Tekirdağ to get huge port no later than November

Tekirdağ

Asyaport, set to be the third-largest container port in Europe according to officials, will begin to accommodate ships in Tekirdağ starting Oct. 29 this year.  The $450 million investment project of Italian MSC and  Turkish Asyaport is projected  to provide employment for  5,000 people.

The international transit port, constructed in the Thracian region of northwestern Turkey, accommodates container carrier ships of all sizes and is anticipated to relieve Bosporus traffic.

2.5 million TEU capacity

Soon to be Turkey’s largest port, Asyaport follows only Rotterdam and Hamburg in size.

 “The first ship will berth to Asyaport on Oct. 29 and the port will reach full capacity in 2016,” said Cengiz Günay, chairman of the Tekirdağ Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The port’s handling capacity is 2.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) per year but the terminal will begin operations with an initial handling capacity of 1 million TEU per year.

Tekirdağ is the sixth-largest manufacturing city in Turkey with 500 industrial facilities and high agricultural potential.