Ceremony marks a vessel milestone for port
Port of Abidjan welcomes 7,000 TEU ship
CÔTE D'IVOIRE: The Port of Abidjan hosted a ceremony to welcome the EA Centaurus, a 272m container vessel with a draft of 14.3 metres and a capacity of 7,000 TEUs.
Director General of the Autonomous Port of Abidjan, Hien Yacouba SIÉ, the Director General of Côte d'Ivoire Terminal (CIT), Koen de Bekker officiated the ceremony. Also present were the Director General of DIAMOND Shipping Service, Praveer Khare, the ship's consignee, as well as several other stakeholders of the port of Abidjan.
Khare indicated, during his speech, that this first stopover is the beginning of a long series, given that Diamond Shipping Service and its partner Cosco are committed to directing container ships carrying between 7000 and 7500 TEU to the port of Abidjan, with a weekly frequency.
“The presence of your 7,000-box vessel at the Port of Abidjan, the largest of Diamond Shipping, indicates that we have a competitive terminal. This is the result of the will and commitment to modernise the Port of Abidjan,” said Yacouba SIÉ during the ceremony.
Since the second container terminal came into operation in December 2022, it has accommodated several large vessels carrying up to 13,000 TEU. The Port Authority has undertaken two major infrastructure modernisation projects - namely the resizing (widening and deepening) of the Vridi Canal entrance pass and the construction of TC2 built on 37.5 ha of land.
In addition, several large-span quay gantries, and other park equipment as well as cutting-edge technological equipment have been added to ensure efficiencies.
770