Port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) formally inaugurated the expansion of its Batumi International Container Terminal (BICT) in Georgia.
The expansion encompasses both the waterside and landside areas of the multipurpose terminal, intended to optimize the processing of existing cargo flows and install additional capacity to accommodate new business.
“This new investment consolidates and expands BICT’s competitive position,” ICTSI senior vice president and Europe, Middle East and Africa head Hans-Ole Madsen said in a statement.
Madsen said a comprehensive dredging program, undertaken in cooperation with Batumi Sea Port, provides an 11.5-meter draught in the port’s fairway and alongside BICT’s quay line, allowing easy access for feedermax vessels at the port and making it Georgia’s deepest draught port.
“On the landside, we have met the stated requirement of importers and established a new container freight station (CFS) complete with a 180-meter rail spur to facilitate cross-stuffing from containers to rail cars,” he added.
“Complementing this, we have also expanded container and truck storage areas, and following the completion of a new highway to Batumi, introduced a new, dedicated two-lane gate complex for BICT.”
Batumi, unlike Potti—Georgia’s other major port—offers year-round access, unimpeded by closures due to high winds.
The overall development program for BICT raises annual container handling capacity to 200,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and boosts its general cargo and dry bulk handling capacities. The program further aligns with the Georgian government’s stated objective of enlarging Georgia’s role as a transport-logistics hub serving the Caucasus and Central Asia, ICTSI said.
BICT, a wholly owned ICTSI Group company, 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.
