The dredging of the access channel to the port of Maputo from 11 to 14.2 metres deep has been completed, announced Friday in the Mozambican capital the port’s management company, the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC).
This dredging, which was intended to allow access to the port by ships of up to 80,000 tonnes, making the port of Maputo more competitive in regional and international markets, “is a strategic decision that will help to achieve the set target of processing 40 million tonnes of cargo by the end of the year 2020.”
Osório Lucas, Executive Director of the MPDC, said during the ceremony that marked the completion of the channel dredging that the idea behind the investments was to transform the port of Maputo “not into an alternative port but into a port of choice.”
“The additional three-metre depth of the access channel allows us to say that Maputo now has a port prepared to receive larger ships,” said Lucas, who added that a ship with a draft of 12.9 metres left the port last week without having to wait for the tide, which could not happen before.
The Minister of Transport and Communications, Carlos Mesquita, quoted by news agency AIM said in turn that the Maputo port had gained a prominent place in the region, consolidating its complementary position to the South African ports of Durban and Richard’s Bay.
This dredging operation was awarded to international company Jan de Nul Dredging Middle East FZE which, with three dredgers in operation, removed about 14.5 million cubic metres of sediment and rock material.
The total cost of the work was US$84.1 million, obtained through loans from Banco Comercial e de Investimentos (BCI) and Standard Bank and the MPDC’s own funds.
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
