SOCAR: New shipyard to strengthen Azerbaijan's position in Caspian

Construction of a new shipyard company of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) will be carried out in 2011-2013, chief engineer of the SOCAR ecology department Yagub Agasiyev said on Tuesday during public hearings on the report on environmental impact and socio-economic impacts.

The decision to construct a new shipyard was made in order to provide missing capacities in the construction of ships in the Caspian Sea.

According to the report, a joint venture has been established for construction in which SOCAR has 65 percent share, Azerbaijan Investment Company - 25 percent, KEPPEL - 10 percent. The shipyard will be managed by KEPPEL. Some 30 percent of construction will be funded by equity and 70 percent will be ensured through the involvement of a bank loan.

According to Agasiyev, the shipyard will build ships for the Caspian oil fleet, the Caspian Shipping Company, for military purposes, and for the State Border Service. The new shipyard will also build large-capacity tankers Caspian Max, capable of transporting 60-70 tons of cargo. In addition, the shipyard will repair ships.

Due to the capacity of the new shipyard, it will be possible to maximally satisfy the needs of the ships of other littoral states, as well as repair their ships.

"The implementation of these objectives will further strengthen Azerbaijan's position in the Caspian," said Agasiyev.

Currently, within the project, work is conducted on the preparation of measures to mitigate potential sources of environmental and socio-economic impacts, as well as environmental management plan.

The first ship from the new shipyard will be launched in 2013. The area of the shipyard will be 880,000 square meters, closed production area - 75,000 square meters. The length of the berths will be 1,300 meters.

Investments in construction of the shipyard total $450 million.


/Trend/