The Hindu Business Line : Port Louis Harbour charts expansion course

Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Feb 26, 2007 ePaper

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Logistics - Shipping
Port Louis Harbour charts expansion course

M. Somasekhar

WITH MOST of Mauritius' exports and imports transiting through Port Louis, the Port Authority's expansion plans come at the right time.

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The Mauritius Ports Authority (MPA) has embarked on a massive expansion initiative. The plan envisages turning the island-nation into a `Regional Hub' in the next 5-10 years and tap a sizeable portion of the growing sea trade.

Given the strategic location of Port Louis, the capital, Mauritius can position itself as the interface between Africa, Asia and Europe. The 1.9 million sq.km. maritime economic zone (MEZ) is also bigger than India's. In this background, the MPA has appointed a consultant to prepare the roadmap to realise this ambitious plan.

Indian companies, especially those into contract, consultancy and engineering works, have an opportunity to grab a pie of this development plan and be part of the MPA growth story, said Dr Mohummud Siddick Chady its Chairman.

From Port Louis Harbour ships take four days to South Africa, eight to India, 10 to Singapore and 14 to France. The nearest major ports are Durban, Cape Town and the growing Madagascar. In 2006, the MPA handled 5.7 million tonnes, 266,425 TEUs, 2,428 vessels and cruise traffic of 7,937 passengers.

In the backdrop 2-3 difficult years, because of the tough international environment, a stagnant economic growth and a slide in its performance, the MPA implemented a few expansion projects. These included increasing the depth of the channel from 13.1 metres to 14.5 metres, which allowed berthing of fourth and fifth generation container vessels, and raising the capacity of the container terminal.

Maritime Business Centre

Big shipping companies such as the Mediterranean Shipping Corporation, Maersk, Mitsui OSK and P&O, have signed transshipment agreements for using the Mauritius Port as the `hub', said Mr Shekur Suntah, Deputy Director-General of the MPA. The MPA's Corporate Plan for 2007-09aims to transform Port Louis Harbour into a dynamic maritime business centre with the latest logistics and resource facilities.

A Tariff Study has been completed for MPA and Container Handling Corporation Ltd (CHCL), a subsidiary. The idea is to ensure that port charges remain competitive within the region and help both organisations to finance their capital investment programmes, Mr Suntah told a group of visiting Indian journalists at Port Louis recently.

Expanding container terminal facilities, increasingthe oil jetty capacity, creating a seafood hub, cruise jetty, new harbour radio station, extension of container berth and taking up an IT project have been contemplated under the overall master development plan of the MPA, Mr Suntah said.

The dedicated oil jetty at Mer Rouge, which is expected to enhance the safety operations of petroleum products when bigger tankers call at Port Louis, is being constructed by Afcons Infrastructure Ltd, the flagship company of the Mumbai-based Shapoorji Pallonji Group. The oil jetty project, to be completed by January 2008, would be very useful for Mauritius, which has shortage of petroleum products, due to scarcity of bunkering facilities. "We plan to have 4 million tonnes petroleum products capacity, up from the present one million tonnes with additional bunkering facilities at Port Louis and India can be a big partner. Indian Oil Corporation, which is operating since three years is increasing its capacity with a half a billion dollar investment," the MPA Chairman said.

Seafood hub

Plans are on to develop a seafood hub over 30 hectares. Exclusive storage and processing facilities are planned. Similarly, in cruise tourism, a total investment of about $5.2 million has been firmed up. Royal Haskoning, the UK-based consultancy company, has been given the contract; the company's report has formed the basis for the initiative, explained the MPA Chairman.

With 99 per cent of Mauritius' exports and imports transiting through Port Louis and the country depending heavily on foreign trade, the total restructure of the MPA to meet future demands is much needed. In this context, the role of the private sector and strategic partners from abroad, especially India, could be very important, the Port officials felt.