The government of Tanzania through the Tanzania Port Authority (TPA) will build a new and modern pier with a length of 500 meters in its mother port of Dar es Salaam.
The construction of the pier, which will be pier number 12-15, is a continuation of the Government’s strategic plan to improve infrastructure and services in the port. Speaking during the visit of the Zanzibar Port Authority Board, led by the Chairman of the Board, Mr. Joseph Meza, on behalf of the Director General, Director of Planning, Quality and Risk, Dr. Boniphace Nobeji said that the plan is currently in the feasibility study stage.
“Currently we are in the stage of completing the feasibility study and detailed design of the construction of the new pier number 12-15 in DSM Port,” said Dr. Nobeji on behalf of the Director General of TPA. Dr. Nobeji said that the piers to serve Makasha are estimated to increase the capacity of the DSM Port to serve Makasha by 2.5 million TEUs per year, by the year 2047.
In addition to the construction, TPA has already found a contractor to build a Jetty and Oil Storage Tanks in the Port. “To begin with, a pier and 17 tanks will be built with the capacity to receive and store up to 362,500 tons of oil at the same time,” he said.
The completion of this project, he said, will increase the efficiency of the DSM Port to serve oil tankers and reduce the costs and challenges that are currently arising due to the delay of oil tankers.
Through the Dar es Salaam Port improvement project (DMGP), the Government through the TPA has made improvements to pier number 1-7 and a special pier for servicing vehicles ie RoRo.
DSM Port serves approximately 90 percent of the entire Tanzanian market, while in terms of international trade, this Port serves 95 percent of all cargo compared to all Ports in the country.
DSM Port serves other countries in the East and Central Africa region such as; Malawi, Zambia, DR Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.
Recently, the country of South Sudan has also shown interest in using the DSM Port. In terms of market size, this Port serves an area of approximately 700 million people.
