SWAKOPMUND - The new container terminal constructed at a cost of N$4 billion at Walvis Bay will be commissioned within three months. Namport upon inquiry yesterday told New Era the new container terminal is currently 96 percent complete with only the final touches being added to the mega project.
Construction of the terminal started in May 2014 after N$3 billion was secured from the African Development Bank and the rest from the government.
An assessment study is currently also underway at Namport to ensure that the terminal is ready for operations after completion.
China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), which was awarded the contract, reclaimed 40 hectares of land from the sea to construct the terminal to increase the current container handling capacity of 350,000 containers to 750,000 per year at the port.
Former CEO of Namport Bisey /Uirab earlier last month indicated that the new terminal will not only provide increased container handling capacity, but also increase the port’s bulk and break-bulk handling capacity, by freeing up the existing terminal to become a multi-purpose one.
Corporate communications manager of Namport, Tana Passat, yesterday told New Era all the major work is done and that the project is on course to be commissioned on August 1, while a date has also been set for the media to visit the terminal prior to the commissioning.
Passat confirmed that a study by Bremenports to assess the port of Walvis Bay and its hinterland will also be completed soon.
The primary objective of the study that started in August last year is to assess Namport’s operational readiness in view of the new container terminal.
The study is being carried out under the Sustainable Mobility and Logistics in Namibia programme, a subsection of the logistics support offered by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
Bremenports expert Dr Lars Stemmler recently presented a preliminary report to Namport and the project partners. Bremenports GmbH & Co. KG is a German port management company that has managed port infrastructure in Bremen and Bremerhaven on behalf of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen since January 2002.
The experts at Bremenports are responsible for the operation, maintenance and repair of the complex maritime infrastructure. They increasingly market their technical, nautical and ecological expertise to customers in Germany and abroad – all of which makes this port management company a highly interesting partner for projects the world over.