Azerbaijan expands its fleet

Azerbaijani Caspian Shipping Company increased the number of vessels sailing in international waters. The tanker “Professor Aziz Aliyev” belonging to the shipping company will be operated in international waters, the company reported on July 14. As Hellenic Shipping New writes in an article "Azerbaijani Caspian Shipping Company expands its fleet", the ship with a carrying capacity of 7,000 tons was built in Nizhny Novgorod. Its length is 141 meters, width is 16.7 meters and the height of the side – six meters. The vessel will operate in the Black, Azov and Mediterranean seas. The activity of the tanker will be controlled by the company Casptankers, established by the Azerbaijan Shipping Company in Turkey.

The vessel has already launched its first international voyage from the port of Tuapse to Bulgaria. This is the first in a long time the shipping company tanker swimming in the Black Sea. Currently, 10 dry cargo vessels of the company operate outside the Caspian Sea.

The Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping CJSC was established by merging country’s two largest fleets – the Azerbaijan State Caspian Sea Shipping Company and the Caspian Sea Oil Fleet of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic, on October 22, 2013.

The merchant fleet consists of 98 vessels: 34 tankers, 13 ferries, 14 universal dry-cargo, 2 Ro-Ro ships as well as 35 different auxuliary ships. And the offshore support fleet is comprised of 188 vessels of which 21 crane vessels, 22 supply and tug vessels, 29 passenger ships, 2 pipelay barges, 7 firefighting vessels, 5 geological survey vessels, 11 diving support vessels, and 84 other support vessels.