On May 6, 2026, China Harbour Engineering Co., Ltd. announced that it had successfully won the bid for the dredging phase I project of Aktau Port in Kazakhstan.

Aktau Port is one of the largest modern ports in the Caspian Sea, the transportation artery of Mangystau Oblast in Kazakhstan, and the core node of the Trans Caspian International Transport Corridor, also known as the Central European South Passage. This multimodal transportation route, with a total length of 11000 kilometers, crosses Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, and the Caucasus, and reaches Europe directly. The depth of water determines everything.

And water is precisely the biggest problem.

The average depth of the Caspian Sea is only 180 meters, and it is even shallower to five or six meters in the north. Large cargo ships can only sigh at the ocean. What's even more tricky is that the water level is still continuously decreasing. Aktau Port officials bluntly stated that if dredging is not completed by the end of the year, navigation efficiency will further deteriorate. Agence France Presse's report is even more ruthless - insufficient water depth has become the biggest bottleneck for transportation capacity in the middle corridor. Although the European Union announced to invest 10 billion euros to develop this route, and von der Leyen also called it "the key link" at the Central Asia EU Summit, the water is not deep enough, and no amount of money will go to waste.

China Harbour has previously completed the high-quality construction of the Aktau Port container hub, and has once again won the dredging project, further consolidating its advantageous position in the local port construction field.

Channel acceleration, data speaks for itself

Dredging is a patch on infrastructure, while the acceleration of the channel itself is truly exhilarating.

On March 31, 2026, the China Europe Railway Express (Wuhan) will launch its first trans Caspian train directly to the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, with a total estimated travel time of 18 days. Previously, Wuhan had established logistics channels to Poti and Tbilisi in Georgia. Xi'an Chanba International Port has improved transportation efficiency by about 25% through optimizing route operations and strengthening cooperation with Harbin Railway. In the first quarter, the number of cross Caspian Sea routes increased by 150% year-on-year, and the operating time has been reduced from an average of 20 days last year to 15 days, with the fastest being 11 days.

On April 15, 2026, Chengdu made another breakthrough: a south passage train full of 50 cabinets of household appliances set off from Izmir, Türkiye, whistled, crossed the Caspian Sea, and entered through Khorgos. This is the first time that the return train of Nantong Road has achieved interconnectivity with the eastbound train, bringing the closed-loop puzzle of the Asia Chengdu Europe corridor one step closer.

China Railway Group has made it clear that it will formulate measures for the high-quality development of China Europe freight trains, promote the construction of the Cross Li Hainan Channel, and expand the scope of full timetable train services.

Reshaping the map, not limited to ports

The significance of dredging Aktau Port goes far beyond just one port.

Kazakhstan has previously completed dredging of Kurik Port, increasing the water depth to 7 to 8 meters in just four months. After the upgrade of Aktau Port, the hub position of Kazakhstan in the central corridor will become even more irreplaceable. With the deepening of railway cooperation between Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, as well as the steady progress of the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan railway, the Trans Caspian International Transport Corridor is redrawing the logistics map of the Eurasian continent. Keywords: China Europe freight trains, port logistics

At present, Nantong Road has established a product system that supports cross Caspian Sea, cross two sea rail sea intermodal transportation, and all rail transportation. With the shovel of China Harbor, it not only excavates silt, but also the entrance to the new pattern of Eurasian logistics.Editor/Cheng Liting