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Bechtel launches new port design for Africa

Bechtels solution can provide a reduction of up to 40 per cent in port infrastructure construction costs compared with building a traditional port. (Image source: sxc.hu)

Construction, engineering and project management firm Bechtel has claimed that it has created a design for ports that could transform shipping in Africa in the years to come

Bechtel’s Multi-User Offshore Hub has been designed for two or more users and consists of an offshore, smart terminal arrangement and docking system that will be able to accommodate oceangoing vessels and barges.

The company said that the Multi-User Offshore Hub has the potential to open new market opportunities for African ports by significantly increasing capacity and substantially reducing port construction and operation costs.  

The concept combines a country’s existing transport modes, such as rail and river barges, to provide the most efficient and sustainable logistics possible.

Bechtel senior ports specialist Marco Pluijm said, “As existing African ports become more and more congested, increased capacity is an urgent need for both the import of consumer goods and the export of minerals.

“Each requires out-of-the-box solutions to handle as many containers as efficiently as possible and to speed the provision of new mineral export facilities to enable the region to develop its economy.

“This solution could provide a reduction of up to 40 per cent in port infrastructure construction costs compared with building a traditional port and up to 50 per cent in operational cost savings as the hub can handle much larger Capesize and Valemax vessels, which result in economies of scale.”  

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