3,931 ships enter Georgian ports, terminals in Q1
Georgian ports and terminals received 3,931 ships in the first quarter of 2023. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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Georgian ports and terminals received 3,931 ships in the first quarter of 2023, the National Statistics Office of Georgia said on Friday.
Of this number, 39.7 percent were general cargo carriers, 28.2 percent liquid bulk freight vessels, 23.7 percent container ships and the remaining 8.4 percent comprised dry bulk carriers, specialised ships and tugs.
Ports and terminals across the country received 43.1 percent more container ships year-on-year, 5.4 percent more general cargo carriers, 17.8 percent less liquid bulk freight vessels, and 32.4 percent less dry bulk vessels, the Office also said.
The figures also showed 16.3 percent of the ships arriving at the facilities sailed under the flag of Panama, 16.3 percent under the flag of Liberia, 13.7 percent under the flag of Turkey, 8.4 percent were operated under the Maltese flag, 5.3 percent flew the flag of Bulgaria and 5.1 percent were under the flag of Russia.
In other figures, ports and terminals of the country processed 3,505,600 tonnes of cargo - 17.8 percent less than the indicator of the same period in 2022.
In the first quarter of the year, the ports served 1.2 million passengers, or 55.8 percent less than the corresponding figure of the last year.
Traffic flow at customs checkpoints across Georgia has increased "significantly", Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili said at an event dedicated to International Customs Day on Thursday.
Cargo turnover by Georgia's transport sectors, including road transport, railway freight and air cargo, increased by 2.4 percent in the first quarter of 2023 and amounted to 9.5 million tonnes, the Ministry of Economy announced on Thursday.
Georgian economy minister Levan Davitashvili on Friday said the freight turnover in the Middle Corridor - a fast-developing land and sea freight route from Europe to China via Georgia - had increased by 30 percent this year, while cargo flow from Kazakhstan to Georgia had increased six times year-on-year.
Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili on Saturday said cargo turnover, by the country's transport sectors, including road and railway, as well as civil aviation, had increased by 16.6 percent in the first quarter of 2022 and had amounted to 12.8 million tons, this “clearly indicating” that the interest of international carriers towards the transport corridor of Georgia has been growing.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday said his Government was working with counterparts from Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan to “remove all barriers” and make the Middle Corridor, a logistics route connecting Central Asia and China to Europe via the South Caucasus, “more attractive”.