Italy’s RINA Services has been awarded a contract to provide design review and third party certification services for a USD 1.5 billion Turkmenbashi International Port, currently being built by Turkey’s Gap Insaat on the Caspian Sea coast of Turkmenistan.

The port complex is due for completion in 2017 and will include four terminals, road and rail links, and a ship-repair yard. Freight throughput is expected to reach 25 million tonnes by 2020.

A major pipeline is already being built to link Turkmenistan’s Galkynysh gas field, the world’s second-largest natural gas deposit, to Turkmenbashi.

The port complex will export oil and gas products and textiles and facilitate trade between Europe and the Middle East and Asia.

”The State Service of Maritime and River Transportation of Turkmenistan intends that the new port will be built from the outset as part of a multi-modal network linking road, rail and water transportation in an environmentally-friendly way,” Michele Francioni, CEO, RINA Services, said.

”We know about ports, we know how to manage environmental issues, we know Turkmenistan, we understand what they want and we have good experience of working with Turkish construction companies on major infrastructure projects.”