WALVIS BAY - The Namibia Ports Authority (Namport) plans a massive upgrade of Lüderitz Port for it to enhance its potential to deal with growing industrial activities.
The announcement was made last week by the Chairman of the Namport Board of Directors, Jerry Muadinohamba,who said there was huge potential for business via the southern port in terms of the increasing exploration and mining activities in the country.
He said the port would also be able to attract more business opportunities from South Africa once the upgrade is complete.
Although he did not mention any figures the planned upgrade could cost millions of dollars.
Lüderitz Port was in former years used mainly by the fishing industry, but it has seen increasing activity from the mining sector since 2004.
Its main strategic focus is to cater for the needs of the fishing industry, offshore diamond mining, offshore oil exploration and the general mining sector, together with its supporting industries and services.
According to Muadinohamba the port in its current state is too shallow to accommodate large vessels servicing the mining sector and is also constrained in terms of depth.
The deepening of the port was necessitated by the fact that mines such as Skorpion Zinc positively impacted business activities causing mining exports to surpass those of fishing.
The port has also become increasingly important for the agricultural sector, with the increasing potential of grapes being exported from Aussenkehr in southern Namibia and the Northern Cape Province in South Africa.
“I am pleased to announce that we aim to develop a deep water port at Lüderitz on a smart partnership basis. We will within the next few months fully brief the industry in this regard,” Muadinohamba said.
He also announced that Namport was working on the establishment of a new ship repair facility at Walvis Bay, to be developed by a private entity.
“Our mandate is to position Walvis Bay as the logistics hub in terms of cargo handling. Our vision includes ship and rig repair,” he said.
By Eveline de Klerk
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