Angola has installed new cranes in Luanda Port. This comes after the need to reduce the uploading time taken by containers at the port. The government has also introduced training and hopes to save up to 80% of cargo uploading time.
The port administrator for commercial, safety and environmental affairs, Alberto Antonio Bengue, said in an interview that they have increased the number of cranes due to the fact that the number of containers has doubled since 2008 in the port. Vessel turnaround times at Luanda were also reduced to an average of three days starting 2013 down from 16 days in 2008. . About 60 % of the cargo that arrives in Luanda is construction material.
The government has made plans to build a new shipping terminal that is expected to be the biggest in Africa despite stiff competition from South Africa`s Durban port. The port handled 44, 8 million metric tons of cargo in 2013-14, according to the port’s Business Strategy Manager, Marina Petersen and is the busiest in Africa. It serves most of the land-locked countries in the South such as Lesotho, Botswana and Zambia.
