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The first tanker constructed in Azerbaijan was launched
The maritime industry in Azerbaijan is developing steadily. Our country provides the necessary support to develop the maritime transport and to promote ASCO to become the most advanced company in the world which meets the international standards.
Under the leadership of the President Ilham Aliyev major projects on transport and logistics and shipping spheres are implemented in the country.
“Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company” CJSC (ASCO) regularly provides both transportation fleet and specialized fleet with the ships constructed according to the latest shipbuilding results and this is also a part of the measures taken. As a result of special attention and care of the President to the maritime industry, 20 different ships were purchased and put into operation over the past 5 years. Generally, within the framework of the renovation plan of ASCO fleet it is planned to purchase more than 70 ships and to construct in Baku Shipyard within the next 10 years. These ships include tankers, dry cargo, ferry, crane, passenger, diving, supply-towing, towing, fire extinguishing, sand-dredging and dredging vessels. Exploitation of the ships will contribute both to preserve the leading position of the country in the Caspian Sea and to expand activities in the foreign waters and to develop shipbuilding industry in the country. Moreover, those ships will contribute to eliminate the dependence on one market, to increase the competitiveness of the fleets, to transport transit cargos over Azerbaijan and to successfully implement oil and gas projects in the Caspian Sea.
Fortunately, the resources of the local shipbuilding are also applied in the fleet renovation process in the recent years. “Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company” CJSC and “Baku Shipyard” LLC are successfully cooperating in this regard. Till now, one tow-ship and three passenger ships were constructed in the mentioned shipyard on the order of ASCO and were delivered.
Currently, two RST12C new generation tankers and two unique “Ro-Pax” (CNF- 18C) ferry boats are constructed in Baku Shipyard for ASCO. These ships, which are constructed according to the schedule, will be delivered by the end of 2020.
Construction of the hull of one of these vessels – “Lachin” oil tanker has been completed by 100%. In figures, this means 860,000 no injury working hours. The remaining construction and installation works will be conducted on the berth bridge of Baku Shipyard. For this purpose, the tanker “Lachin” was floated out by the hydraulic carriers over the floating dock from the construction-installation site of the shipyard. Once the construction of the ship is completed, the sea exploitation tests will start. In general, “Lachin” tanker is scheduled to be delivered in June 2019.
This type of new generation tankers, constructed on the order of ASCO, are 141 m in length, 16.9 m in width and 6 meters in height. The tankers with the deadweight of 7,875 T in the sea and 5,447 T in the river are equipped with two 1200Kw “Wartsila” engines. These ships have a crew of 11 people and move at the speed of 10 knots. Each tanker has six tanks with a total capacity of 9212 cubic meters for transportation of crude oil and oil products. The design of these unique floating vessels was developed by the Odessa Maritime Engineering Bureau.
The minister of economy Shahin Mustafayev, the director of the State Maritime Agency Gudrat Gurbanov, the chairman of the “Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company” CJSC Rauf Valiyev, the vice president of SOCAR Suleyman Gasimov and the general manager of Baku Shipyard LLC Imanverdi Hasanov participated in the launching ceremony of the ship.
The students of the Azerbaijan State Maritime Academy also attended the launching ceremony. At the ceremony, the chairman of ASCO Rauf Veliyev and the general manager of Baku Shipyard LLC Imanverdi Hasanov informed the students about the activities of Baku Shipyard and the new ships that have been constructed in this shipyard. They stated that construction of modern ships is important for our seamen in terms of new work places. Rauf Veliyev and Imanverdi Hasanov noted that the students with high academic results had an opportunity to work both in the shipyard and on the ships.
At the end, “Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company” CJSC and “Baku Shipyard” LLC signed a new contract to construct two more new tankers of the same type. It should be noted that “Baku Shipyard” LLC started to operate officially on September 20th, 2013 with participation of the President Ilham Aliyev. Currently, 1300 local experts and staff are working there.