Batumi Port

The Port of Batumi has international significance for Georgian maritime shipping. It was established on November 27, 1878 (December 9 on the new calendar). Prior to that, no hydrotechnical structures existed in the Batumi maritime area. Only small coastal vessels could enter. Its cargo turnover was also insignificant, at approximately 16 thousand tons per year.

The growth of Batumi port was particularly accelerated by the construction of the Samtredia-Batumi railway in 1883 and the Baku-Batumi oil pipeline between 1897-1907. This also led to the construction of a protective wall, facilities for siphoning oil, and five docking sites for oil tankers at the Batumi port between 1884 and 1887. In 1902-04, six sites for dry cargo vessels were added. After the completion of the Baku-Batumi oil pipeline in 1900, Batumi's share in the world oil cargo turnover reached 26%. The English tanker “Murex” was the first to be filed in Batumi Port.

By 1902, there were 22 export companies operating in Batumi dealing with oil and oil products. Among them, the most significant were the Caspian and Black Sea Oil Industrial Society "Rothschild" (France), "Nobel Brothers Society" (England), and the Russian firm "Mantashiev."
During World War I and the subsequent period, the port's production deteriorated. Between 1914 and 1922, no construction or repair works were carried out at the port.
The Georgian Maritime State Administration merged the ports of Batumi, Poti, Sokhumi, and Gagra after nationalizing the Batumi port in 1921. This body was subordinate to the Georgian State Commissariat.

In 1921, the port handled 100,000 tons of cargo; in 1922 - 160,000 tons; and in 1923 - 350,000 tons. The main imports were sugar, flour, tobacco, manufactured goods, and chemical products; exports were oil and oil products. In 1924, the first technical equipment of the Batumi port consisted of one 100-ton floating crane, a barge, and two 8-ton steam portable cranes.

In 1925, the experimental transportation of oil products began from Batumi using Soviet trade fleet vessels “Dekabrist” and “Transbalt.” In 1926, 590 ships from 13 countries entered Batumi port. 

In 1967, the Georgian Maritime Shipping Center moved from Tbilisi to Batumi. The port’s material-technical base was renewed, and advanced loading-unloading technologies were introduced. A new modern building for the marine terminal was constructed. From 1971 to 1975, the port was reinforced with a unique pneumatic loader of the "Hartmann" type, capable of unloading 150 tons of cargo per hour from ships' holds, as well as pneumatic machines of the "Noeiro" and "Vak-u-vator" types, among others. Currently, the loading-unloading operations are almost fully mechanized.

In 2000 a new terminal was established. Its primary activities include the handling of dry cargo, oil, and oil products, as well as port services. The total area of the terminal covers approximately 85 hectares, with an annual capacity exceeding 45 million tons. The port has four docking sites capable of accommodating ships with deadweights ranging from 16,000 to 140,000 tons. B.S.N. also provides container services through three terminals and a ferry crossing. The container handling capacity is 200,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) per year. A ferry operates between Varna and Illichevsk (Chornomorsk). The annual container handling capacity reaches up to 700,000 tons. Three terminals handle dry cargo, and the annual capacity is up to 2 million tons.

The Batumi Port also hosts the only terminal in Georgia designed for the storage, transshipment and export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. The reserve park has a capacity of 50,000 cubic meters. The terminal’s rail platform can simultaneously unload 14 tank cars. The Batumi oil terminal operates 7 oil-unloading railway platforms, which can simultaneously unload 24 tank cars or more than 482 tank cars within 24 hours. Two docks at the port serve passenger ships. The terminal's capacity is 180,000 passengers per year.

In February 2008, LLC "Batumi Oil Terminal" granted exclusive management rights for 49 years to the joint-stock company "KazTransOil," which is a subsidiary of the joint-stock company "KazMunaiGas."

M. Jibuti