On the morning on the east coast of the Black Sea, Anaklia, a quiet town that used to be no bigger than a village, is being awakened by the roar of heavy machinery. A 1376 meter long breakwater has started its initial onshore construction and will gradually shift towards offshore operations in the future; Dredging ships are busy day and night in the harbor, digging the seabed to a depth of about 17.5 meters to make way for large container ships, as well as dry and bulk cargo vessels, to dock. The port has not yet taken shape, and a new railway has been put on the agenda.

A railway that supplements the chain

According to Georgian Prime Minister Kobasize, the railway connection line connecting the Anaklia Deepwater Port is approximately 18 kilometers long, with an estimated investment of 200 million US dollars. The World Bank will provide financial support, and the construction bidding is expected to start before the end of October 2026. The planned project includes the construction of new railway tracks, stations, and related infrastructure. For a deep-water port, the dock is just the starting point, and the railway that can quickly distribute goods is the lifeline.

Why is it necessary to repair

The existing Batumi Port and Poti Port in Georgia have a water depth of only 11 to 12 meters, which makes it impossible to dock super large container ships. With the continuous growth of transportation volume in the trans Caspian intermediate corridor, the throughput of the two ports is approaching saturation, and long queues of border trucks have formed. The transit potential of this country has been delayed. The Anaklia Deepwater Port is designed to fill this gap and is regarded by the authorities as an important project to drive long-term economic growth. However, in order to make the goods unloaded from ocean going ships flow, there must also be a railway connecting the port to the existing railway network in Georgia, and then to Azerbaijan, Türkiye and other directions. In addition to railways, the Georgian government is also responsible for building infrastructure such as roads that connect ports with the surrounding transportation network.

New gateway on the east coast of the Black Sea

The largest deepwater port project in Georgia's planning has been full of twists and turns: the early cooperation signed with an international consortium was cancelled in 2020 due to years of controversy, and in 2022, the government announced a restart and re bidding. In the end, a consortium led by Chinese companies won the bid, adopting a joint venture model of Georgian holding and investor holding. Now that the preliminary preparations for marine infrastructure have been completed and the construction is fully underway, the attention of neighboring inland countries has also been drawn. Some Central Asian countries have sent delegations to investigate, hoping to use this channel to deliver goods to the Black Sea.keywords:Engineering infrastructure

With the simultaneous advancement of ports and railways, a landlocked country's anxiety about going abroad and the demand for faster Asia Europe trade are converging at the Black Sea. After the completion of the railway connection line, the connection between Anaklia Port and Georgia's inland and regional transportation networks will be significantly improved, and the country's position in Black Sea trade and cross regional logistics is expected to rise accordingly.Editor/Yang Meiling