The creation of a regular Olya–Turkmenbashi ferry line within the framework of the North–South international transport corridor will allow increasing cargo turnover between Russia and the Caspian littoral states. This was stated by Alexander Melnikov, Director of JSC "Commercial Sea Port of Olya", speaking at the session "Water Transport of the Caspian Sea and the Volga River Basin" within the framework of the Viva Consult III International Forum "Transport Logistics of the Caspian Region" in Astrakhan.
"Today there is no shipping connection between Turkmenistan and Astrakhan. There are no regular shipping lines, no ferry service," A. Melnikov stated
A year and a half ago, he said, negotiations were held with the participation of representatives of Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan on the opening of regular shipping lines in the Caspian Sea between Astrakhan ports and the Turkmen port of Turkmenbashi. "It was assumed that the international multimodal corridor to Russia through the Caspian Sea would pass from Kyrgyzstan through the territory of Uzbekistan to the port of Turkmenbashi by land with further cargo transportation by sea to Astrakhan,– A.Melnikov continued. – Well, a year and a half has passed, and, of course, such a shipping line has not been organized. Since there is no regular communication, it is impractical for a ship to make only a call at the port of Turkmenbashi for the sake of several containers, spend the flight time on this, and spend on additional payment of port fees. We didn't have any transportation."
As the speaker stressed, for the development of the container line, it is necessary to create infrastructure – terminals, a fleet, a fleet of container equipment. "We need to send containers, return them, and regular flights. This is a whole system that has been created for years, and it is quite capital intensive."
According to A.Melnikov, at present there are all the infrastructure resources to "consolidate" ferry transportation along the Caspian route. "There are carpools both in the port of Turkmenbashi and in the port of Olya. State regulatory authorities are working around the clock to ensure the smooth handling of these vessels," he said, adding that a national operator is needed to coordinate the flow of heavy trucks, ferry loading, timetable and backloading of cars.
