Project Walvis Bay: Iintegrated approach for the long-term development of the Port of Walvis Bay

The objective of the project is to ‘develop a financially- and technically feasible development strategy for the Port of Walvis Bay, taking account of the uncertainties of future events’. As there is a high degree of uncertainty in the future demands for services, the attention is focussed on designing a development strategy that maximizes the flexibility of the port.NamPort announced plans for expanding the port back in 2008, after which construction of the first phase should have commenced in 2011. However, due to reluctance of investors, the project’s Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) phase has been cancelled indefinitely by the port authority. NamPort is now accepting new tenderers to both build and finance the expansion. They are confident that the construction phase will begin in early 2013, targeting full operation in 2016. The expansion will accommodate a container terminal, eventually quadrupling the port’s handling capacity up to one million TEU’s annually. According to container throughput forecasts, the demand for services may however reach the increased handling capacity as soon as 2019/2020. The objective of this project is to recommend a strategy on how to develop the port on the long-term, scoping at a design lifetime of half a century.