Allowance made for vessels of up to three hundred metres, writes
Ed Richardson
DETAILS OF a planned container terminal at the Coega deep-water port 20 kilometres east of Port Elizabeth in Algoa Bay have been published in an environmental impact assessment placed in public libraries by the Coega Development Corporation (CDC).
Coega was initially conceived as a bulk port, with the existing Port Elizabeth harbour handling container traffic.
More recently P&O Nedlloyd has become a partner in the development of the port and the adjoining industrial zone and this involvement has added the container port component to Coega.
According to the environmental impact assessment, two layout options are under consideration for the first phase of the project. Option one comprises the development of a 620-metre container handling berth, a 300-metre break-bulk berth and 300- metre dry bulk berth. A 100-metre-wide transportation corridor with road and rail links will be located behind the container terminal. This corridor will provide links to the national, regional and local transport networks.
A second option is the development of a container terminal in the outer basin of the port, with the break bulk, dry bulk and liquid bulk facilities located up the river valley. Over the long term 1300 metres of container berth will be required.
There are plans to move an existing manganese ore loading facility and petroleum tank farm from Port Elizabeth harbour to Coega.
Allowance has been made in the design of the Coega port to accommodate vessels of up to three hundred metres in the turning basin. There will be five deep-water berths to start with, with the design allowing for a total of 20.
The future of Coega has been called into question recently by a decision by Ferrostaal, which was going to build a R6bn stainless steel plant in the industrial zone, to scale down its possible investment in the area.
CDC spokesman Raymond Hartle says that the construction of the port is going ahead regardless of the lack of a contract with Ferrostaal at this stage.
The geographic location of the industrial zone and the presence of a modern deep-water port will, he believes, attract investors to the area.
The Coega IDZ offers a range of opportunities relating to the clustering of industries. For that reason alone, it still makes eminent good sense for Ferrostaal to locate at Coega rather than elsewhere, he says.
SIMONE PRITCHARD has joined the Lee Botti & Associates team in Cape Town as sales executive. She was
previously with
an international
courier company in Cape Town.
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