Maputo dredged to handle more cross-border traffic

The process of selecting the company to dredge the Maputo Port access channel is under way. The dredging of the channel from its current -11 metre vessel draught to allow for sailing vessels with draughts of up to 14.2 metres is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2015 after a contractor has been appointed, according to the chief executive officer of MPDC, Osório Lucas. The dredging project aims to give bigger ships of up to 80 000 dead weight tons access through the channel, making the Port of Maputo more competitive in regional and international markets. “Dredging the access channel to the port is a strategic decision that will not only allow the Port of Maputo to achieve its goal of handling 40 million tons by 2020, but will have a multiplying effect on the Mozambican economy,” said Lucas. “We are confident that this investment will attract more cargo, thus creating more jobs, developing more small to medium enterprises whose business is associated with the port, and increase our contribution to Mozambique’s GDP,” he said. This is the second dredging of the port’s access channel. In 2010/2011 it was dredged from -9.4 metres (the designed depth for the channel) to -11 metres, which contributed to the increase in cargo volumes handled – from 12 million tons in 2011 to more than 19 million tons in 2014. The last two years of major investment follow the Port’s 2010 masterplan with several expansion, rehabilitation projects and equipment acquisitions for landside and marine side operations. These developments and the new dredging will allow the port to handle growing demand and to achieve cargo throughput of 40 million tons in the next five years, according to Lucas.