Port of Tema undergoes $1.5b expansion

A construction project at the west African port officially began and will drastically increase the port’s container capacity.    The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) said Tuesday construction commenced on the $1.5 billion expansion project at the Port of Tema.
   The project is being executed by Meridian Port Services (MPS), a consortium comprised of Bolloré Africa Logistics, APM Terminals and GPHA.
   MPS awarded a contract to the China Harbour Engineering Company and AECOM for the physical construction of the expansion project.
   “The necessary funding for the project had been secured by MPS from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, as well as the shareholders,” AECOM said.
   The IFC said in September it is supporting the expansion by leading a $667 million financing package. Financing includes $195 million from its own account and $472 million from three commercial banks – the Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the Standard Bank – and the Dutch development bank FMO.
   The IFC said the project involves the construction of a new container terminal at the Port of Tema, which will nearly double container capacity at the port. The port already handles over 90 percent of Ghana’s container traffic.
   The new container terminal is needed because the port’s existing container terminal is reaching max capacity and lacks the necessary infrastructure to accommodate deep-water cargo ships, the IFC explained.
   “Planned investments include a kilometer-long quay for three container berths, a yard for containers, a breakwater, and a new access channel with a deep draft to accommodate some of the world’s biggest container ships,” the IFC said.
   Overall, the port currently handles 12 million metric tons of cargo a year, including petroleum, cement, aluminum products and textiles, according to the IFC.
   The project is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2019, GPHA said.
   Currently, the Port of Tema is frequented by 13 liner services, according to ocean carrier schedule and capacity database BlueWater Reporting. Nine of the liner services deploy fully cellular container ships, while the additional four loops deploy ConRo vessels.