Kazakhstan plans to transport 100,000 tonnes of cargo by sea in 2018
By Kamila Aliyeva
The bill on ratification of the Protocol of 2005 to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation was considered at the enlarged meeting of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Defense and Security, Kazinform reported.
“In 2005, the International Maritime Organization adopted a number of significant amendments to the convention. In particular, the protocol of 2005 expanded the list of crimes classified as terrorist acts. Each state is charged with the obligation to provide in its legislation the responsibility of individuals and legal entities for the commission of terrorist acts. A mechanism for providing assistance to prevent terrorist acts has been defined. For us, the protocol of 2005 is of great urgency, because today Kazakhstan’s ships openly start working in the open seas,” Roman Sklyar, the country’s First Vice-Minister for Investment and Development, said while presenting the bill.
He also said that today there are more than 300 vessels, of which 12 vessels make international voyages, in the Kazakh fleet.
“Over the past year domestic vessels transported 35,000 tonnes of cargo. In the current year, the planned volume of transportation will amount to about 100,000 tonnes, it will be oversized cargo mainly. Also on the Black Sea, two tankers of Kazmortransflot company carry transportation of oil from the port of Novorossiysk to the Romanian port,” Sklyar added
It is planned to start shipping oversize equipment from the Baltic sea to the port of Aktau in Kazakhstan for for oil and gas projects starting from this year and till 2022, according to the minister.
He recalled that thanks to the agreement reached with the Russian side, today, for our ships, the permissive procedure for passage along the inland waterways of the Russian Federation has been simplified.
“At the moment, according to the international organization, 41 states have joined this convention, and most importantly, almost all the countries of the Black Sea, Mediterranean and Baltic regions. Ratification of the protocol will not require changes to the current legislation,” the minister noted.
The provisions of the Protocol fully comply with the legislation of Kazakhstan, including - regarding the possibility of using the vessel as a weapon of crime.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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