Port Nolloth to get major facelift

The Port of Cape Town
will spend R27 million on
the Port of Port Nolloth on
the country’s northwestern
coast.
Cape Town port
manager Sipho Nzuza,
whose mandate includes
Port Nolloth, told FTW
there were some big plans
in place for this small
port which has often been
overlooked.
He said Port Nolloth,
previously a large
transhipment hub for
copper and diamonds, had
been neglected for far too
long.
The port
has been
under
a lease
agreement
to the
De Beers
Group
Services
for
the past ten years. The
company has been using
the port as an offshore
supply base for conducting
diamond prospecting
activity in Namibia.
Smit Amandla supply
vessels are stationed in
Port Nolloth and are
used for transferring
frozen and dry foods,
medicine, clothing, oil
and lubricants, fuel,
steel, gas and fresh water
to De Beers’ offshore
prospecting vessels. No
general cargo or fish is
landed at the port.
Nzuza said plans for
the refurbishment of the
port were finally moving
forward and some
R27 million was budgeted
for this year. The total cost
of the refurbishment is
estimated to be
R69 million.
Plans include the repair
of the roadway to the jetty,
the actual refurbishment
of the jetty structure and
maintenance dredging
to improve access to the
jetty. The removal of
old equipment and the
installation
of a new
crane are
also on the
cards.
“We
have now
shortlisted
the
preferred
bidder for the construction
work planned for the port
and are in the process of
finalising this.”
Commenting on
the importance of the
port Nzuza said once
refurbished it would play
an active role as part of
the Western Cape port
system.
“It has the ability to
boost and improve the
economy of the region at
large,” he said.
INSERT
R27m The Port Nolloth refurbishment
budget for this year.