Port N’diago is a newly built port in the south of Mauritania, completed in 2021 but not yet in operation. The port currently has a 180 m quay wall for commercial purposes with a limited back yard, which needs to be developed. Other parts of the port that were built for fishing and other purposes can also be reconstructed for cargo handling.
(l-r) El Vara Doua, Mauritrans Shipping ; Dr. Martin Schramm, HPC ; Jamal Mohamed Salem, Mimarine International ; Abdallahi Barro, Africom
A consortium led by Mimarine International is pursuing the goal of better connecting the southern hinterland of Mauritania to international maritime traffic.
HPC’s role is to carry out a pre-feasibility study involving the development of port operations, the railway connection of 70 km to the planned railway route between the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott and the border of Mali, as well as the conceptual designing of a dry port terminal at the intended railway junction.
“Connecting south-western Mauritania to international maritime transport will stimulate the local mining industry”, says Jamal Mohamed Salem, CEO of Mimarine International. “The expansion of Port N’diago will also provide impetus for growth in the region.”
HPC’s core competencies include providing commercial, financial and operational analyses for the development of transport infrastructure from the quay wall to the hinterland. The overall objective of the study is the investigation of potential developments to stimulate port operations and the realisation of necessary additional infrastructure investments to achieve this.
It will involve the analysis and evaluation of potential commodities and cargo flows as well as the development of a functional and efficient operations concept that will meet market demand in terms of volume and performance within reasonable resource requirements.
The study will identify such market demand and assess the general need for an intermodal facility, as well as the required equipment and infrastructure.
Dr Martin Schramm, managing the project at HPC, comments: “This ambitious project aims to put currently untapped maritime facilities to good use in order to further develop the industry in the region.”
The results of the pre-feasibility study are expected to be available in January 2023.
The contracting parties consider the study to be a first step in a long-term partnership in which HPC will provide its experience to later develop efficient port operations.
About HPC
HPC Hamburg Port Consulting operates as a logistics consulting company, specialising in strategy and transformation services for the ports, terminals, and rail sectors. Since its establishment in 1976, the Hamburg-based consulting company has delivered more than 1,700 projects across 130 countries spanning six continents, along the entire port project development cycle. HPC employs about 100 domain experts with a background as terminal operators, software engineers, logistics managers, transport economists and mathematicians. As a subsidiary of the Hamburg Port and Logistics Corporation (HHLA), HPC has its roots in port handling of container, breakbulk and multipurpose, as well as hinterland operations. www.hamburgportconsulting.com