China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), a state-owned firm, has won the bid to construct a new Free Port in Atuabo, Ghana, 326km west of the capital, Accra.
Atuabo Free Port (AFP), pictured, is intended to serve the offshore West African oil and gas industry.
It will have an 18.5-m-deep channel and three quays, plus zones for logistics, subsea fabrication, rig and vessel repair and general business support, according to the port’s website.
CHEC and Atuabo Free Ports agreed last month to make the Chinese firm the main engineers for the $600m project, according to reports.
The project is a joint venture including a 10% free carry shareholding for the government of Ghana and 35% of shares owned by state owned enterprises (SOEs), while AFP owns the other shares.
Construction is expected to commence in the third quarter of this year and be completed in 25 months.
After the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in Ghana in 2007, the country now produces over 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
CHEC, a subsidiary of state-owned China Communications Construction Company Ltd, was also the contractor on the now-suspended Colombo Port City project in Sri Lanka.
Image: Artist’s render of the new port (Atuabo Free Port)
