Sekondi-Takoradi port is situated on the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean) in southern Ghana. Both the Dutch and British built forts at Sekondi in the 17th century that were destroyed by the Ahanta. Fort Orange, rebuilt by the Dutch and bought by the British in 1872, still survives as a lighthouse. Sekondi flourished in the 1900s after construction of the railroad (1903) to the mineral and timber resources of the hinterland & the interior goldfields. A deepwater harbour was constructed at Takoradi in 1928.
Takoradi is Ghana's main export port with around 500 vessel calls per year handling 65% of Ghana's exports. Main commodities are manganese, bauxite, timber and cocoa. Takoradi handles over 2.2 million tons of cargo per year.
Sekondi and Takoradi, a single municipality since 1946, became one city in 1963. Takoradi is well-planned, with two breakwaters enclosing 220 acres (90 hectares) of sea with quay berths (5 multi-purpose and 3 dedicated berths) and lee facilities for loading bauxite and discharging oil. The harbour is the terminus of several Ghana railways and is served by road and air. Sekondi-Takoradi also has light industrial, agricultural, and fishing enterprises.
Sekondi-Takoradi also has shipbuilding, railroad repair, and cigarette industries. The two parts of the city developed around Dutch and English forts built in the 17th century.
Draft at Berth Between - 7.93m and 9.14m
Draft at Harbour Mouth - 11m
Entrance Channel - 185m wide and 11.3m deep
No of Deepwater Quays - 9
Length of Quay - 1369.5 m in total
RoRo Quay - 167.64m with a depth of 7.93m
Container Quay - 152.4m with a depth of 8.92m
Air Connections Kotoka International is 228km from Takoradi
Takoradi port is gearing up for futher upgrades and increased private sector participation. The Port Authority has secured land close to the harbour to be leased to private investors for the development of fish processing and cold storage facilities. There are also plans to extend the clinker-bauxite jetty and the main breakwater. The old log pond will be reclaimed for use as a container handling area and there are also plans for the construction of new offices and a marine operation berth.
Port Security & ISPS
The implementation of the ISPS code came into effect on the 1st July 2004, a global maritime security standard introduced by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) for member nations.
Below are the details of the Takoradi ports plans for 2004:
New identity card will be issued to port workers from September this year.
A perimeter fence is being built around the port.
The Takoradi Port will soon engage a security company to provide sniffer dogs to ensure maximum security
A Port Facility Security Committee (PFSC) had been established
An electronic Surveillance System is also being installed. |
