….ANGOLA
The Angolan consul in Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo, António Manuel Tombia, disclosed last week that a dry port will be built at the border between the two countries, to facilitate the entrance of goods in northern Cabinda province.
According to António Tombia, who was speaking to the press, the dry port will enable the goods unloaded in Pointe Noire port to quickly reach Cabinda.
The diplomat justified the project with the lack of a deep water port in Cabinda. "All goods are unloaded in Pointe Nore, as the Cabinda port is not a deep water one," he stressed.
In June this year, the Angolan Government analysed a presidential decree that approved a financial proposal for the rehabilitation of Cabinda Port, with a view to equipping it with the capacity to handle 300,000 tonnes a year, against the current 30,0000.
The plan will enable the restructuring of four warehouses and construction of a ground for a thousand containers and other types of load.
As to trade, the main flow occurs from the Congo economic capital to Cabinda as all goods for the Angolan northern province are landed in Pointe Noire.
On the other hand, António Tombia said that the Angolan community in that city is esteemed at 24,000 people, of which only 6,000 are registered with the consulate.
The consulate has been urging the citizens to register, so the exact number of Angolans living in the city is known.
The diplomat also stated that since 2001, the Angolan children in the region are attending classes at a first and secondary cycle school run by the consulate.
According to the Angolan consul, the institution with 220 students and 12 teachers is working with much constraints, mainly caused by shortage of funds to pay the workers’ salaries and other expenses.
The Republic of Congo is celebrating Sunday the 50th anniversary of its national independence, with a ceremony that will be attended by Angolan head of State, José Eduardo from Santos.
….KENYA
Proposed Lamu Depends On Heritage Impact
The proposed Lamu port will not be allowed to go on without a cultural heritage impact assessment, says the National Museums of Kenya.
As local residents and environmentalists are pushing for an environmental impact assessment on the project, NMK said the law was very clear that a project of such a magnitude could only be approved if its impact on the local cultural heritage is ascertained.
The NMK head of Coast archaeology, Dr Herman Kiriama, said Lamu’s case was unique because of its status as a World Heritage site and every caution had to be put in place to ensure that the rich heritage was not affected.
"We have the powers under the Museums Act 2006 to stop any project from taking place if proper assessment is not done. There have been a lot of activities going on in Lamu regarding the port but we have not been consulted for us to do an assessment on how it will affect the heritage.Conserving the area
"When property development was increasing along the sand dunes, we did a cultural heritage assessment and came up with recommendations that are still being used in conserving the area. Therefore, a project of such magnitude as the port serious work has to be done," said Dr Kiriama.
Lamu has witnessed increased activities in the recent past, including a seismic survey to establish whether there is oil and gas.
…..SOUTH KOREA
CMA CGM Takes Delivery of Third Mega-Ship
CMA CGM took delivery on Monday morning in South Korea of the CMA CGM Corte Real, a very large container ship with a capacity of 13,830 20-foot equivalent units that is the third in a series of eight vessels of this size named after the great explorers.
The new ship, which was built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, will join the CMA CGM Christophe Colomb and the CMA CGM Amerigo Vespucci on the FAL 5 service (French Asia Line) between Asia and North Europe.
The CMA CGM Corte Real, which is 1,270 feet long, 168 feet wide and has a draft of 51 feet, is the largest vessel to date to sail under the flag of the UK. The Marseilles-based company said it flies the flag of the UK as part of the white list of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, which provides a guarantee of safety, security and environmental protection.
CMA CGM said the large capacity of the ships it is deploying on its FAL 5 service allows it to meet the growing volume on this market that has been showing a strong recovery over recent months, registering a 20 percent growth on the westbound leg between Asia and North Europe for the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period last year and a 9 percent growth eastbound.
The CMA CGM Corte Real will start its rotation on Aug. 17 in Ningbo before calling Shanghai, Yantian, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Klang, Le Havre, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Port Klang and Singapore.
….INDIA
Aftermath Of Ships Collision: India Says Normalcy Returns To Mumbai Port Soon
Vessel movement at Mumbai Port is likely to be normalised in a week’s time,
considering progress made so far in salvage operations.
Normal vessel movement can only resume after all 250-odd boxes that fell
into the sea are properly accounted for and secured.
For salvage, three teams had been put into service to lift the containers
and the floating boxes are fast being retrieved or secured. The naval
survey of the channel is still continuing.
With the listing of stricken vessel MSC CHITRA having been reduced now, no
further oil spillage has been reported nor the falling of any more
containers.
Meanwhile, partial movement of vessels in and out of Mumbair & JNPT
continues. An average of 12-14 vessels are sailing out and berthing of
vessels escorted by naval convoys at both ports.
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