Tanzania has announced that
construction of the new berth and the cargo yard at Mtwara port is on track and
the new cargo terminal is expected to be completed next year in March. Mtwara
Port Manager, Engineer Juma Kijavara, said the construction is currently at 55%
of implementation.
The new berth, 300m long and 13.5m in depth (draft),
will have the capacity to accommodate mega cargo ships weighing 65,000vtonnes.
Currently, the port can accommodate cargo ships of 40,000 tonnes (Dead
Weight-DWT). All the necessary state-of-the-art cargo handling equipment,
including modern mobile cranes and other heavy lifting machines, will be
availed at the port upon completion.
The construction of the new multipurpose terminal
is being implemented through a joint venture of two Chinese firms- M/S China Railway Construction Engineering Group( CRCEG) and China Railway Major Bridge Engineering
Group (CRMBEG) – at the tune of US $59m.
Engineer Kijavara said the modern
multipurpose cargo terminal will be capable of delivering quality services to
the southern regions (Lindi, Mtwara and Ruvuma) but with specific focus on
serving the neighbouring countries in the southern African region – Mozambique,
Malawi and Zambia.
However, he said, the government’s
future plan for Mtwara Port is to have four berths. “The old berth measures
380m in length while its yard has the size of 40,000 m2. Therefore
the construction of the second berth will give us a berth of 680m in length,”
he said. The second yard, currently under construction, measures 79,000 m2.
Upon completion of the project next March, Mtwara Port will increase its cargo handling capacity from 400,000 tonnes per annum to 1000,000 tonnes. Mtwara Port, which is described as a natural harbour, is a strategic port for the country given its geographical position.https://constructionreviewonline.com/2019/11/mtwara-port-project-in-tanzania-now-55-complete/
