OREANDA-NEWS. October 25, 2011. The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has held public discussion of environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the construction of the new Baku shipyard.

According to the EIA, the shipyard construction is to finish in 2013. It will focus on construction of new vessels to meet fully the needs of Azerbaijan: the Caspian Sea Flotilla, Caspian Shipping Company, military and border guard services.

The shipyard is expected to build Caspian Max tankers with carrying capacity of 60-70 tons for Kazakh oil transit via Azerbaijan. Each year the enterprise will produce 25,000 tons of fabricated metals, 4 tankers with carrying capacity of 15 tons, two tankers Caspian Max, two towing-supply vessels. Besides, the shipyard will be able to repair 80-100 vessels for different purposes.

At the initial stage the plant will open 1,000 new jobs, and within a few years this figure will increase up to 1,700-2,000 jobs.

The SOCAR, Azerbaijan Investment Company and Singapore’s Keppel Offshore and Marine (KOM) singed on 10 December 2010 the founding agreement on the construction of a new shipbuilding and ship repair yard in Baku. Under the agreement, stakes in the new joint venture are as follows: SOCAR - 45%, AIC - 25%, KOM - 10%. In addition, KOM is given the right to increase its stake by 10% over the next three years.

The project is estimated at USD450 million.
Caspian Max tankers are designed to ship oil from Kashagan field, the primary production at which will begin in 2017. The first oil from Kashagan will be produced in 2012 in the amount of 5 million tons a year.