaklia’s Deep Sea
Port. We are looking forward to
breaking ground and working with
the government of Georgia to help
forge new paths from Asia to Europe
as well as unlocking the economic
potential of Georgia’s neighbours and
landlocked nations in the Caucasus.”
Anaklia sits on the shortest route
from China to Europe. The route has
recently become a focal point for $40
billion in Chinese infrastructure
investments under the Silk Road
Situated in the Black Sea coast, the US$2.5 billion project is being claimed as establishing a new maritime corridor between China and Europe Development Fund and already
accounts for 26 percent of Chinese
three years after groundbreaking. The project is expected to create
foreign trade volume. The recent opening of the $100 billion Asian
as many as 3,400 jobs during the construction stage and 6,400 jobs
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will also support regional
to operate the port on completion. It will have the capacity to
infrastructure development. The restoration of the Silk Road has
handle 100 million tons of cargo and generate 0.5 percent of GDP
been a priority for Georgia as well and builds on the government’s
annually by 2025.
Deep and Comprehensive Free Industrial Agreement (DCFTA) with
Kurt Conti, CEO and president of Conti International, added: “We
the European Union concluded in December 2014.
are delighted and honoured to be awarded the contract to
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As part of the agreement, the Anaklia Development Consortium
also receives the right to develop a Free Industrial Zone that will
support the port’s operations and trade and be home to local and
international companies. It will be administered with a tax-free
regime to incentivise shipping companies and manufacturers to
relocate and use the port.
The developers claim Anaklia is poised to revitalise the Caucasus
and Central Asia by opening up trade routes for neighbouring
landlocked nations, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kirgizstan and Tajikistan. Access to these
countries is limited and infrastructure in Anaklia could provide the
most efficient and secure route to millions living in Central Asia and
the Caucasus.
The Anaklia Development Consortium is being granted exclusive
and irrevocable rights to use about 400 hectares of land for 49
years. On completion the port will provide deepsea accessibility for
ships up to post-Panamax size.
Direct rail
loading at ITC
Rubis
I
TC Rubis recently conducted its first direct transloading of
liquefied gases from vessel into block train at its Antwerp,
Belgium terminal.
Over the past year ITC Rubis has built a facility suitable for
transloading C3 and C4 gases directly from vessel into rail tanks or
block trains which is now in full operation.
The operation involves pumping product via a pipeline directly from
a vessel into rail tanks connected to the gas loading station. During
the entire operation no tank is used as intermediary storage.
The loading station has been expanded from two to eight
positions, ie, four on each track. This enables ITC Rubis to unload
the vessel directly into four rail tanks simultaneously.
Apart from the extension of the loading station ITC Rubis has also
expanded its rail track capacity by building extra tracks along the
length of the terminal in order to be able to store and shunt block
trains more efficiently.
The facility is said to be the only location in Port of Antwerp
providing this type of direct loading. There is significant demand for
importing liquefied gases into the ARA region and very few facilities
can store, tranship and/or transload them.
ITC Rubis also believes it will play a major role in shifting volume
from road to rail transport mode.