As part of efforts to expand and decongest the country’s ports, government intends to construct another landing stage at the Tema Port, the Minister of Transport, Collins Dauda has stated.

The facility is expected to hold some of the vessels at the port to make way for expansion works to be carried out.

According to the minister, a similar project will be undertaken at the Takoradi Port, which has also seen a lot of activities due to oil exploration in that area.

He mentioned that “other expansion works would include deepening the draughts of the berths, acquisition of tug boats, pilot launch, security patrol boat and reach stackers to improve port operations, development of new empty container yards outside the port – all in a bid to reduce the congestion currently being experienced at the ports.”

The minister was addressing the 3rd Maritime Seminar for media practitioners organized by the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) in Accra.

He said “Ghana, over the last decade, has seen a number of developments, notable among them are the improvement of port infrastructure, provision of an electronic platform for the clearance of cargo and the commencement of expansion works at the Takoradi port to provide the needed capacity to maximize the benefits of the emerging oil industry.”

He noted that congestion at the ports had contributed to the proliferation of charges at the ports, stressing that the development had increased considerably the cost of doing business at the ports.

He indicated that despite challenges at the ports “available statistics indicates that the total cargo traffic for 2011 amounted to 17.9 million tons showing an increase of over 25 percent for the 2010 figures. The 2012 half year performance also gives strong indications of an overall annual cargo traffic increase in excess of 20 percent over 2011 figures.”

He was hopeful traffic will further increase upon the completion of expansion work.

The Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GSA, Emmanuel Martey said, the seminar was organized for media personnel to update their knowledge on contemporary developments in the country’s maritime transport sector, structures and dynamics.

He said “media practitioners should be able, for example, to appreciate the distinctive roles of the key industry players such as the Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority, Ghana Maritime Authority, Freight Forwarders, Shipping Lines/Agents and of course the GSA.”

Chief Executive Officer of GSA, Dr. Kofi Mbiah and the Dean Faculty of Maritime Studies, Regional Maritime University, Dr. Michael Ekow Manuel took journalists through some aspects of the maritime industry.

The Vice President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Affail Monney, commended GSA for the initiative which he said will go a long way to increase the knowledge of media practitioners in the maritime industry.