ASTANA — Kazakhstan’s national maritime shipping company Kazmortransflot reported a record monthly volume of container transportation along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor, in May. The company transported 7,451 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) on the Aktau-Alyat (Baku) route during the month, more than double the 3,359 TEUs carried in May 2025, according to Kazmortransflot.
The growth reflects rising demand for the Middle Corridor, a key trade route linking China and Central Asia with Europe via the Caspian Sea, the South Caucasus and Türkiye. Kazmortransflot said the record result was achieved through more efficient distribution of cargo among vessels operating on the route, including container ships Barys, Berkut and Sunkar, as well as dry cargo vessels Turkistan and Beket Ata.
Increased vessel deployment enabled more frequent sailings between Kazakhstan’s Aktau Port and Azerbaijan’s Port of Alyat. A subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company KazMunayGas, Kazmortransflot serves as the official maritime carrier on the Middle Corridor.
Since 2019, the company has transported more than 210,000 TEUs between Aktau and Alyat using its own fleet, equivalent to approximately 2.7 million tons of cargo.