PORT KURYK – A PEARL OF KAZAKHSTAN TRANSPORT LOGISTICS, A RELIABLE LINK OF THE CASPIAN SEA-BLACK SEA-BALTIC SEA TRANSPORT CORRIDOR

The seaport of Kuryk (Kazakhstan) is a new, modern port, an important link in Kazakhstan’s transport and logistics structure, which began its work in 2016. It is located on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, south of the Aktau port, in a natural bay, that provides rather favorable weather conditions for loading and unloading. The port's ferry complex is focused on the transshipment of grain, oil products, fertilizers, chemicals and other types of cargo. The port has automobile and railway berths with the possibility of simultaneous servicing of 2 ferries (depth – 8.5 m). 

• The capacity of the automobile berth is 1.9 million tons (the average time for processing a ferry –14-16 hours, which allows to process up to 3 ferries per day).
• The capacity of the railway berth is 4.1 million tons (the average time of a full ferry processing cycle: for a single-tier ferry – 6-8 hours, for a two-tier ferry – 10-12 hours, which allows to process up to 5 ferries per day).

A regular ferry service has been established between the ports of Kuryk and Alat (Baku), which are located at a distance of 244 miles (approximately 452 km) from each other, which allows delivering cargo in 18 hours (for example, a ferry from the port of Aktau to the port of Baku is on the way 22 hours). Port Kuryk is a partner in the project on establishing a corridor for effective cooperation from the Baltic coasts to the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea coordinated by the Baltic-Black Sea Economic Forum, as well as – in the Global Multimodal Logistics project.

Having the best geographical location, the port has one of the key roles on the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea, thereby performing the functions of a hub for the accumulation of goods sent to (from) Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and European countries.

General Director of Port Kuryk Serik Akhmetov, who can be classified as a new-type leader that is able to think outside the box and find optimal solutions in the most difficult situations, noting the importance of implementing new joint projects aimed at developing new routes for moving goods between the ports of the Caspian Sea, focusing on the importance of the upcoming meeting of partners at the sites of the Baltic-Black Sea Economic Forum in Ukraine (Kherson), said in particular:

“The efficiency of the development of our entire partner chain largely depends on the optimization and development of cooperation between ports and transport and logistics companies of the Caspian Sea from the eastern shores of the Caspian to the Baltic. Our very first practical decisions taken with our partners from Turkmenistan, the company Turkmen Milli Logistik, testify in favor of the need to activate all partners located on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, in particular the seaports of Turkmenbashi and Kuryk.

Port Kuryk has greater potential, which we plan to use to the maximum. It is necessary to work out optimal, comprehensive routes for moving goods, using the capabilities of the railway and road transport. The convenient geographical location of Port Kuryk makes it possible to reduce the duration and cost of transportation, increasing export flows through the Caspian Sea by 30%. It encourages us, together with our partners from Turkmenistan and other Caspian countries, to begin work on developing new sea routes, so to say, “port triangles”, for example between the ports Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan) – Kuryk (Kazakhstan) – Alat-Baku (Azerbaijan). At the same time, Kuryk Port can serve as a hub for accumulating goods coming from (to) the countries located on the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea, with the subsequent formation of shipload lots and forwarding them along the Caspian Sea-Black Sea-Baltic Sea corridor”