Jackup barges add to oil and gas cargo-handling capacity at Mocimboa da Praia

摘要

The first of two jackup barges to be deployed as a 'pop-up port' arrived in Mocimboa da Praia, Mozambique, at the end of February, to service the burgeoning liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry in the region. Having mostly handled dhow traffic (generic name for traditionally constructed vessels) in the past, the small port had only a rudimentary infrastructure. However, its proximity to the Afungi LNG project site at Palma (80 km away) makes it a better choice to tranship project cargo rather than navigating the poor road conditions from the ports of Pemba (424 km away) and Nacala (684 km away) further south. The ALS Alliance-a collaboration between LBH Mozambique (the barge operator), Alpha Logistics, and Subtech Mozambique formed in 2017 - handles logistics in the port. In June 2018, the alliance brought in Alpha Transporter, a 57 m long. 1,057 dwt landing craft-type vessel. It was carrying a Grove 980 mobile crane and a container for the port in preparation for the first transhipment of cement to Afungi. The vessel now shuttles cargo between Pemba and Mocimboa da Praia. Any heavy cargo has to be transported by sea to Mocimboa da Praia and then trucked to Palma and Afungi. The barge, LBH lkuru (formerly Karhssa A), is the latest addition to the port's infrastructure and will be used to tranship project cargo from barges and vessels.