The Kazakh national rail freight operator KTZ Express (a subsidiary of Kazakh Railways) has started developing its own maritime fleet. The six ordered vessels should help bridge the Caspian Sea, a major bottleneck on the China-Europe Middle Corridor.
KTZ Express signed contracts for a total of six multipurpose dry cargo and container vessels. The agreements were concluded with the Chinese company Jiangsu Haizhongzhou Shipping Industry for four vessels, as well as with Baku Shipyard for two more.
The Kazakh operator says that its expansion into maritime transport is aimed at reinforcing Kazakhstan’s position along the Middle Corridor. It also hopes to establish a sustainable maritime component within the corridor.
Overcoming a bottleneck
“The vessels will be built to the “river-sea” class”, says KTZ Express, “with a deadweight of up to 9,900 tonnes and a capacity of up to 537 TEU, optimised for operations across the Caspian and Black Sea routes. This will ensure efficient integration of the maritime segment into the unified Middle Corridor logistics chain.”
The Middle Corridor is a transport route that runs between China and Europe. For the time being, it is mostly relevant as a regional artery, but that could change as bottlenecks are resolved. One such bottleneck is the Caspian Sea, where rail freight needs to be transshipped onto shipped and vice versa. By ordering six vessels, KTZ Express is expanding maritime transport capacity at a crucial section of the corridor.