The Macuti ocean dredger, which will ensure the access channel at the port of Beira remains open, is now expected to arrive in Mozambique at the end of the first half of the year instead of this month, said the director for Transport and Communications of Sofala province.

Carlos Isidoro also said that the dredger was practically ready but that during tests some deficiencies had been found that needed to be repaired before it could be sent to Mozambique, according to Mozambican newspaper O País.

The dredger, which has been named Macuti, has a hold capacity of 2,500 cubic metres of sediment and is being built in Lithuania.

Tayob Adamo, chairman of Mozambican dredging company Empresa Moçambicana de Dragagens (Emodraga), said that the capacity of the ocean dredger was 2.5 times greater than that of the Alcântara Santos and Aruângua barges, which have holds of 1,000 cubic metres each and which currently ensure the access channel at the port is clear.

This dredger will ensure a depth of at least 8 metres in the channel, making it possible for ships weighing up to 60,000 tons to use the port of Beira.

The port of Beira is the main port used for exports by companies that mine coal in Tete province. At the moment they have to use barges to carry the coal out to sea and trans-ship it to larger ships. (macauhub)