Kazakhstan to dredge port for key China-EU trade route.
Kazakhstan will start dredging part of the Caspian Sea around its main port to increase capacity for a crucial transport route linking Asia and Europe, a spokesperson told AFP on Monday. The Trans-Caspian trade route, also known as the “Middle Corridor”, allows goods to flow from China to Europe while bypassing Russia.
Falling water levels in the Caspian Sea — which needs to be traversed to get from Central Asia to the Caucasus — jeopardise the route’s viability. Shallower waters make it trickier for larger vessels to ferry cargo.
“If we do not carry out dredging work by the end of the year and the sea level continues to fall, navigation will remain inefficient,” an official at the Aktau port told Kazakh state media earlier this month.
Kazakh scientists reported in January an “acceleration” in declining water levels.
