Port of Ngqura officially opened

Port of Ngqura Container Terminal

Port Elizabeth – The multi-billion port of Ngqura was officially opened on Friday (16 March) by President Jacob Zuma.

More than 15 years in the making, the port has been commercially active for the past two and a half years, having handled the first container ship on 4 October 2009.

The port is adjacent to the Coega Industrial Development Zone and is in Algoa Bay just over 20km from Port Elizabeth. Initially conceived as a port for bulk cargo commodities, a section of the port was instead developed for handling containers, with initially two berths provided in phase 1 with a capacity for 700,00 TEUs. Following the failure to attract an anchor tenant after several false starts the focus has since moved to developing the port as the country’s principal manganese export facility. Neighbouring Port Elizabeth already handles approximately two million tonnes of manganese annually which is expected to transfer over to Ngqura after 2016 when the current leases at Port Elizabeth run out.

The cost of developing the port exceeded R10 billion and according to Transnet National Ports Authority a further R3.2 billion will be invested in developing bulk cargo handling facilities as well as phase 2 of the Ngqura container terminal (a further two berths).

Transnet chairperson Mafika Mkwanazi said Transnet would ensure that the port became as economically viable as those in Richards Bay and Durban.

Confirming the political motivation for the port, a proud President Zuma said “This will indeed end the notion that the Eastern Cape and Ngqura have been ignored. That speculation now needs to go away.”

He said that the planning of Ngqura has been integrated with that of the Coega Development Zone to ensure increased benefits for the province and business. “It has also made it possible for the province to participate in the minerals sector,” said President Zuma.

Transnet Ports Terminal, which was appointed to manage and operate the container terminal, has indicated that Ngqura Container Terminal would focus heavily on attracting transhipment containers. In 2011 the new port handled 525,000 TEUs.