The Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC) has launched a new dredging operation on the access channels to Maputo Port, aimed at enabling vessels of greater dimensions and cargo capacity to call at the facility. The intervention is intended to improve navigational conditions and reinforce the port’s competitiveness in regional and international maritime trade.

According to an MPDC statement, the works are designed to improve the navigability of the channels used by vessels entering and departing the port, creating the conditions necessary to increase freight transport capacity.

The company believes the intervention could contribute to the expansion of port activities and to strengthening Maputo Port’s position within Southern Africa’s logistics chains.

Located in southern Mozambique, the port complex comprises two principal areas: the Maputo Commercial Port and the Matola industrial complex, which together handle different categories of cargo destined for both the domestic market and international trade.

Access to the Maputo Commercial Port is via the Xefina and Polana channels, which extend 9.3 and 7.5 kilometres respectively. According to figures provided, these channels have depths ranging between 11 and 14 metres, which currently limits the maximum draught of vessels able to use the facility.

Maputo Port operates terminals for the handling of general cargo, containers, coal, fruit, sugar, steel, and petroleum products, alongside installations dedicated to fishing, coastal navigation, and molasses storage.

The port’s combined quay length stands at approximately 3,876 metres. The Matola complex, which includes infrastructure for handling coal, petroleum, cereals, and aluminium, offers an additional 865 metres of quayside.

According to data released by the company, Maputo Port’s total throughput capacity is approximately 17 million tonnes per year.

The dredging works could facilitate the operation of vessels with greater cargo capacity, favouring the movement of goods through the logistics corridors linking Mozambique to other markets across Southern Africa.

MPDC has not disclosed, however, the projected investment, the expected completion timeline, or the target depth the channels are to reach upon conclusion of the works.