Chinese firm wins 2nd contract in Ghana's port expansion

ACCRA -- China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) has won a fresh contract to carry out the second phase of the expansion work of Ghana's eastern port of Tema, officials confirmed to Xinhua late Tuesday.

The contract signed with Meridian Ports Services (MPS), a private consortium financing the port expansion project, will see CHEC building the fourth and last berth of the new port, about 40 km east of the capital.

According to the agreement, the contractors will add a 400-meter berth to the 1000-meter berth already under construction.

When completed, officials of MPS told Xinhua, the additional berth will bring the total berth capacity to 1.4 km which will enable the port to accommodate and handle vessels up to 16 meters draft.

CHEC commenced work on the first phase of the expansion work in September 2016 at the cost of 1.5 billion US Dollars. That phase is expected to be completed and handed over by next month.

"This contract and the further works add a total value of over 110 million dollars to the project. Further investments in operating equipment will increase these amounts by another 100 million dollars when throughput volumes increase," Mohammed Samara, chief executive officer of MPS, said.

Project Director for the Tema Port Expansion Project Mark Nolet said, "CHEC have demonstrated that they are indeed remarkable port builders. We are happy to partner them for this second Phase."

Project Manager for CHEC Wang Leo expressed gratitude to MPS for selecting the Chinese firm for the second phase.

"We are happy to be selected to carry out the second phase of this massive project. We assure you that we will not compromise on the integrity we have built over the last years," Wang said.