WORK WILL begin this month on the dredging of Walvis Bay harbour making it comparable in depth to the port of Cape Town. Two dredgers will undertake the work in a contract scheduled to take 20 weeks and signed with the German-based HAM Dredging Company.
The project represents the last major segment in the physical infrastructure of the Walvis Bay corridor which began in 1994 when the Namibian Ports Authority (Namport) took over control of the harbour from the South African authorities.
The current depth of 10m limits its scope to container vessels no bigger than 700-1200 TEUs. Once it it 12,8m deep, it will accommodate vessels of up to 2400 TEUs.
One dredger will be used for the commercial section of the port while the other will operate in the fishing harbour. Representatives of the fishing industry in the form of an ad-hoc committee will liaise with HAM for deepening around the factory jetties. The total project will cost approximately R50million.
In addition maintenance dredging will be done in the commercial port for berths 4-8 with its turning basin and tanker berth. The main port approach channel will also be deepened to 12,8m.
Operations will be planned and executed in conjunction with port control and should have little impact on other movements in the port. All the dredged material, mainly mud and sand, will be dumped at a deep sea spoil site north of Pelican point, some six nautical miles from the channel mid point.
The new Walvis Bay container terminal was completed last year and provides 380 container ground slots and roadways to cater for reach stacker operations. Provision for 104 reefer plug connections in a metre-high configuration is also provided.
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