Press TV - Iran has signed a major contract to build port facilities on the Caspian Sea that would enable terminal operations for roll-on roll-off (RO-RO) ships.

Authorities said on Saturday that Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarter (KACH) would start building the RO-RO ramp in the Caspian Port Complex, located north of Iran in the port city of Anzali.

They said the project would need nearly $10 million in investment and would take two years to finish.

“This project in a national one and is important to the country,” said Reza Masrour, head of the Anzali Free Zone Organization (AFZO), the local body which has awarded the contract for building the ramp.

“Once the RO-RO ramp is finished and the port is linked to the rail network, Iran would become a transit corridor between China and European countries,” Masrour said.

Ro-RO terminals are for ships and ferries that accommodate wheeled cargo, including cars, trucks and similar equipment.

Setting up such facilities on the Caspian Sea would enable China and Russia to dock their large ships at Anzali and transfer their export cargo via Iran.

Masrour said that the facility would be specifically of interest to China and its cargo vessels that sail from Kazakhstan’s port of Aktau.

Head of KACH, a major engineering and construction company linked to Iran’s elite military force the IRGC, said the company would invest up to $6 billion for the construction of the RO-RO ramp in Anzali.

Saeid Mohammad said after the signing of the contract with AFZO authorities in Tehran that the ramp would be 90 meters long and 26 meters wide while a hinterland of 7.6 hectares would be attached to the facility to serve imports and exports.

Authorities say the Caspian Port Complex would host a total of 22 ramps, including the RO-RO one, once it is fully completed.