Mozambique’s secondary and tertiary ports to undergo rehabilitation as cabotage shipping makes a comeback

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Mozambique’s secondary and tertiary ports to undergo rehabilitation as cabotage shipping makes a comeback

8:38 CAT | 17 Feb 2016

Notícias (File)

Shipping cabotage – the transport by sea of goods along the Mozambican coast – is set to become a hot topic once more this year, and the government is already working on a proposal to submit to the Council of Ministers.

The Minister of Transport and Communications, Carlos Mesquita, said the project will require the intervention of the private sector or a public-private partnership, and asked subordinate institutions to be ready.

Mesquita also pointed out that the initiative would require substantial financial investments, and has called upon Transmarítima of Mozambique in particular to be ready to meet the challenges, suggesting that all secondary and tertiary ports in the country be rehabilitated.

The minister said that the ongoing Rovuma gas survey traffic between Pemba and Palma in Cabo Delgado is technically cabotage, and stressed that shipping competes with road and rail all over the world.

He called on all sections of his staff to look at cabotage shipping as a challenge and to address the revitalization of secondary and tertiary ports, which will in turn stimulate local economies.

Mozambique has a three thousand kilometre coastline whose potential, industry officials say, cannot continue to be underutilised, representing as it does a major competitive advantage vis-à-vis other Indian Ocean nations.

Source: Jornal Notícias