There are plenty people working in the enterprises of the State Maritime and River Line Service who continue the work of their fathers and grandfathers. Chief mate of Jeyhun tanker ship of Turkmen Merchant Shipping CJV Serdar Niyazmamedov is one of them.
He had impressive record service and considerable working experience in marine transportation.After the school, Serdar started working as seaman-motorman on coastal tug Lachyn at Turkmenbashy International Seaport.
His choice was approved by his father Muradniyaz Niyazmamedov, who worked as a master of technical control department at seaport’s ship repair yard.After there was a time for army service and after he came back to work on his tug that became home to him.
The years spent at small vessel with gross tonnage of not more than 36 tons became good professional school for him.Despite its small size and the crew of only two men, Lachyn did very important job.
It turned large vessel inside the port and moored them, towed crane barges, pile driver, dredgers, cargo barges, supplied food and water to the vessels on anchorage, transferred the crew back and forward.
It also worked as a pilot boat escorting large tonnage vessels along navigation channel and back to the open sea.The slogger, this is the name Lachyn used to be called by port personnel, was an old boat.
Those years, the crew had to deal with not just small failures of boat’s equipment but also make new spare parts by themselves to replace the old one.
Serdar was studying marine work and gaining practical experience.
School years and beginning of the carrier fell on the first decade of the country’s independence when the vector of tis development was outlined.Positive changes in economic and social spheres did not miss Turkmenbashy International Seaport and merchant fleet of Turkmenistan.
Production infrastructure has been actively reconstructed and technical rearmament of cargo terminals and supplementation of the fleet have been carried out.New national dry cargo vessels were sailing under Turkmenistan flag the Caspian waters.
Watching them from Lachyn that worked as a pilot boat at that time, Serdar enjoyed them and dreamt of captain’s bridge on one of them as in the past, his grandfather Niyazmamed-aga was a captain as well.
In 2008, Serdar graduated maritime school and received the diploma of navigator. 2007 2010 were marked with the beginning of reformation programmes in the modern history f Turkmenistan and it included General Development Plan of Turkmenbashy International Seaport and Turkmen Maritime Merchant Fleet until 2020.
Large-scale project is implemented under super modern samples of international green ports and logistic centres of the world significance.
The potential of maritime merchant fleet is increased together with modernization of the port.Large tonnage vessels of new generation started arriving to Turkmenbashy. 140-meter tanker ship Sumbar able to carry 6 types of oil products was a pioneer of endless line of liners, ferries, big marine tugs, tankers and other vessel built overseas by the order of Turkmenistan.
It was followed by tanker ship Hazar arriving in Turkmenbashy port.One year after, tanker ship Jeyhun with gross tonnage of 10000 tons listed in the register of the best vessels of the world of 2010 has come alongside the berth of Turkmenbashy port.
In the same year, Serdar Niayzmamedov successfully passed examination, received the diploma of navigator and became a 3rd mate officer of tanker ship Jeyhun and two years later a chief mate.
By that time, two new ships joined Turkmenistan merchant fleet multi-purpose chemical carrier Bitarap and tanker ship Etrek similar to Jeyhun by technical specifications.Tanker fleet, which is able to navigate in coastal waters and deep sea voyages, was supplying oil producers with fuel, carried crude oil from Alaja and Okarem oil terminals to Turkmenbashy Refinery Complex, delivered diesel fuel, gasoline and other hydrocarbon products to foreign consumers in the Caspian coast.
Today, tanker ship Jeyhun and its chief mate Serdar Niyazmamedov, who more than once took captain’s responsibility according to the staff manual, serve their duties together with other oil tankers in the Caspian Sea.
I have been to many ports of the Caspian Sea for nine years of work Amirabad, Astrakhan, Baku, Mahachkala, Noushehr, Nekka, Feridunkenar, Enzely and many others.They are all beautiful in their own way but there no better harbour for me than Turkmenbashy, Serdar says.
Approaching the city, breath-taking view opens on the berths with fishing boats, RO PAX ferries, tugs, dry cargo ships, tankers and grandiose construction panorama of Turkmenbashy International Seaport, which is to be the largest transport hub in transit of domestic and foreign cargos of Eurasia.