Port of Nacala Reinforces Cargo Handling Capacity With the Installation of State-of-the-art Equipment
As a result of the acquisition and installation of new and modern equipment for handling cargo, the Port of Nacala already has the capacity to operate ships without cranes, which will allow greater flexibility in the niche of operations in this deep-water port complex, especially with regard to the waiting time for ships in the port as well as in the corridor, in addition to increased productivity.
On the sidelines of the tests of this new piece of equipment, the Director of the Port of Nacala, Naimo Induna, stressed that it meets the requirements for which it was acquired, highlighting the changes that will result from this.
– “The operations in the Port were carried out using the ship’s cranes, but at the moment we are able to operate with ships without cranes.
This first change means that the Port of Nacala can operate without cranes, which will improve its productivity. This means that there will be less waiting time for ships in the port and also less waiting time outside, in the corridor”, he said, focusing on explaining the new procedures for handling containerized cargo.
– “The operations at the Port of Nacala were carried out using the ship’s cranes. The port handled about six containers per crane per hour, which makes 12 containers per ship per hour, but now we move to a new reality which is 25 containers per crane per hour. Considering the two ports, this means that we will be handling 50 containers per hour, which is our goal”, reinforced the engineer who, during the tests of the new equipment, gradually monitored the increase in productivity, having reached the conclusion of the increase in productivity compared to the previous model” stressed the Director.
These works stem from the completion of the rehabilitation, modernization and expansion project of the port complex, works started in 2018 in an operation valued at 280 million US dollars and financed by the Japanese Agency for International Cooperation, JICA.
The Port of Nacala is a very important strategic vector of development on which the hinterland depends, especially for countries like Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
