Beira

Our client
To strengthen the economy of Mozambique in general and that of its central region, in particular, CFM (Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique) has issued a contract for the maintenance dredging of the port of Beira. Beira in central Mozambique is the second largest city of the country and also its second largest port. The port of Beira plays an important role in the transshipment of goods to and from the southern Africa region. A significant part of the contract sum that amounts to EUR 37 million approximately, is paid directly by CFM itself. The remainder is financed by the Mozambican Government with a loan from the European Investment Bank and a grant from the Dutch Government's ORET programme.

Our work
The contract concerns the back-log maintenance dredging of the entrance channel to and the basins of the Port of Beira and involves the dredging of over 9 million m3 of sand and silt. Some 2.4 million m3 of sand will be used for land reclamation for a future coal terminal. In order to stabilize the reclamation area during the construction phase, Van Oord's subsidiary Wicks will install vertical drains around its perimeter. Amongst others Van Oord will deploy two trailing suction hopper dredgers, namely the 4,750 m³ Volvox Olympia and the 7,918 m³ Volvox Delta.

Our result
Reinstating the original depths in the access channel to and the basins of the Port of Beira will give a strong boost to Mozambique's economic development in general and that of the country's central region in particular. It will also boost the development of the southern Africa region, as a whole, by providing better import and export facilities to countries like Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo.