Vessels taking on minerals in
Maputo no longer need to travel
to Richards Bay to top up, according
to Johann Botha, commercial
director of the Maputo Port
Development Company.
Draught restrictions meant that
60 000-ton vessels carrying iron ore,
magnetite, chrome and coal could
not be loaded to capacity.
All the berths have now been
dredged to 12 metres, and the result
has been an increase in the volumes
of chrome ore being shipped through
the port.
Other volumes are down as a result
of the slump in world demand.
Some Mozambican resourcefulness
was needed to complete the dredging
of the quays after the Transnet
dredger commissioned for the work
left some “spikes” where it could not
reach.
“We built our own plough and
simply ploughed the berths using a
tug,” says Botha.
The port authority now has its own
vessel to carry out hydrographic
surveys and to constantly monitor
the movement of the channels in
the river port.
“This increases the confidence
of the users in the port,” says
Botha.
Shippers are benefiting because
shipping lines have been able
to bring the freight rate down
because they no longer have the
costs of calling on Richards Bay.
In addition the vessel is more
productive because it does not
lose days steaming to Richards
Bay and then back past Maputo
up the Mozambique channel to its
destination.
CAPTION
An ore vessel in the Port of Maputo.
