Anticipating an expansion of commercial activity, the port authority of the city of Bejaia in eastern Algeria Entreprise Portuaire de Bejaia (EPB), is partnering with Singapore-based Portek International to jointly operate two container berths. Their joint venture will be called Bejaia Mediterranean Terminal , in which EPB will hold a majority stake of 51% and Portek 49%. The partnership period will last 20 years.
According to Portek, BMT will operate a container terminal with a 500-meter quay and 8-hectare container yard. Portek, as part of its investment in the joint venture, will provide BMT with 2 quayside container cranes, 4 rubber-tyred gantry cranes, terminal operations systems and other equipment and know-how to operate an efficient and modern container terminal.
Portek will manage the terminal, raising the level of productivity and marketing of BMT to shipping lines, importers and exporters. BMT is expected to be fully operational by the first half of 2005.
In 2003, the Port of Bejaia, which has a workforce of about 1,200 workers, ranked fourth out of a total of 10 major ports in Algeria, in terms of revenue earned. EPB is also an important port for dry bulk and liquid petroleum cargo. In terms of container traffic, the Port of Bejaia handled about 32,000 TEUs in 2003 and expects that container throughput will grow by 40% in 2004.
Bejaia is the seventh largest city in Algeria and is located about 250 km east of its capital, Algiers. The Port of Bejaia currently serves a hinterland that includes importers located even in Algiers. BMT intends to expand this hinterland and serve the oil and gas fields located to the south of Bejaia.
BMT would be the fourth terminal in Portek's portfolio of container terminals. The existing 3 terminals are in Indonesia: PT Serbaguna Terminal in Jakarta, PT Makassar Terminal Services in Sulawesi and PT Portindo Dinamika in West Java. Portek expects the total throughput in its Indonesian terminals to more than double from about 170,000 TEUs to approximately 340,000 TEUs from 2003 to 2004.
© The North Africa Journal 2004
