On October 15, as part of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s working visit to Baku to attend the Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), an exchange of documents took place for the construction project of two universal dry cargo vessels for KTZ Express Shipping LLC, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) JSC.
Sea-news.az reports this was announced by the press service of the Samruk-Kazyna Fund. Contracts for the construction of the vessels were signed in April 2026.
The ceremony was attended by Nurlan Zhakupov, Chairman of the Board of Samruk-Kazyna JSC, and Rashad Nabiyev, Minister of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AZCON Holding.
The vessels will be built at the Baku Shipyard. The new dry cargo ships are intended for operation along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), connecting Asia and Europe.
“Developing its own maritime fleet will enable Kazakhstan to increase the efficiency of cargo transportation management, expand the transit capacity of the Trans-Caspian route, and create additional conditions for attracting international cargo flows,” the Samruk-Kazyna Fund stated.
The project is being implemented in fulfillment of Tokayev’s directives, aimed at developing a multimodal transport and logistics system, strengthening Kazakhstan’s transit potential, and reinforcing the country’s position along international transport corridors.
It is worth noting that on October 1, 2026, Kassym Tlepov, Deputy Chairman of the Railway and Water Transport Committee of the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan, stated at the World Bank Group’s online event titled “Middle Corridor: The Next Phase” that Kazakhstan expects the delivery of eight more vessels for container transport by 2028. Four of these will be constructed at the Baku Shipyard, while the remaining four will be built in China.
It should be noted that on October 15, the 7th CICA Summit was held in Baku under the chairmanship of Azerbaijan. The event was attended by heads of state and government, delegations from CICA member and observer states, as well as representatives of observer organizations and partner entities.
