Yesterday, today and tomorrow of maritime transport in independent Azerbaijan – ARTICLE

Great Leader Heydar Aliyev, the founder of modern Azerbaijan, has rendered an invaluable service in writing the rich history of maritime transport of independent Azerbaijan. Signing of the Contract of the Century, playing a decisive role in the development of maritime transport, restoration of the Great Silk Road, as well as our membership in the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN specialised agency in this field of maritime transport is associated with the name of National Leader Heydar Aliyev.

It is safe to say that maritime transport, which is one of the strategically important sectors of our economy, is currently at a new stage of development. Thus, the formation of transport corridors passing through the territory of the country, construction, modernization and repair of maritime transport companies, seaports, as well as ships led to the intensification of the activities of enterprises and increasing their functional capabilities.

Date of establishment of State Maritime and Port Agency

The State Maritime Administration, the central executive body implementing the state policy in the field of maritime transport, was established in 2006 by the relevant decree of President Ilham Aliyev.

According to the above-mentioned decree, the State Maritime Administration is entrusted with the authority to determine the state policy in the field of maritime transport, as well as to cooperate with the International Maritime Organization, other international and regional organizations in the relevant field, and to monitor the implementation of obligations arising from international treaties to which Azerbaijan is a signatory.

In 2018, the State Maritime Agency under the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies was established by the relevant decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and in 2021, the public legal entity State Maritime and Port Agency was established under the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport.

Development path of State Maritime and Port Agency

The Republic of Azerbaijan, a member of the International Maritime Organization since 1995, has acceded to more than 20 international conventions and protocols in the field of maritime transport.

The preparation of nautical charts of the Caspian Sea began in 2004, and in 2007 electronic nautical charts were prepared using modern software in accordance with the standards of the International Hydrographic Organization.

In 2011, the National Center for Long-Range Recognition and Surveillance (now the Vessel Traffic Control Center) started operating in the State Maritime Administration. The center was established in Azerbaijan on the personal initiative of President Ilham Aliyev for the first time in the Caspian littoral countries in order to meet the requirements of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), to which our country has acceded.

Over the past period, as a result of the effective activities carried out in the field of training for seafarers and awarding them diplomas, a relevant decision was taken in 2011 to recognise the compliance of diplomas and certificates issued to seafarers with the requirements of the European Union in the course of inspections carried out by the European Maritime Safety Agency.

Activities in the field of seafarers’ training, assessment of their knowledge and skills, as well as certification were for the first time checked by experts of the International Maritime Organization in 2016,  at the 96th session of the Organization’s Maritime Safety Committee, and a relevant decision was taken regarding compliance with the requirements of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers.

As an indicator of effective and efficient activities carried out after this decision, the Republic of Azerbaijan was included in the IMO White List. This led to the recognition of certificates (diplomas) and special training certificates issued to seafarers by the State Maritime and Port Agency by all maritime states.

According to the IMO Member State Audit Scheme 2017, as a result of the audits conducted by the organization’s audit expert group during its visit to our country, Azerbaijan ranked first among 174 maritime states of the world, leaving behind the most developed countries of Europe.

In 2022, the seafarer training system of the State Maritime and Port Agency successfully passed the audit of the International Maritime Organization for the second time. According to the decision taken at the 105th session of the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization, the Republic of Azerbaijan was included in the IMO White List. This, in turn, paved the way for recognition of diplomas and certificates issued by the agency to seafarers by 175 IMO member states.

Successes achieved at international level

Azerbaijan is one of the beneficiary countries participating in the second Black Sea –Caspian Sea project, which started at the end of 2022 and is currently ongoing.

It should be noted that the project provides technical support to the beneficiary countries in the field of human resource capacity building in accordance with the action plan approved by the European Maritime Safety Agency. The analysis of the current system of relations in this field leads to the conclusion that the State Maritime and Port Agency has achieved great success in the areas of bilateral and multilateral cooperation. It has expanded its relations not only with the International Maritime Organization, but also with other important international Organizations such as the International Labour Organization, the European Maritime Safety Agency, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization and NATO.

In addition to developing multilateral relations, the State Maritime and Port Agency also pays special attention to bilateral relations with maritime states of the world. Thus, during the reporting period, as a result of mutual cooperation in the field of maritime transport, relevant documents were signed with Türkiye, Italy, Greece, Poland, Bulgaria, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Republic of Korea.

The State Maritime and Port Agency has embarked on focused effort to join the International Mobile Satellite Organization, International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (now the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities.

Azerbaijan has won the right to participate as a new pilot country in the Green Voyage 2050 Project, presented by the International Maritime Organization and the Kingdom of Norway, with the aim of reducing the annual amount of waste emitted from vessels into the air by at least 50% compared to 2008 by 2050. Azerbaijan is one of the 7 countries selected for the project out of 174 member states.

Azerbaijan shipping

As of 1 January 2024, the State Maritime and Port Agency registered 500 vessels in the State Register of Vessels and the bareboat charter register of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The number of registered vessels is 39% higher than in 2003.

The total tonnage for 2023 was 817705 GT for the 246 vessels that had only an International Maritime Organization identification number and met the relevant criteria. This figure is the highest result for all periods according to the total tonnage report submitted by the State Maritime and Port Agency to the International Maritime Organization.

In accordance with the requirements of international conventions in the field of maritime transport, an average of 100 annual inspections were carried out on ships sailing in the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and other foreign waters. In 2023, on the basis of the requirements of the Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic, to which the Republic of Azerbaijan acceded in 2006, a demo version of the Maritime Single Window system was developed and is to be applied from 1 January 2024.

Seaports in Azerbaijan

As a result of purposeful measures implemented over the past 20 years, a number of significant achievements have been made in the development of transport infrastructure, which plays an exceptional role in the development of the non-oil sector, as well as towards further enhancing the transit potential of the country, favourable conditions have been created for Azerbaijan to become an important transport and logistics center, and the volumes and quality of transit cargoes have increased.

The Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On Sea Ports” was approved in 2014 and the “Rules for keeping register of sea ports of the Republic of Azerbaijan” was approved in 2015. After the decision was made, the Register of Seaports of the Republic of Azerbaijan was established in accordance with the “Rules for keeping register of sea ports of the Republic of Azerbaijan”. Five seaports were registered in the said register in 2016 and two seaports in 2022.

It should also be noted that 21 more maritime operations facilities with port infrastructure operate in the coastal territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

National personnel management

In the last 20 years, special importance has been given to the promotion of young people and talented national personnel in maritime transport, their education abroad to improve their knowledge and skills, and their participation in local and international trainings.

Thus, during this period more than 10 young people working in the field of maritime transport have been trained at the World Maritime University (WMU) and the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI), specialised training institutions of the International Maritime Organization. At present, 3 employees of the State Maritime and Port Agency are studying in the mentioned educational institutions.

Important strategic steps taken in time, successes achieved and the work planned prove that Azerbaijan has become a transport and logistics hub between Europe and Asia, an important transit country in the East–West and North–South transport corridors.