Empire of the Ring

Chapter 702: Reopening of the Volga-Don Canal (2)

The royal shipyard developed into the second-largest shipyard in the Caspian Sea.

Before that, the Baku shipyard in Azerbaijan had built most of the vessels operating in the Caspian Sea, but now the royal shipyard had the capacity to build 20,000 to 30,000-ton freighters.

Shipbuilding engineers who moved from Georgia had embraced Korean and German technology and built not only small-sized submarines but also high-speed boats.

“Your Highness, I will place an order in the shipyard right away.”

“Yes, go ahead. First, contact the Danish Shipyard for a blueprint for the icebreaker. That way, we’ll be able to save time.”

“Sure, but I’m not sure if they’ll accept it because of the technicians’ pride.”

“The icebreaker can be only designed with long experience. Our technical skills are not enough. And it’s a long way to go before we can finish the model experiment. Although it’s not that I’m ignorant of the pride of engineers, we must acknowledge the current status of the royal shipyard, which does not even have a shipbuilding institute.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll say it’s your instructions.”

Changes resulting from the canal’s reopening could be seen everywhere.

This was because the amount of goods carried through the canal had increased dramatically.

As the amount of logistics that used to be shipped many times on 5,000-ton ships could be shipped in a few ships in tens of thousands of tons and the shippers’ reaction was explosive.

As a familiar example, the size of Kazakhstan’s grain ships exported to Turkey got bigger, and it was calculated that it would take about a month to transport all whereas it took several months to deliver before.

Then, as a follow-up to the reopening of the Volga-Don Canal, the Russian government formally promised safe passage rights for ships using the canal.

The plan was to grant free passage rights, as in international waters, to the canal although it was within Russian territory.

This meant that it would not restrict the use of the canal, even for a ship belonging to a hostile country.

Reasons for these unconventional measures were to attract more tourists and shippers to the soon-to-be-opened Volga-Baltic Waterway.

The Volga-Baltic Waterway was another starting point for Russia to make a comeback.

Youngho played a huge role in Russia’s open attitude.

Whenever he met Putin, he had repeatedly stressed that the establishment of a safe investment environment for foreigners must be preceded.

Kazakhstan was also able to easily cross the threshold of a middle-power country because its policies that boosted the domestic economy also played a part, but the creation of an environment for foreigners to invest with ease also played a major part.

The changes caused by the canal were not limited to the coastal countries of the Caspian Sea and Russia.

Ports along the Black Sea coast were also enjoying the benefits, especially Turkey was its biggest beneficiary.

Turkey had the Bosphorus Strait, which linked the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, under its jurisdiction, and the ships that had sailed breathlessly through the Mediterranean Sea had to be recharged at Turkish ports before crossing the Black Sea through the Volga-Don Canal to enter the final destination, the Caspian Sea.

For this geopolitical reason, Turkey had been enjoying itself as a mid-term destination for logistics into the Caspian Sea.

***

The construction minister and working-level officials, who were touring the west coast of Kazakhstan, were expressing regret.

“It’s too bad we haven’t been able to expand the harbor yet.”

“Minister, but if we combine the port of Atyrau and the docks of the royal wharf, we can handle about ten 50,000 ton-class ships.”

“In the long run, it is unfit to be an export and import port. It’s hard to afford dredging because of the Ural River soil. Aktau is the best place for such a purpose. I’ll suggest building a new port in Aktau.”

The northeastern coast of the Caspian Sea was a coastal reservoir consisting of sedimentary layers, along with the lower reaches of the Volga River.

Even if the port was built near the city of Atyrau, which belonged to the coastal lowlands of the Caspian Sea, the Ural River’s deposits would continue to pile up, so maintenance costs would be high.

Although there was the royal wharf, the river’s water volume varied in seasons, so large ships could not enter all the time.

The Volga-Don Canal was expanded because it was aimed at improving the volume of goods, but Kazakhstan could not benefit from it.

There had to be a new port to serve as a gateway to Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

That was why the Kazakh government started looking for places to build a large port in cities around the Caspian Sea.

After a thorough survey and consideration, the city of Aktau, which was a southwestern region of western Kazakhstan.

The city of Aktau was 320 kilometers south of Atyrau, also famous for its large-scale uranium enrichment plant during the Soviet era.

Most of all, the beach there was a limestone area on the edge of the Ustyurt plateau, and the depth of water off the coast was very deep, making it the best location for the port.

Since the Soviet Union had a uranium enrichment facility, there were port facilities and railways and roads connected to the rest of Kazakhstan.

“There are surprisingly many fishing boats.”

