By Charles Tjatindi
WALVIS BAY
The Namibia Ports Authority (Namport) has unveiled major development projects that are destined to change the face of the Port of Walvis Bay, most notably the deepening of the harbour.
The addition of a bulk and break handling facilities, a floating dock, syncrolift ship and rig and extension of container terminals are among projects envisaged for the Port of Walvis Bay.
The initiatives are part of the ports authority’s master plan that spans from 2008 to 2012, and was unveiled to stakeholders and the media yesterday.
The proposed projects come about because of the heavy demand placed on the Namibian port, as it gradually becomes a trade partner with African countries that rely on it for the import and export of goods.
With the proposed projects, the port intends to serve a population of about 190 million within the SADC region alone. Other markets that will also benefit from the envisaged initiatives include West Africa, Europe, the Far East and South America.
The projects will kick off with the expansion of the harbour and the development of a new container terminal, which will include new ship-to-shore cranes capable of unloading containers from large container vessels.
Rubber tyre gantries, with the ability to stack containers 5 metres high, will speed up the unloading and sorting of containers and improve efficiency. The second phase will be a further expansion of the terminal to increase capacity to above 500??????’??