CHINA is to invest US$10 billion in a port in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, that will overtake Dar es Salaam annual capacity of 800,000 TEU to reach 20 million TEU.
In order to become a mega hub to rival the capital port it must be able to handle containerships of 6,000-TEU and 10,000-TEU simultaneously, said Tanzania Shipping Agents Association (TASAA) chairman Emmanuel Mallya.
"We should not build another Dar es Salaam Port in Bagamoyo with similar limitations," he said, according to Tanzania's Daily News. "There should be more channels with fewer restrictions on basin. Ships should not be restricted with depth of port."
Bagamoyo's location, northwest of the capital, will act as a transhipment hub for raw materials coming out of landlocked countries of Malawi, Zambia, Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.
China will upgrade existing links and create new rail and road networks to link Bagamoyo to the countryside, said the report.
Asian Shipper News
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