The construction of a 400m quay and a new 250,000-square-metre extension at the Port of Berbera which is also known as Berbera Port in Somaliland is complete. This is according to Dubai Ports (DP) World, an Emirati multinational logistics company specializing in cargo logistics, port terminal operations, maritime services, and free trade zones, which is in charge of the management of the Port of Berbera as from 2017.
“Once operational, it will increase the terminal’s capacity, and strengthen Berbera as a major regional trade hub servicing the Horn of Africa,” stated DP-World on its official twitter handle.
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The bigger picture
The 400m quay and the new 250,000-square-metre port extension is a part of a US$ 442M project to transform Berbera Port into one of the most pre-eminent facilities in the region. Speaking during the takeover of the port’s management in 2017, DP World chief executive Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said that his company would work on the expansion of the port’s storage area, as well as equipment such as modern gantry cranes and reach stackers to facilitate its infrastructure growth and enable the port to connect to global markets.
The project began early last year in three phases. The first phase is already complete and has increased the container capacity by 50 percent and pushed volumes by 70 percent which is a massive improvement according to Federico Banos-Linder, the Vice President of External Relations at DP World.
The port’s current capacity is around 150,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (a measure of ship container carrying capacity) and is set to expand to approximately 450,000 TEUs following the completion of the project.
As part of the project, DP World will also create an economic free zone in the surrounding area, targeting a range of companies from logistics to manufacturing, and a US$ 100M road-based economic corridor connecting Berbera with Wajaale in Ethiopia