“The oil fields in the North have been polluted a lot, and all the fishing boats have been driven to this area. Things have just settled here and the fishermen are worried about redeveloping the port.”

“The existing dock can continue to be used by fishing boats and ordinary ships. The port dedicated to exports and imports will be newly developed nearby.”

“Then the fishermen will be less worried.”

The mayor of the city, Zhanburshin’s face brightened at the remark of the Construction Minister.

“I don’t understand why people insist on fishing when the uranium enrichment plant expansion created a lot of jobs.”

Aktau was also an economically wealthy city because it had been home to a uranium enrichment plant since Soviet times.

“There’s a rumor that a large uranium mine has been found near the Southern Karatau Mountains and the plant will be moved there.”

Natural uranium could not be used as nuclear fuel by itself, but could only be used after the uranium enrichment process.

With the growing nuclear industry worldwide, the uranium industry was also developing, and Kazakhstan had about 800,000 tons of uranium mines, which was the world’s second-largest reserve.

Recently, when massive uranium mines, equivalent to 15 percent of the world’s use, were found in the southern part of the country. Residents there were insisting that enrichment plants should be built on production sites.

“What do you mean, we’re considering building a nuclear material lab and a uranium enrichment plant expansion here? There’s no reason to move the factory away with the port of import and export just around the corner. I don’t know who’s making such a strange rumor.”

“I think people are trying to attract an enrichment plant where a large uranium mine was found.”

“It’s a mountainous region, so it’s not a good location for factories. Besides, there’s no infrastructure at all.”

There were no people who wanted to go to remote areas where transportation was inconvenient, not to mention educational and cultural facilities.

Living in big cities would solve such problems. Thus, the factories would never move to remote areas in any case.

***

The expansion of the Volga-Don Canal was not just in Kazakhstan’s favor.

Azerbaijan was also one of the beneficiaries.

This was because while the volume of overland shipments from Baku to the Black Sea via Georgia had remained the same, the volume of cargo transported through the canal had increased significantly.

In particular, the export of crude oil was the target, and the way to export crude oil to Europe was opened whereas it was only supplied to Turkey through the BTC pipeline before. It was possible because a 50,000-ton tanker was able to travel in the canal now.

European countries were to receive the Caspian Sea crude oil at a much lower price than those from the Middle East or North Sea.

The popularity of Caspian Sea crude oil had increased as insurance premiums were low as there was an external threat at the short distance route.

Not only Azerbaijan but also Iran had been enjoying oil exports.

Until now, crude oil sold to Europe had only been available through the Suez Canal, but now, the way for direct oil exports was opened in the Caspian Sea.

The problem was that European countries were reluctant to buy Iranian oil either because of the U.S. economic sanctions imposed on it for developing nuclear weapons.

To overcome such a problem, Iran’s oil minister, Bijan Zangeneh, secretly visited the Kazakh royal family.

“Your Highness, congratulations on the reopening of the canal.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I had to get my hands on all sorts of things to survive.”

“We are just jealous of Kazakhstan. We want to use the canal, but we don’t have a ship in the Caspian Sea, so it’s only a pie in the sky.”

It was only natural that Iran, which was in the Arabian Sea, had not paid attention to the Caspian Sea.

“Even if you don’t have a national ship, can’t you use a chartered ship? You can use our shipping company if you need to.”

“But what’s the use of borrowing oil tankers when Western countries don’t even give a glimpse of our oil? So I’m here to discuss it with you.”

“...”

“Your Highness. Can’t you take care of the oil of our country instead?”

Since direct export was difficult, he was trying to export oil through Kazakhstan.

“As you know, our country is also an ally of the United States. I know that the U.S. is being a bit stubborn, but we’re not in a position to ignore it at all.”

Helping Iran would be also burdensome for Kazakhstan.

Iran’s oil was still being sold, although the United States imposed strong economic sanctions against Iran as it took issue with Iran’s nuclear dismantlement program.

“The U.S. has not completely cut off from communicating with our country either. And it’s not forcing other countries to join the economic sanctions.”

“You mean, the U.S. is overlooking indirect exports?”

“Yes, it is. We figured that the U.S. won’t interfere with internal trade between the Caspian countries. That’s why I’m asking you.”

If he made such remarks, it was likely that there was some kind of backdoor deal with the U.S.

“Do you have a separate conversation window with the United States?”

When asked by Youngho, the oil minister looked surprised at how he knew that.

Even warring parties fought while exchanging talks, so it would be weird if there was no dialogue window when the country was under economic sanctions.

“Yes, there is. They say that if it’s a deal between the Caspian Sea countries, they also have justification to step in.”

“Really?”