Tibar Bay Port ( pt, Porto da Baía de Tíbar, tet, Portu Baía Tibar) is a container seaport at
Tibar Bay
Tibar Bay ( pt, Baía de Tibar, tet, Baía Tibar) is a bay on the north coast of East Timor near Dili, its capital city. The bay forms part of the south shore of Ombai Strait, which separates the Alor Archipelago from the islands of Wetar, At ...
, near
Dili
Dili (Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...
, the
capital city
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...
of
East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...
. It opened on 30 September 2022.
Geography
The port is located on the western side of Tibar Bay, approximately west of Dili.
History
In June 2016, the government of East Timor signed an agreement with the
Bolloré Group
Bolloré SE () is a French conglomerate headquartered in Puteaux, on the western outskirts of Paris, France. Founded in 1822, the company has interests in Vivendi, international freight forwarding, oil storage and pipelines in France, solid state ...
to build and operate a new container port at Tibar Bay. The 30-year concession contract was the first
public-private partnership ever undertaken in East Timor. At a value of (comprising $130m public and $360m private funds
), it also amounted to the country's largest ever private investment.
The greenfield project was intended to replace the existing, capacity-strained and congestion-ridden container handling facilities at the
Port of Dili
The Port of Dili ( pt, Porto de Díli, tet, Portu Díli) is a seaport in Dili, East Timor. Prior to 30 September 2022, it was the main and only international port of entry to East Timor. On that day, its container operations were transferred t ...
. The new port was planned to be a modern container port able to handle up to 350,000
TEU annually.
Subsequently, Bolloré Group contracted with
China Harbour Engineering Company
China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) is an engineering contractor and a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), providing infrastructure construction, such as marine engineering, dredging and reclamation, road and ...
to construct the new port.
Construction was declared to be underway in June 2017 and August 2018,
and was originally scheduled to be completed by the end of 2020.
However, issues with funding and subcontracting delayed progress. The official ceremony launching the project was not held until 15 July 2019, and construction actually began the following month.
As of the end of 2021, the port works were 72% complete, and construction was expected to be finished in May 2022.
On 21 September 2022, the government announced that the port would come into operation on 30 September 2022.
Operations were inaugurated on the opening day with the arrival of the vessels ''Selatan Damai'' and ''Meratus Pematangsiantar''.
Facilities
The port consists of a wharf with a draft, and a container yard.
It has a capacity for one million container shipments a year.
Its equipment includes two
ship-to-shore (STS) gantries, four
rubber-tyred gantries (RTGs), 10
terminal tractor
A terminal tractor, known in the United States as a shunt truck, spotter truck, spotting tractor, yard truck, yard shifter, yard dog, yard goat, yard horse, yard jockey, hostler, or mule, is a kind of semi-tractor intended to move semi-trailers ...
s and 16
trailers
Trailer may refer to: a
Transportation
* Trailer (vehicle), an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle
** Bicycle trailer, a wheeled frame for hitching to a bicycle to tow cargo or passengers
** Full-trailer
** Semi-trailer
**Horse trailer ...
.
See also
*
Transport in East Timor
In East Timor, transportation is reduced due to the nation's poverty, poor transportation infrastructure, and sparse communications networks.
There are no railways in the country. The general condition of the roads is inadequate, and telephone ...
*
Port of Dili
The Port of Dili ( pt, Porto de Díli, tet, Portu Díli) is a seaport in Dili, East Timor. Prior to 30 September 2022, it was the main and only international port of entry to East Timor. On that day, its container operations were transferred t ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
{{authority control
Ports and harbours of East Timor