EBRD invests in Turkey’s AsyaPort

ISTANBUL

AsyaPort will handle mega-vessels with capacities up to 18000 TEUs.

The EBRD is providing a $92 million loan to Turkey’s first transshipment container terminal, AsyaPort, as the country continues its efforts to improve its infrastructure to create the conditions to sustain its strong economic growth.

The Bank’s financing will be used to design, build, operate and maintain a brand new container terminal in the town of Barbaros, of the Tekirdağ province, some 130 km west of Istanbul. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Turkey’s İş Bank will contribute parallel loans in the amount of $69 million and $106.6 million, respectively.

Large vessels cannot pass through the Bosphorus, as the Strait can only accommodate ships with container carrying capacities of up to 6500 TEUs. Positioned just before the Bosphorus, structurally capable and equipped to handle mega-vessels with capacities up to 18000 TEUs, AsyaPort will receive cargo, which then will be transported by smaller units to the big Black Sea ports.