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Batumi International Container Terminal will handle Asian cargo on the new multimodal service on the Georgian port of Batumi
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The cargo will be shipped to Romania’s Constanta port for onward rail transportation to European destinations
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ADY Container announced on June 21 the new rail-sea service via the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, or Middle Corridor, that carries mostly Chinese exports
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ADY Container said the new service caters to increased cargo traffic on the Middle Corridor transiting through Azerbaijan
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The Azerbaijani company is planning to add vessels on the new service to meet growing demand
Batumi International Container Terminal (BICT), a business unit of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) in Georgia, recently welcomed ADY Container LLC’s newly launched multimodal feeder service.
The rail-sea service connects Asia to Europe via the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as the Middle Corridor, ICTSI said in a statement. It is designed to cater to the capacity requirement of the Middle Corridor, which has seen increased freight traffic due to the growing volume transiting through Azerbaijan.
Majority of the cargo handled by the service are exports from China.
For the sea leg, ADY Container and Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company deployed a feeder vessel to operate the route between Port of Batumi and Constanța in Romania every 10 days.
From Romania, cargo is transported by rail to different destinations in Europe.
ADY Container said the new railway-sea connection between China and Europe will ensure the integrity of the supply chain amid the current complex situation, with Russia-Ukraine conflict ongoing, and will allow China and Europe to connect quickly and efficiently through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Romania.
More than 9,000 TEUs have passed through the Trans-Caspian route in the first four months of 2022 – a 30% increase compared with the volume during the same period last year.
With the geopolitical situation in Europe, ADY Container expects traffic via the Middle Corridor to further increase, which would also require adding more vessels to service the route.
In March this year, global logistics giant Maersk started a similar multimodal service linking China to Europe via the Middle Corridor as port congestions in Europe arising from sanctions against Russia for its war against Ukraine caused shipping problems for its customers.
BICT has been active in the port of Batumi since 2007, when it acquired a 48-year lease to operate a multipurpose terminal with exclusivity for container handling.
