RLL Container Report - 14 December 2016
From: John Keir, Ross Learmont Ltd. Email: john.keir@telia.com Date: 14 December 2016
Bulgaria – out with the old and in with the new.
The opening up of markets in Iran has focused attention on the rail, road and water links to the European Union. By virtue of its location in the South Eastern Balkans, Bulgaria plays a pivotal role in EU logistics, acting as a crossroads for trade routes by sea or land from Iran via Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. Immediately to the south, Bulgaria provides Greece with a direct land corridor to the rest of the EU. Meanwhile, to the West, Bulgaria shares a border with two prospective EU members in the form of Serbia and Macedonia. In order to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world, much of the old transport infrastructure has to be completely overhauled.
On the main north-south rail line, the signalling and telecoms as well as the station buildings at Dimitrovgrad, Simeonovgrad, Nova Nadezhda, Harmanli, Lyubimets and Svilengrad all had to be upgraded. The work has raised the maximum speed to 120 km/h for freight trains and 160 km/h for passenger trains, and potentially 200 km/h for tilting trains. Eventually, the plan is that all freight trains between Serbia, the Black Sea port of Burgas, Turkey and Greece should be using the upgraded rail infrastructure.
The shipping sector also undergone major changes. Navibulgar is purchasing four 36,500 dwt sister ships from the Swiss-based, ABC Maritime. The purchase, costing somewhere in the region of USD 32 million, will raise the number of modern bulk carriers in the line’s fleet to thirty-two. Eight years ago, when it purchased a 70% stake in Navibulgar, KG Maritime Shipping pledged to invest USD 424 million to transform the Bulgarian line into the biggest maritime carrier in the Mediterranean area. At the same time, Mediterranean Shipping Company announced that its new, fast service from Gioia Tauro to Batumi will call at Burgas on Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast, as well as the Ukrainian ports of Ilichevsk and Odessa. This new service provides a link with MSC’s sailings from the Mediterranean to ports on the east and west coasts of South America, as well as the USA.
The Port of Burgas plays a prominent role in the EU’s plans to provide modern intermodal services. One of the first lines to be upgraded runs through central Bulgaria to Burgas. This east-west axis forms a key link in the Orient-East Med TEN-T Core Network Corridor. It stretches all the way from the main North German ports down via Bratislava and Budapest and from there on to Athens, Istanbul and the Black Sea by way of the new line from Plovdiv. Work will also commence on rehabilitating the rail line linking the Danube port of Ruse with the Black Sea port of Varna.
Bulgaria was awarded Euro 151 million by the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) to remove a major rail bottleneck between Kostenets–Septemvri along the Orient-East Med Corridor. As part of the project, 24 kilometres of line will be fully upgraded. Once completed, the new line will conform fully with the latest EU technical standards for passenger and freight transport.
John Keir, Ross Learmont Ltd.
14 December 2016
Copyright ©, 2016, John Keir