Container terminal plans major capacity upgrade

24 Feb 2017 - by Ed Richardson

Maputo’s

container

terminal,

which is

operated by DP World, is

also expected to benefit

from the deepening of the

approach channel.

The terminal is being

expanded and will this

year have a capacity of

400 000 TEUs a year – up

from the previous 150 000

TEUs, according to Alan

Olivier, chairman of the

Maputo Port Development

Company and executive

director and chief executive

officer of Grindrod.

He said plans for a

third phase of expansion

were already in place to

accommodate further

growth in volumes.

Tejas Nataraj, chief

executive officer of DP

World Maputo, told

FTW that the terminal

had started aggressively

marketing the advantages

of the port of Maputo and

the Maputo corridor.

“The completion of

the dredging is a major

step in facilitating better

connections from the Port

of Maputo,” he said.

DP World operates both

the container terminal

and the intermodal MICD

warehousing facility in the

port.

“We are in the process of

developing the capability

to handle mainline vessels

to connect the regional

hinterland to markets in

the Far East/China, East

coast of USA,

Mediterranean

and North

Europe and

the Middle

East.

“To support

these strings

we are also

planning

regular feeders

to all the

major ports on

the east and

west coasts of

Africa.

“By the end of 2018 our

plan is to have a terminal

with a capacity of 0.4

million TEUs with the

ability to handle super post-

Panamax vessels with a 14.5

m draft,” he told FTW.

The

deepening of

the channel

makes

Maputo an

attractive

container

hub port for

the region.

“Ports in

the region

including

other

ports in

Mozambique, have limited

drought.

“The potential now exists

to use DP World Maputo for

transhipping containers, and

even terminating mainline

calls at Maputo and using

smaller feeders to serve the

remaining ports,” he said.

DP World Maputo is

investing in the necessary

equipment and systems

to enable it to protect

the schedule integrity of

shipping services.

“We believe the reliability

and connections will also

be an enabler to develop the

hinterland markets, with

the increase in productivity/

efficiency and reduction in

costs that come with direct

connections.

“This will promote

business in the region and

increase the overall market

size,” he said.

INSERT AND CAPTION

The terminal is being

expanded and will

this year have a

capacity of 400 000

TEUs a year.

– Alan Olivier