GPHA To Expand Container Terminal

The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) is to provide a bigger container terminal to accommodate new generation vessels which call at the Tema Port.

These vessels are huge and have large cargo-hold capacities capable of carrying large quantities of bulk cargo.

The Marketing and Customer Service Manager of the GPHA, Mrs Alice Torkornoo, said this when she presented a plaque on behalf of the authority to the Captain of the M/V Ten Yu Maru which arrived at the Tema Port on January 15, 2011 on its maiden voyage.

Mrs Torkornoo disclosed that from the last quarter of 2009 the number of vessels and the quantity of cargo arriving at the port had increased greatly, an indication that the global economy was improving.

She gave the assurance that the Tema Port had the ability and adequate equipment to attend to all sizes of vessels, adding, “The GPHA will continue to build good relations with all stakeholders to encourage them to operate from the port.”

She said the more cargo that came through the port, the better for the Ghanaian economy.

Captain of the vessel, Virgilio S. Cruz, expressed the gratitude of the crew to the GPHA for displaying a gesture that would encourage them to come back.

He said the vessel, with a capacity of 58,110 metric tones, was built in China and launched on September 11, 2010 and presently had 23 crew members.

Capt Cruz said Ghana was the vessel’s first port of call after it was launched and congratulated the nation on its peace and stability which had encouraged vessels to dock at the Tema Port.

He said the vessel loaded 34,000 tonnes of rice at Kohsichang in Thailand originally for Cote d’Ivoire but was later directed by the charters to divert the cargo to Ghana because of the political instability in that country.

Captain Cruz said the vessel would be in Ghana until the first week of February when it would set sail for Lome in Togo.

The Managing Director of GETMA Ghana, the local agents of the vessel, Mr Christophe Monmarche, congratulated the GPHA on its efficiency and capabilities.

He appreciated the gesture displayed by the authority and promised that the company would entice more vessels to use the Tema Port.