Excursion tour in of Aktau.

“Those who are not accustomed to losing ground under their feet suffer from seasickness”

Photo tours in town of Aktau.

Aktau port is located on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea and is the only seaport in Kazakhstan designed for international transportation of various dry cargo, crude oil and oil products. One of the significant nodes in the transport infrastructure of Kazakhstan, located 43 kilometers north of Cape Peschaniy on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea.
The harbor of the port is a deepened bucket, protected from the west by a breakwater, and from the southeast by a rocky shoal. In the northern part there is an oil loading pier. On the east coast there is an embankment for dry cargo ships.
The width of the passage to the port is 300 meters, the depth is 6 meters. The port is equipped with access railway lines. It is connected with the city of Aktau by an asphalt road. The creation of peripheral industrial centers, the rise of the economy and culture of the national outskirts, as well as the interests of strengthening the defense capability of the country of the former Soviet Union, required appropriate transport support, in particular, sea traffic.
The port of Aktau was built in 1963 to transport the products of the uranium industry and oil fields of the Mangyshlak region. The creation of the port began with the construction of the main and auxiliary breakwaters and simultaneously four dry cargo berths.
In 1969 - 1986, four oil berths and a ferry complex were built. In the USSR, most of the traffic through the port of Aktau was oil (up to 7 million tons per year in the early 1980s), while the transportation of dry cargo did not exceed 300,000 tons per year.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, traffic volumes dropped significantly. In 1995, due to the intensive export of Kazakhstani metal and the increase in the volume of sea transportation of oil produced by the Tengizchevroil joint venture (TCO), the volume of transportation began to grow.
Later, the port played a significant role in the construction of the BN-350 nuclear power plant, chemical plants and the city of Aktau itself. Reconstruction of the Aktau seaport 1999 became a turning point and significant in the life of the port.
Capacity upgrade projects were implemented, port infrastructure and management structure improved. The Government of Kazakhstan, together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), implemented a program for the cardinal development and reconstruction of the port in 1997 - 1999 for the amount of the allocated loan (74 million US dollars).
In 1999, the first phase of the port reconstruction was completed. The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.A. Nazarbayev took part in the completion ceremony of the Aktau port reconstruction. After the reconstruction, the port's handling facilities for handling dry-cargo vessels were increased to 1.55 million tons per year, while the previous oil transshipment capabilities remained at 8.0 million tons per year.
After reconstruction, the port of Aktau is a modern multi-purpose terminal, and, like in most ports in the world, its work does not stop for a minute
When the program for the development of the Mangyshlak peninsula began as a fuel and energy base for the northeastern Caspian region (development of the uranium industry and the development of oil fields in Mangyshlak), the port of Aktau with its small berths was mainly used for receiving and sending construction materials.
The development of offshore hydrocarbon deposits in the Mangistau region determined the new purpose of the port. In the mid-70s. XX century from here annually shipped over 6 million tons of crude oil. 1998 - 2000 the port was reconstructed. It was allocated 74 million dollars (54 USD million was provided by the EBRD and USD 20 million - by the government of Kazakhstan). T
he port plays a key role in the export of Tengiz oil and dry cargo from Kazakhstan. It is planned to create a container terminal, an additional grain terminal, the construction of a berth for transporting ferroalloys, etc. In 2000, a ferry terminal began to operate, which closed the northern route of the TRACECA option.
This made it possible to create new international ferry lines Aktau - Noushehr (Iran), Aktau - Baku (Azerbaijan), Aktau - Olya (Russia). In addition, a ferry service was opened by Ro-Ro vessels from Aktau to Olya.
The creation of a special economic zone (FEZ) "Seaport Aktau" was approved in order to attract investments for the socio-economic development of the region, create new jobs, and stimulate entrepreneurial activity.
The main branch of the SEZ is the construction of high-tech production facilities, transport and other infrastructures. The port in Aktau and Bautino is operated by the Republican State Enterprise Atyrau Sea Trade Port (RSE "AMTP").

Authority:
http://www.caspianmonitoring.ru/

Photos
Alexander Petrov.