From January to May this year, 161,000 containers were handled at the Port of Beira, compared to 102,000 in the same period last year. In general cargo, 1.6 million tonnes were handled, compared to 1.4 in the first half of last year, a growth considered robust by the manager of the Port of Beira, Cornelder de Moçambique.
The completion of the rehabilitation of the first phase of the miners’ terminal, the acquisition of modern equipment for transporting cargo and the use of state-of-the-art technology and human resources are all factors that are contributing to the improvement in cargo handling at the Port of Beira, which has already reached record figures, according to Jan De Vries, Managing Director of Cornelder de Moçambique (CdM), the entity that manages the port of Beira.
“Cornelder de Moçambique has set a productivity record in the handling of chrome ore, for example, achieving a gross productivity with a daily average of 14,446 tonnes, a 40% improvement on the previous record of 10,400 tonnes per day,” said Jan De Vries.
He also added that “the excellent productivity is the result of heavy investment in ore handling capacity. CDM has just completed the first phase of construction of the Ore Terminal, which includes 4 hectares of storage area for various bulk and bagged ores, where they can be handled efficiently.”
As a result of these improvements, new intercontinental shipping lines are calling at the Port of Beira, which has been recognised as the most efficient terminal in the last two years.
This year, there will be new investments to respond to demand from the Interland countries.
“At the container terminal, in a fortnight’ time, we’ll start removing one of the old warehouses and, in its place, we’ll ensure the expansion of almost 4 hectares of a new park. Also as part of the modernisation of the infrastructure, we will be acquiring four new modern cranes. The ones we currently have are the largest in the country, but we are not satisfied given the demand for our services in the region and around the world. An engineering study carried out recently showed that we have the capacity to accommodate cranes for ships capable of transporting 10,000 containers in a single voyage,” said Cornelder’s managing director.
In addition, this year CdM received a new fleet of 35-tonne excavators and shovels, loaders with 7m³ buckets, which are used to load bulk tubs in record time and are transported to the quay by a renewed and expanded fleet of terminal tractors.
All equipment handling is monitored by the restructured General Cargo Terminal organisation, making use of the new Terminal Operating System as well as the Equipment Monitoring System.
Cornelder de Moçambique is, however, concerned about improving access at the Port of Beira, which has a negative impact on the flow of cargo.
“The volumes we have today are ten times greater than 25 years ago and, unfortunately, the roads are the same, which creates a huge constraint on the flow of cargo in and out of the Port of Beira. We believe that greater coordination between the various users of the Port of Beira, including the government, the private sector and the municipality, can find a solution in the short term.”
It should be noted that the municipality of Beira has always defended the construction of a road giving direct access to the Port of Beira, and has been looking for investment to build it.
O País
