Beira now a gateway for project cargo

Road and bridge upgrades on

the Beira corridor are removing

the infrastructural limitations

that saw project cargo for northern

Mozambique moving via Durban

rather than Beira, according to

Kanishk Jaiswal, senior manager of

Beira Logistics Terminals Projects

(BLT Projects).

This was demonstrated during

the recent movement of heavy

machinery and equipment to

the Marange Diamond mines in

Zimbabwe.

Phase 1 of the project involved

the delivery of 52 heavy duty

mining vehicles from Belorussia to

Zimbabwe.

“Specialised mining vehicles were

railed from the Belaz factories in

Minsk to the port of Klaipeda and

shipped on flat racks from Klaipeda

to Beira,” he says.

Due to the size of the machines

they had to be shipped in semi

knocked down form and then

re-assembled onsite in Zimbabwe.

“In Beira, BLT was responsible

for providing specialised handling

and loading solutions for getting

these machines off the flat racks and

onto specialised lowbed trailers for

onward delivery to Zimbabwe.”

The road haul of the machinery

was handled by Specialized

Transport, which like BLT

Projects is part of the J&J

Group.

“This was the first time

that Belaz equipment

has moved through the

Beira corridor and it

could very well pave the

way for future mining

development projects

in the region,” says

Jaiswal.

“With a new

highway connecting

Beira to the Forbes

border post in

Zimbabwe, a lot of

the route restrictions

for moving out of gauge

and heavy cargo will be overcome,”

he adds.

The road, together with the

proven capacity of the port, puts

the corridor in a strong position

to attract more project cargo, he

believes.

“Mozambique and neighbouring

countries such as Zimbabwe,

Zambia, Malawi and the Democratic

Republic of Congo (DRC) have a

number of infrastructure projects in

the pipeline.

“These include the construction

of three new power stations in

Mozambique’s Tete province,

construction of a power station at

Hwange, other mining expansion

projects in Zimbabwe, water

treatment plants and airport

upgrades in Malawi, road and bridge

construction projects in Zambia and

a hydro project and other mining

upgrades in DRC.

“Due to its geographic proximity,

Beira is very well positioned to cater

to these projects,” he says.