Tripoli harbor improved

Tender for a BOT management contract for Tripoli Port to be launched soon

Works on the second phase of the major expansion project of the Port of Tripoli were finally concluded on Thursday (February 2).

The cost of this phase of the project stood at $51.7 million. The construction works were carried out by Chinese contracting firm, China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC). Dar Al Handasah (Shair and Partners sal) were the project's consultants.

CHEC signed a contract with the Authority of the Port of Tripoli in 2009. The firm had initially won the bid to undertake the project back in 2004, but works were delayed. So far the project has cost around $80 million.

Two more steps are required to conclude the full expansion project. The General Manager of the Port of Tripoli, Ahmad Tamer, said that two tenders will be launched soon. He said that the first bid, to be launched within two weeks, is for the construction of the remaining infrastructure required to conclude the enhancement of the port, which is expected to take up to two years. The second tender, which Tamer said will be launched in three months, is to award the port’s management contract to an operator. According to Tamer, the Port of Tripoli will be operated through a 20-year BOT contract.

The capacity of the Tripoli port has now expanded with the installation of a 600-meter long harbor. The depth of the port’s dock has been expanded from 12 meters to 15 meters and thus is now equipped to receive large ferries.

Officials expect the new infrastructural enhancements to drive the port’s activity up to unprecedented levels.

According to Tamer, the port’s activity was limited to general cargo since it wasn’t equipped as a container terminal. “With the expansion of the port we expect to receive around 180,000 containers during the first year,” Tamer said.

According to the Higher Customs Council, imports through the Tripoli port totaled around $1.2 billion in 2011, up by six percent from the previous year. Imports arriving via Tripoli port accounted for six percent of all imports last year. Exports through the Tripoli port were up by 20 percent year-on-year, as they stood at $302 million at end 2011. The port’s share of total exports was seven percent.