News of our company

The press service of Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO) informs that the company regularly takes measures to expand its activities in foreign waters and eliminate its dependence on one market. Work in this direction will be performed in accordance with the order of President Ilham Aliyev in accordance with the Strategic Development Plan of the Shipping Company.
 
ASCO has been operating its vessels in external waters non-stop for seven consecutive years. Operations in external waters were restored in 2014 with the commissioning of the 005RSD03 dry cargo vessels Natavan and Uzeyir Hajibeyli. In the following years, the numbers of these vessels were enlarged (in total ASCO operates 8 vessels of 005RSD03 project). Currently, ASCO-owned dry cargo vessels and tankers, including those of 005RSD03 and RST12C projects, are engaged in cargo transportations in the Black Sea and Mediterranean basins.
 
In order to expand ASCO's activities outside the Caspian Sea, the company is continuously studying international markets and assessing potential areas of operation. As part of this effort, in 2020 ASCO, together with McKinsey, a leading international consulting firm, developed a strategy for expanding its activities outside the Caspian Sea basin, covering the period until 2030.
 
According to the strategy, in addition to the Black Sea and Mediterranean basins, ASCO is preparing to operate in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.
 
The RST12C was designed by the Marine Engineering Bureau.
 
These are multi-purpose dry cargo vessels of mixed river-sea navigation with deadweight 5.490/3330 tons in sea/river and designed for transportation of general, bulk, timber, grain and oversize cargoes, 8.5 and 9 foot international standard containers and 1.4S, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 class and Annex B dangerous goods of the BC Code.
 
The series has proven its capabilities in the Caspian Sea, with a cargo capacity of 5000 tonnes at Caspian draught with three cargo holds of 7840 cubic metres, having a short design length of only 102.2 metres (and consequently markedly lower port costs, construction costs and operating expenses than competitors).
 
Vessels can operate on inland waterways of the European part of the Russian Federation (deadweight in river with a draught of 3.60 m 3320 tons), including the Volga-Don Canal and the Volga-Baltic Way, as well as in marine areas in accordance with the class of vessel, including operation in the Caspian, Baltic, North, Mediterranean Seas and the Black Sea and Azov Basin.
 
The RST12C was designed by the Marine Engineering Bureau.
 
The British Royal Society RINA has included the lead tanker of the RST12C "Lachin" project, built for ASCO at the Baku plant, in its Significant Ships of 2019 (50 best ships built in the world in 2019).
 
The new RST12C tankers have an enhanced 'Caspian' function:
 
• with a "Caspian" draft of 4.54 m the deadweight is 7875 tonnes (the RST27 project has a deadweight of 7030 tonnes), an increase of 845 tonnes;
• the capacity of cargo tanks is designed to carry oil products from the Caspian region and has been increased by raising the trunk to 9190 m³ (the RST27 has 8100 m³), i.e. by 1090 m³.