Turkmenistan's modern multi-billion-dollar Caspian Sea container port of Turkmenbashi is said to be operating at only 25-30% of its potential due to bureaucratic obstacles facing carriers.

The dire operating rate at the eight-year-old Turkmenbashi International Seaport was outlined by Jasurbek Choriev, secretary-general of the intergovernmental TRACECA (Transport Corridor Europe–Caucasus–Asia) programme and Uzbekistan's deputy transport minister. His remarks to Gazeta.uz were reported by Turkmen News.

Choriev was reported as describing the overall potential of the Trans-Caspian route via Turkmenistan as high, noting that the Turkmenbashi port area has been relatively unaffected by shallowing waters and that Turkmenistan's transit fleet is adequately sized, unlike the fleets of some other countries along the China-Turkey/Europe Middle Corridor that lack vessels of sufficient capacity. However, he said these advantages were barely being realised.

"Right now," said Choriev, "the port of Turkmenbashi is not yet using its full potential, particularly because it isn't easy for carriers to obtain visas. There are also issues with permits. These need to be addressed more actively."

Choriev reflected that the port was currently used at "somewhere around 25-30%" of capacity.

Interest in the Trans-Caspian route has grown amid the blockading of the Strait of Hormuz amid the US/Israeli war with Iran.

Choriev noted that the closure of one route increases demand for others, but said reliability and predictability remained critical for shippers.

He is not the first Uzbek official to flag Turkmenistan's visa bottleneck: Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev described it as a significant barrier for business circles in January.

Double-landlocked Uzbekistan shows a keen interest in the development of transit corridors that can help raise its foreign trade.

Tightly controlled, remote Turkmenistan, like Kazakhstan, can ship Middle Corridor cargoes across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, but the lion’s share of that trade is taken by the Kazakhs, who are working hard on expanding logistics and vessel availability in order to push home their multimodal goods transit advantages. If Turkmenistan can address difficulties such as those seen at Turkmenbashi, it could become a more obvious rival to Kazakhstan for Middle Corridor freight business.

Turkmenbashi International Seaport was built by Turkish company GAP Construction. It opened in May 2018.

The port lately announced it is set to introduce a digital port processing system.

Official statistics reported by Turkmen state media in May showed that the port handled 7,316,326 tonnes of cargo last year, a volume that was up 15.2% y/y. Export cargo was said to have accounted for 4,465,956 tonnes, import cargo 1,522,793 tonnes and transit cargo 1,327,576 tonnes.

The reports also said that this year the cargo volume is projected to reach 8.4mn tonnes, which would represent a 15% y/y gain. Containerised traffic could this year increase to 4,500 containers, up 40% y/y, they added.

Looking at the location’s shipbuilding prospects, the article said the Balkan shipyard has signed contracts with South Korean company Koryo Shipbuilding to build dry cargo vessels.

Turkmenbashi International Seaport is set to implement a digital port system.

TRACECA is an intergovernmental programme that develops transport links between Europe, the Caucasus and Asia. Its member states are Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.