The management of the Meridian Port Services (MPS), promoters of newly built Terminal 3 in Port of Tema, Ghana, said it’s ready to begin full operation of the port on June 28.
This was as the port recently docked its first vessel, a container vessel to be used for training simulation in preparation for smooth run of the terminal from day one.
Tema Port expansion project is spearheaded by MPS, a joint venture between Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (30 percent); APM Terminals (35 percent) and Bolloré Transport and Logistics (35 percent).
On completion, it will be the largest and most efficient container terminal on the Western Coast of Africa with a deep-water draft of 16 meters and potential to catapult Africa into a different level in the world shipping industry by creating new service routes and connections, and opening up the market for Africa.
It is expected that the port, with annual throughput projection of 2 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) at the opening of phase 1, and 3.7million TEUs when fully completed, will also reduce freight costs and position Ghana as a model maritime nation.
“Chartering the test vessel will cost around $250,000. Over the coming weeks it will be used to run a full-scale test of the port and for final staff training. When it comes to training, the benefits significantly outweigh the cost involved,” said Mohamed Samara, CEO of Meridian Port Services Ltd.
He said the MPS operation team is shifting gear, from systems and equipment commissioning, and integrated testing, to simulating a full-fledged container terminal operation between yard and vessel.
“Testing will not only involve operations at the waterfront and yard, but also more importantly the Terminal Operating System (TOS) and the full planning process for receipts and delivery,” says Cyrille Lemee, head of business transition.
To Lemee, MPS will pull together, results from this trial operation, analyse them, identify all gaps and prepare for the next vessel call.
On how prepared the operations team was for the scheduled Go- Live, Emmanuel Ohene Addo, operations manager, reassured that the right team was in place for the beginning of operations.
“For the Go- Live, every member of the operations team has undergone training and retraining. So far, the training process has yielded the expected results and we anticipate improvement going forward, especially as result of running simulations using test vessels. I can confidently say that the team is ready and come June 28, we will Go-Live,” Addo added.
Mark Nolet, project director, said in the run up to Go-Live, the construction team would hand over the facility – including all installations in the yard space, quay side and offices – fully to the operations team.
“This is a continuing project, the construction process will continue, but will have no impact on daily operations once the port goes live. We hope to achieve our target of completing phase two of the project in record time as we are already two years ahead of schedule,” he added.
AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE
