Containers being offloaded at the port of Dar es Salaam. The port is undergoing refurbishment. Picture: File
The Tanzania Ports Authority has embarked on an expansion exercise to increase capacity by dredging and construction of two new berths.
According to the TPA, the massive $1.4 billion expansion drive aims to serve new markets in South Sudan and neighboring landlocked countries specifically, Uganda, DR Congo and Zambia.
TPA Deputy Director General, Julius Mfuko said the authority has set aside $600 million for the construction of Tanga’s new Mwambani port.
“Meanwhile the Dar es Salaam port’s, excluding dredging of the channel depth, is estimated to be $523 million,” said Mr Mfuko. This will also comprise the building of new berths number 13 and 14 adjacent to Kurasini Oil Jetty and turning the single point mooring into a multipurpose facility, Mr Mfuko said. Cassian Ng’amilo, Dar es Salaam port manager, said the construction of berth 13 and 14 would cost $400 million, to be funded by China.
Mr Mfuko said that in two years, the principal ports will have the capacity to cater for one million 20-feet equivalent units per year.
TPA is also working on creating a dry port at Kisarawe in the Coast Region in order to decongest the port. The Kisarawe dry port will be developed into a cargo freight station able to handle both containers and vehicles in large numbers. The European Union mission in the country had warned TPA management that it stands to lose business if it does not take urgent measures to fast track cargo clearance at the port.
Tanga port, located on the north-eastern Indian Ocean coast close to the Kenya border is the second biggest in Tanzania after Dar es Salaam. Currently, the port has the capacity to handle 500,000 tonnes of cargo annually, but utilises only 76.5 per cent of that capacity.
According to Mr Mfuko, most goods passing through Tanga port are imports which include liquid bulk and break bulk cargo, chemicals, machinery and vehicles.
The governments of Tanzania and Uganda early this month agreed to fast track the construction of the Tanga-Musoma-Uganda railway line to enable speedy movement of goods between the two countries. According to the agreement, the two countries will expand Tanga and Musoma ports in Tanzania, and build a new port in Uganda to serve the new railway line.
The construction of the railway line will fulfil the wishes of Tanzania’s founder, the late Julius Nyerere, who wished to link Uganda directly to the Indian Ocean.
It is also expected to open up athird gateway for Ugandan goods to the sea. Uganda’s other alternative are the Mombasa-Kampala route, the Northern Corridor and the Dar-Mwanza to Kampala route, also known as the Central Corridor.
Mr Mfuko said that an environment impact assessment has given the project clearance and the first phase of the construction would start later this year. The port depth would also be increased to cater for larger ships in efforts to increase efficiency.
The Kurasini Oil Jetty and single point mooring projects will cost $60 million; the former will have the ability to carry 45,000 tonnes to 80,000 tonnes; while the latter will be receiving multiple products and not handle crude oil as before.
“Expansion of these oil delivery points will be completed in 2012, with the single point mooring gearing to handle ships with 120,000 tonnes,” said Mr Ng’amilo.
