Maputo dredging will help accommodate longer vessels

Dredging of the approach channels and berths in the port of Maputo in order to handle longer and deeper vessels is due to start later this year. According to Johann Botha, commercial director of the Maputo Port Development Company, the channel is being both deepened and widened at key points because the longer vessels that are calling have difficulty negotiating the bends in the channel. Volumes through the port continue to grow. In 2013 it handled over 17 million tons – this after a record 15 million tons in 2012. “The port is on track to meet the target set out in its strategic plan: reaching 40 million tons by 2020,” says spokesperson Soraia Abdula. Among the projects completed in 2013 in order to handle the larger volumes was the rehabilitation of all internal roads. There are now five lanes compared to the previous two at Gate 1, which is designed to speed up the movement of trucks in and out of the port. A 500 000-tonsa- year phosphate shed has been completed as part of a new bulk terminal planned for construction in 2015, along with the expansion of several other terminals. The port authorities also took into service a new pilot boat, new tug boat and a multi –functional service boat. Benefits from the port development are spreading into the local economy. “The implementation plans for port expansion also had a high impact on local businesses with over $34 million being invested in the acquisition of services to domestic companies in the sectors of construction, transport, stevedoring, catering, etc,” she says. Planning for 2014 includes the completion of a range of other master plan projects, such as dredging of the access channel to -14 metres (from the current -11 metres), which will allow the access to larger vessels. “At the moment several minor rehabilitation and construction projects are in progress – infrastructure work such as quayside strengthening, warehouses and roads that will allow us to meet ever-increasing demand,” she says. INSERT & CAPTION Longer vessels have difficulty negotiating the bends in the channel. – Johann Botha