President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, December 8, 2022 has commissioned a new dry bulk terminal at the Takoradi Port in the Western Region as part of an aggressive strategy rollout by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to boost the country’s trade capacity.
Speaking at the commissioning, His Excellency Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, expressed excitement about his visit to the Western Regional capital, particularly about the commissioning of the Dry Bulk Terminal. He believes the new terminals will also meet the demands of the rigors of the oil and gas service sector within the Takoradi enclave.
“The Floating Dry Dock and ship Maintenance facility is being introduced in partnership with a wholly-owned Ghanaian company, Prime Meridian Dock Limited (PMD), and is estimated at US$137million.
“The initiative is meant to carry out maintenance works on vessels which, otherwise, would have had to call at Las Palmas, Carina, and other ship repair facilities in other countries for maintenance works,” the president said.
The modern Dry Bulk Terminal is equipped with all the facilities to run efficiently and position the Port of Takoradi as one of the most competitive ports in the sub-region.
This new terminal has been designed to handle at least 30 million tons of cargo per annum compared to the previous ability to carry about 6.3 million tons per annum.
It also comes with over 110,000 square meters of pavement, over 3,000 meters of drains, 33-kiloVolts primary substation and electrical power systems, crane rails for the main loading and unloading equipment, and a fully furnished operations office building with information technology (I.T.) which forms the backbone for the operations of the terminal among others.
This move is an overarching vision to make the Port of Takoradi a one-stop Port with the aim of making Ghana a leading trade and logistics hub in West Africa.
As part of the President’s visit to the oil city, he also cut sod for the construction of an Oil and Gas Services Terminal that will leverage the growth of Ghana’s oil industry.
President Akufo-Addo also broke the ground for the commencement of construction of a Floating Dry Dock facility for ship and rig maintenance and repairs.
All these Projects are being done in partnership with the Private Sector and it is expected to undoubtedly attract a lot of ship repair calls from across the region and in turn will increase Takoradi’s status as the oil and gas services hub of the sub-region.
The Port of Takoradi, which was built in 1928 has been regarded by many as an export-oriented Port. However, this is changing with the deliberate infrastructural transformation put forth by the GPHA.
- Information Services Department, Sekondi.