New East Timor port officially opened
5 December 2022Port operator Bolloré Ports has officially opened Tibar Bay Port in East Timor.
According to several reports, Bolloré said the new port aims to improve logistics services in East Timor and responds to current developments in the maritime and port world.
It has a 630m-long quay with 16m of draught and is equipped with the latest generation of handling equipment, including two ship-to-shore gantry cranes and four electric rubber-tyred gantry cranes.
In its first phase of operation, the port will be able to accommodate 7,500 TEU and handle more than 200,000 TEU per year.
Timor Port is expected to become a regional transshipment hub, in a bid to enhance the country’s attractiveness within the Asia-Pacific region and accelerate its economic development. It is the result of the country’s first public-private partnership.
The site, located 12km from the capital Dili, received investment of $490m and took four years to build.
It is the second port in East Timor, and constructed because modern large container ships could not access Dili Port.
The president of the country, José Ramos Horta, inaugurated the port on 30 November, in the presence of Bolloré Ports CEO Philippe Labonne, the prime minister general Taur Matan Ruak, and members of both the Dili port community and the Asia-Pacific region, reports Port Technology International.
“We are pleased with the completion of this major project, the largest to date in [East Timor],” said Labonne.
“We are honoured by the trust the Timorese government placed in us and we have done our utmost to be worthy of it. We have been present in the country for many years and are proud of this new contribution to the local economy.
“Together, we will develop the activities of Tibar Bay Port with the ambition of positioning it as a reference infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region.”
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