Three ports on the Black Sea are each preparing new infrastructure and initiatives in preparation of the region’s new role as a key nodal point in China’s far-reaching Belt and Road Initiative.

“We are going to build a new terminal” in Varna, said Anguel Zabourtov, director general of the Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company (BPI), who was speaking in the Bulgarian port city at the recent Black Sea Ports and Shipping Conference.

The site allocated will cover some 60 hectares with a quay side draft of 12 metres. The plan is for it to have three terminals: container, general cargo and grain.

Private investors, including Chinese investors, will be welcome, said Zabourtov. The estimated cost is put at €460 million (US$535.8 million). BPI expects to get a construction permit within the next 12 months.

The new facility is about 3 km to the west of the existing one on the Black Sea and some 13 km from the power complex and industrial zone it hopes to serve. It will be connected to Bulgaria’s on-land connections including high-speed rail in the future, Zabourtov added.

Varna’s build-up will also change its focus away from its traditional market, the Mediterranean, and more towards countries already involved with the Belt and Road Initiative. This will link it firstly with the countries on the Black Sea, then Iran and the “stan” countries of Central Asia before China comes into play, Zabourtov told Asia Cargo News.

One view within the industry is that Bulgaria is a long-term play, a country preparing for when the main lines of the Belt and Road Initiative as it is envisaged now are starting to congest.

Constanta, Romania, is taking a different approach and used the conference to pitch its usefulness to shippers.

Some of Constanta’s usefulness rests on geography with the Danube-Black Sea Canal connecting the port to the Danube river, a strategic artery into Eastern and Central Europe. Constanta gets from this an opportunity to serve landlocked countries such as Hungary, the Czech Republic and Austria and their 24 million citizens. Romania adds a further 22 million people within easy striking distance, said Cosmin Carstea, managing director of DP World Constanta.

Connectivity infrastructure is one of Costanta’s shining points. On rail it does particularly well, with three rail lines each 600 metres long, capable of handling three complete 30-wagon trains at one time, which Carstea says is “more than enough.”

There are also two rail-mounted gantries and a stacking yard of 5,000 square metres to ensure a 24/7 operation.

“One of the most important highways in Romania is just 5 km from our terminal,” Carstea added. Helping this is a container freight station covering 5,000 square metres and bringing under one roof customs, other government authorities, customs brokers, forwarders and logistics companies.

Services also play a part, with refrigerated container power and monitoring, container stuffing, inspection, cleaning, stripping and repairs, cargo storage, project cargo, EDI messaging and VBS (vehicle booking system) all available.

“We think we can add value to all the activities in the Black Sea,” said Carstea.

While DP World Constanta is pitching itself as a gateway to Europe, it is also looking the other way, to Asia. It recently had a successful pilot run of a service to Batumi, Georgia, although its preferred ultimate destination is Kazakhstan.

“We can facilitate the trade lane,” said Carstea. “The pilot run proved the route is open and successful.”

In this, Constanta is up against Georgia’s plans for a new – and rather imposing – facility, Anaklia, on the eastern side of the Black Sea.

Anaklia will be Georgia’s first deepsea port with a depth of 16 metres depth – nearly double the current 8.5-metre draft, which limits the ships that can call now to just 1,500 TEUs. That is the start of a nine-phase development plan leading to the capacity to move 100 million tons annually, said Salome Kelenjeridze, deputy CEO of the Anaklia Development Corporation.

Rail and road connections are to be arranged by the government with the first vessels due to be received by the end of 2020 – exactly when Anaklia’s Special Economic Zone comes online. Up to 2,000 hectares are set aside for development. Of these, the first 400 are dedicated to logistics and industrial parks.

The SEZ’s special economic status is also defined under Georgia’s constitution and will allow for a different and international regulatory environment and business incentives beyond the fiscal reliefs, said Kelenjeridze.

The key though is not in what is on offer, but in where Anaklia is. Within a five-hour flight are the key urban areas of Russia, the majority of Europe, the Persian Gulf, all of Central Asia and northwestern China and India. Twenty-four hours’ road coverage includes the Caucasus region and northwestern Iran, Turkey, the south of Russia and parts of Central Asia.

Eight days of rail travel brings in most of Europe, (although not the British Isles or Scandinavia and only as far as northeastern Spain), northwest China, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Turkey and Iran.

“We have a very strategic location,” said Kelenjeridze, who pointed out Anaklia’s links are backed up by free trade deals which gives it a patch of 2 billion people.

Initially, the primary market is twofold: the Caucasus countries and the landlocked countries of Central Asia. Anaklia sees itself very much as the shortest distance between Europe and Asia while being very much within the Belt and Road Initiative.

By Michael Mackey

Correspondent | Varna, Bulgaria