Egypt's President Mubarak on Monday opened new Damietta electronic harbour, some 8,5 kilometers to Damietta branch of the River Nile. The port is the first in Egypt to be operated electronically. It also establishes a link to exchange shipping information with other harbors.
There is a 4.5 km-long canal link between the Nile River and Damietta, Trains run alongside the berths. The port has been divided into sub-harbours, quays and berths to facilitate throughout.
The complex was built on 3.2 million square metres, including a petrochemicals berth, a container berth, a general cargo berth, a cement quay, a grains berth, and a multi-purpose berth.
The first-class transshipment port can accommodate a new generation of large container vessels now that berths have been dredged to a depth of 14.5 metres and new container handling equipment introduced.
The total area of the port now is 11.8 square kilometers, water area 3.9 sq km and land area 7.9 sq km.
In addition, vessels can discharge at any time. Vessels transiting the Suez Canal can use Damitetta Port without any deviation, which saves quite a lot of time for main liners.
Minister of Transportation, Essam Sharaf, said during the event "New Damietta port will add to Egypt and the world a new modern harbour that is operated with the latest information and communications technical know how." He added that a troubleshooting company for harbours was established to operate the system installed in Damietta Port.
The total costs of the project reached about LE 190 million which is totally covered from the revenues of the Damietta port Authority, which makes the project a one without debts, Sharaf said, adding that the harbour provides 31,000 jobs.
