New Nautical Vessels: Impetus For Greater Performance, Productivity
The multipurpose
Buoy vessel baptised “Dika Mpondo Akwa” the buoyage support vessel called ,”Mentchum Falls” and the mowing vessel christened. “Lake Barombi Mbo” have come to place the
Port of Douala- Bonaberi at a higher international performance and competitiveness pedestals. The fleet is also supplemented by two
The
Prime Minister, Head of Government, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute, the personal representative of the Head of State, President Paul Biya chaired the
inauguration and
launching ceremony of the new vessels. Before this stage, he had a guided tour of the port s zone where he saw for himself the state of the Port. Lire aussi : Animation politique : les médias à la rescousse
(Business in Cameroon) - On April 28, 2021, in Douala, the Port Authority of Douala (PAD) and the Cameroonian subsidiary of Swiss group Pukaly International SA signed a partnership agreement authorizing the recovery, exploitation, and processing of the sediments recovered during dredging operations at the Port of Douala.
The port authority explains that according to the simulation results, the Port of Douala will gain XAF34.74 billion from the sales of dredged sediments within thirty years. This includes XAF1.39 billion of state fee and XAF33.35 billion as proceeds from the sales of sediments recovered from the seabed.
It adds that this first experience of industrial marine sediments recovery is an innovative project that will generate jobs and make dredging (which was previously a money pit for the PAD) profitable. Indeed, before that agreement, the PAD was using its resources to transport and dispose of the sediments recovered from its seabed.
(Business in Cameroon) - As of December 31, 2020, public companies’ external debt was XAF452.5 billion, according to the national sinking fund CAA. The Same source informs that that debt was owed by four companies, namely, Société nationale de raffinage (Sonara),Cameroon Airlines Corporation (Camair Co), Aéroports du Cameroun (ADC), and the Port Authority of Douala (PAD).
State-owned refinery Sonara was owing XAF359 billion, representing 79.3% of the overall public companies’ external debt at the time. According to the CAA, SONARA’s external debt was owed to foreign traders and year-on-year, it is down by XAF12 billion. In 2016, the figure was XAF25.1 billion, XAF33.3 billion in 2017, and XAF52.4 billion in 2018. However, at end-2019, it rose substantially to XAF371 billion.
(Business in Cameroon) - On January 28, 2021, the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA) of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) rendered its decision in the case (since 2019) between the Port Authority of Douala (PAD) and a consortium formed by Bolloré and APM Terminals, a subsidiary of the Maersk Group.
Indeed, on February 27, 2020, the PAD appealed against the order issued on December 31, 2019, by the Administrative Court of the Littoral to suspend the creation of a delegated authority for the management of the container terminal of the Port of Douala.
At the end of a hearing in the framework of that case, the CCJA rejected the appeal lodged by the PAD and condemned it to pay the costs .
(Business in Cameroon) - At the end of a meeting of its administrative board on December 22, the Port Authority of Douala (PAD) was authorized to set up a delegated management for towing services at the autonomous Port of Douala, internal sources reveal.
These services (which generated an average of XAF3.6 billion for the port yearly over the past five years) consist of towing vessels from the entrance or exit of the port when the said vessels are unable to berth or sail on their own.
With the creation of the delegated management authority, the port is thus preparing to take over services it was till now hiring foreign companies to provide. The management is being created after a tender procedure launched in June 2020 proved unsuccessful after the negotiations with provisional winner Boluda France hit a dead end.