New Deep-Water Port Elizabeth Harbour, Nggura, Open For Business

In October 2009, South Africa has launched a new deep water port at Port Elizabeth. The port, called Nggura, at the mouth of the Coega River in Algoa Bay is one of the few deep water ports in Africa that is able to handle large modern container ships, rather than medium-sized ships operated in most other South African and African ports.

Nggura was tested with its first commercial container ship, the MSC Catania, a ship of 300 meters long and 13 m deep. Two teams of dock workers unloaded the containers and managed the ship in a test run of success that has made use of state-of-the-art Liebherr ship-to-shore cranes. With an average of 19 containers per hour, the Coast Guard, port authorities and port agents will be more than pleased with the results.

According to a statement quoted by Transnet business.iafrica.com, deep-water port will be able to host the Ultra-Mega ships are capable of carrying 6,000 to 10,000 TEU (20 foot equivalent units), and will be able to manage multiple of 100 moves containers per hour work vessel. There is also the possibility of increasing the capacity to 2 million TEUs. In addition, the port has good road links and rail freight.

Nggura deep-water harbor is part of the Coega Industrial Development Zone, an initiative to boost the economy in South Africa Eastern Cape Province. But its economic benefits will have a significant impact for South Africa, especially as the coast of Senegal is besieged by pirates and the ships were moored along this stretch of coast are headed further south in South Africa. Rob Jeffrey, a director and senior economist at Econometrix believes that the new deep water port will also benefit the area in terms of skills development, jobs are created and flows of skilled people from other parts of the country.

Nggura a world-class contains two beds, container terminals (with two more on the way), a two-berth multipurpose terminal and a bulk liquids berth terminal. Nggura soon house three new tugs, which are undergoing sea trials in the port of Durban. In April and May of 2010, two additional tugs will be delivered to Port Elizabeth harbor in deep water, each costing R120 million with 70 tons bollard pull.

In addition to his already impressive credentials, top-notch security measures were implemented to preserve the volume of national and international goods that pass through the port .......