WALVIS BAY – The Namibia Ports Authority (Namport) is scheduled to sign a N$3 billion construction contract on Friday in Windhoek, which wiill see the expansion of the container terminal at Walvis Bay.
Although officials at Namport were mum on which company is the successful bidder for the massive contract, sources say the tender was awarded to China Harbour Engineering (CHE) Ltd, which emerged as the only survivor of an original list of six hopefuls who tendered.
The signing ceremony is to take place at the Windhoek Country Club in the capital, while the construction of the terminal is expected to start early next year and is due for completion by 2016.
The features of the new N$3 billion container terminal, according to the media invitation from Namport, would include 40 hectares of new land to be used for construction of a modern container terminal, adding 600m of quay length to the existing 1500m, adding 650 000 TEU (twenty-foot equaivalent unit) per annum capacity to the existing 350 000 TEU. Further, the expansion would “create much needed additional capacity for all port business to expand [that is] containers, bulk, and rig repair.”
The expansion of the port will include the construction of a designated ship and rig repair yard suitable for accommodating two large semi-submersible oil rigs, as well as drill ships.
Earlier this year Namport indicated that 40 hectares of land is earmarked for the project that will also include the deepening of the current 600-metre quay to a whopping 1 500 metres. Upon completion of the expansion project, oil rigs and drill ships will be berthed at the new facility and repair work will be done by private marine contractors.
Namport is investing heavily in Walvis Bay harbour to meet client demands, such as the new oil rig in port. According to earlier media reports Namport realised several years ago that the ship and rig repair operations in Walvis Bay have great potential in terms of direct new employment creation in the local mechanical engineering industry. “The service levels in Walvis Bay are on par with similar repair yards in ports such as Cape Town and Durban,” the port authority company said in a recent press statement.
To date, several large oil rigs operating in the Angolan oil fields have used Walvis Bay to carry out major repairs, modifications and scheduled maintenance. The proximity of Walvis Bay to the Angolan oil fields and to the major international shipping lines in the Atlantic also emphasised the need to establish a designated ship and rig repair yard in Walvis Bay.
By Eveline de Klerk