Beira corridor proves its resilience

The quick recovery from Cyclone Idai proved the resilience and reliability of the Beira Corridor, according to Jan de Vries, managing director of Cornelder de Moçambique, which runs the port of Beira. Everyone involved in the corridor had worked together to have the route open as soon as possible, he told FTW. The port was operational within a day of the cyclone, which hit the city on Thursday, March 14. “About 90% of our staff turned up for work the Saturday after the storm, even though they were dealing with their own problems at home,” said De Vries. The MSC Capri docked and unloaded and loaded cargo four days after the storm. Road links were restored by March 24, following the opening of the Machipanda rail line connecting Zimbabwe with Beira on March 22. Freight started moving despite the fact that Beira was essentially cut off from the outside world as there were no cellphone or data connections for about four days after the massive storm. Cornelder created an “internet café” connected via VSAT to allow clearing agents and freight forwarders to connect to the outside world. While the power was out due to the lines being blown down, the port was able to run on its own power thanks to the installation of a bank of generators. It trucked a spare generator to the Beira water purification plant in order to help the municipality to provide clean drinking water. J&J Africa provided a generator for Customs to allow them to have the single window up and running once data connections had been re-established. De Vries said power had been restored to essential services such as hospitals and the port within a week thanks to the hard work put in by technicians from the state utility, as well as hands-on support from three government ministers. He is also full of praise for international aid agencies, which brought in food, shelter and clothing by sea, air and road. The port set aside land for a temporary refugee shelter for 2 500 people from the interior whose homes were completely flooded. Many had to be rescued from their roofs.