Walvis port goes really big
Outline of the planned new container terminal at the Port of Walvis Bay. Construction is scheduled to start later this year. The new terminal will be constructed on 40 ha reclaimed land and connect to the main harbour area by artificial landbridge at the southern limit of the existing harbour yard. This is just north of the small yacht harbour. In another project, Namport will extend the northern section of the port as a SADC Gateway to cater for increasing cargo volumes through Walvis Bay.
The first is the construction of a new container terminal on 40 ha of reclaimed land. This is at the southern end of the harbour. The second comprises a SADC Gateway on 1330 ha of inshore land.
The new container terminal will add 600 metres of quay length to the existing 1500 metres. The project will cost N$3 billion, and according to the CEO, will create much needed additional capacity for all container cargo to expand. According to the CEO, tenders are currently being evaluated for the project. The contract for the construction will be awarded by August 2013 at which point financing should also have been finalised.
The new container terminal will increase container capacity by a factor of three taking it from the existing 350,000 units per annum to over a million units per annum.
The new SADC gateway is intended to expand port capacity by several magnitudes. Under this project about 10,000 metres of quay wall and jetties will be constructed providing approximately 30 large berths. This project will also accommodate a world-class ship and rig repair yard plus an oil and gas supply base. Furthermore, it will include a huge covered dry-bulk terminal capable of handling more than 100 million tonnes per annum. Other facilities are a dedicated car import terminal, a passenger terminal and a proposed site for yet another container terminal in future.
Namport said it has also committed to the construction of a liquid bulk terminal of which the first phase is to start in 2014. Ancillary to the operational facilities will be a multi-purpose break bulk terminal, back-up storage areas, a new small craft harbour, small boat marinas and high capacity road, rail, pipe and conveyor linkages to a proposed industrial area behind Dune 7.
