The first phase of the Terminal three project of the Tema Port has been opened for shipping business to begin.
The port was opened after several successful tests and simulation exercises of the project by the Meridian Port Services Limited (MPS).
A ceremony was held at Tema on June 28, 2019, as the construction team handed over a symbolic key to the project transition team who then handed it over to the operations team of MPS.
Present at the ceremony were some executives of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and other stakeholders in the shipping business.
Mr Mohammed Samara who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MPS, thanked the project team for delivering the project within the stipulated period.
He said the new port was to help facilitate the operations of stakeholders including the shipping lines, freight forwarders, importers and exports.
"Today is a wonderful day for MPS, GPHA, Ballore Transport & Logistics, APM Terminals and the entire port community. This port is to help facilitate operations of all stakeholders in the shipping industry," he said.
Mr Samara also saluted the stakeholders towards the completion of the project.
Director General (DG) of GPHA, Mr Michael Luguje, also commended the project team for delivering on the state-of-the-art facilities and also wished the operations team of MPS the best of success.
He urged the operations team to manage the new terminal as effectively and productively as possible to become the leading port in Africa in terms of all the performance indicators.
"I will also encourage the team to work assiduously to make this new port a transhipment hub serving the entire Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)," the Director-General added.
About the project
The project is a joint venture between GHPA, MPS, Ballore Transport & Logistics and APM Terminals.
It was developed at a cost of $1.5 billion to provide world-class port infrastructure for the next 100 years.
The project involves the building of a 3.5-kilometre breakwater and an access channel harbouring 16 metres deepwater berths to accommodate larger vessels with sophisticated port handling equipment.
In line with it, about 127 hectares was reclaimed from the sea for which the new terminal had been designed.
Under the arrangement, the MPS has completed two berths for operations to start and continue work on the next two berths in 2020.
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