International Container Terminal Services, Inc (ICTSI) has signed the concession contract with the Port Autonome de Kribi (PAK) for the development, operation and maintenance of the Kribi Multipurpose Terminal (KMT) in Cameroon.
With the signing of the contract, KMT, a subsidiary of ICTSI, is now the official concessionaire of the multipurpose terminal for the next 25 years.
At the signing ceremony in the Southern region of Cameroon, Hans-Ole Madsen, ICTSI Senior Vice President and Regional Head for Europe, Middle East and Africa, thanked the Government of Cameroon and PAK for placing their trust in ICTSI. “ICTSI is very proud to partner with Cameroon and the Port of Kribi in the operation and development of the Kribi Multipurpose Terminal,” he said.
KMT is a newly built deep-water port located 150 kilometres south of Douala. Phase 1 consists of 265 + 63 metres of berth and a 10-hectare yard. Phase 2 will include an additional 350 metres of berth and 23 hectares of yard. Kribi port is surrounded by the Kribi Industrial Area, a 262 square-kilometre zone destined to accommodate new industrial and logistical developments supporting the growing Cameroonian economy.
“Our purpose as a company is to make the Port of Kribi a driver for positive and sustainable growth, thus ICTSI will work diligently to partner the Cameroonian business community by providing efficient and safe port services,” said Madsen.
“Our services will act as a catalyst for Cameroons foreign trade and we will actively promote the Kribi Logistic Corridor – encompassing Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon – an area home to more than 50 million people.”
Madsen said ICTSI already had a team on the ground, headed by Mrs Kathy Magne. “We expect to be fully operational within the next couple of months.”
KMT is purposely built to handle multipurpose shipping services including roro, project and heavy lift cargo, forestry products, dry bulk and other general cargoes, and to offer support services to the oil and gas industry.
The terminal provides 16 metres of deep water access and is equipped with state-of-the-art handling equipment including two mobile harbour cranes, providing an annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes. KMT is capable of accommodating the largest vessels plying the waters today.
ICTSI says it will further invest in KMT’s infrastructure and superstructure, and by 2024 the port will double in size. The expansion will include additional modern handling equipment, storage facilities and modern IT platforms.
This item first appeared in www.africaports.co.za on 1 August 2020
and appears here by kind permission of the Editor.
Africa Ports & Ships ©.
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