The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Service Enterprise (ESLSE) has just concluded the design phase of a new dry port in Meqelle. The port will have a holding capacity of 14,500 containers.
Chinese Communications Construction Company (CCCC), a multi-national construction company, took 7 months to design the new dry port which will occupy 57ha of land. It is expected to accommodate over seven million tonnes of goods at once unlike the existing one which can only accommodate 5,000 containers.
The newly designed dock will help the shipping giant to build a large and modernized dry port, according to Aklilu Tessema, Supervision and Contract Administration Officer of ESLSE. “The construction is a part of the government’s plan to set dry ports along the railway lines and industrial parks,” said Aklilu.
Presently, the Ethiopian Railways Corporation (ERC) is constructing a 268Km electrified railway line from Weldia to Meqelle at the cost of US $1.5bn. CCCC, known for building the Addis Ababa Light Railway, has been working on the new railway for the past two years achieving 45% completion, although there are claims the construction was stalled temporarily.
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The newly designed dry port is situated within 10Km of the recently inaugurated US $100m Meqelle Industrial Park, also constructed by CCCC.
A freight forwarder with two decades of experience believes that the railway will play a pivotal role in facilitating trade with the recently inaugurated Tajura Port.
“The port will help importers decrease costs and save time while transporting goods via Tajura Dry Port,” said Gizeshwork Tessema, a major shareholder and manager of Gize Plc.
The construction is scheduled to begin before the conclusion of this fiscal year. Entirely financed by the government, it is estimated to cost the Enterprise over US $100m.
“After reviewing the new design, we will start negotiating with the Chinese company for its construction as a supplementary contract to the Woldia-Meqelle railway project,” said Aklile.
In the same contractual arrangement, Chinese Civil Engineering Corporation (CCEC) is currently erecting the Dire Dawa dry dock with an outlay of US $54.8m having a capacity of holding over 10,000 containers.
In the second edition of the Growth & Transformation Plan (GTP II), the Enterprise has a plan to build 35 dry ports across the country from the existing eight.
Since the inception of the first dry port at Modjo, the government has constructed seven dry ports over the decade.
More dry ports
Presently, ESLSE is also undertaking a feasibility study to construct a dry port at Woreta, 618.4Km from Addis Ababa. The study aims to locate the exact place of the dock that is tentatively planned to contain at least 15,000 containers.
Amalgamated six years ago, the Enterprise is the result of the merger between Ethiopian Shipping Lines, Maritime & Transit Services Enterprise and Dry Port Enterprise. It has shipped 4.5 million tonnes of cargo in and out of the country in the past fiscal year, generating an income of over US $862.8m
