Ports and shipping

Papua New Guinea’s ports are being relocated or upgraded.

By Kevin Mcquillan

Over the next five years the Government will focus on developing a sea transport system that is easily accessible by the rural maritime sector. The ambition is to create a major trans-shipment hub in the Pacific that serves as a crucial bridge between the growing Asian economies and the Pacific.

Especially important is the expansion of the Lae port, PNG’S busiest. This is expected to be completed in late 2019 according to PNG Ports Corporation Managing Director, Stanley Alphonse. The K350 million project will include the greater Lae Tidal Basin Project and the Huon Industrial Park development in Lae. The West Lae Tidal River Basin project will be as big as the recently opened Motukea port in Port Moresby and will complement the Lae container terminal.

The West Tidal Basin is part of the greater Lae Tidal Basin Project and the Huon Industrial Park development.

‘The non-containerised cargo will go on the other side, at the Western tidal basin,’ says Alphonse.

‘It will mean increased volumes and shorter ship turnaround times. That will attract all the wet and dry bulk cargo over the other side [of PNG]. So, there are greater things in store for our main port down in Lae.’

The two parts of the Lae facility will have different shipping operations.

‘On the eastern side [completed in 2014], we’ve got the Lae tidal basin container terminal [in operation]. Cargo volumes are increasing, along with ship sizes. The non-containerised cargo will go on the other side, at the Western tidal basin. If anything, the lesson learnt in this country is that it is always prudent to get it right at the front end, so that we can get all projects done and delivered properly.’

Chairman of PNG Ports Corporation, Sir Nathaniel Poya, believes the ports will increase GDP by 0.1 per cent in 2019, and by 2.69 per cent by 2027.

‘About 80–90 per cent of the items in the basket of commodities in the Consumer Price Index are shipped through sea ports,’ he says. 

THE GOVERNMENT WILL FOCUS ON DEVELOPING A SEA TRANSPORT SYSTEM THAT IS EASILY ACCESSIBLE BY THE RURAL MARITIME POPULATION.

Credit: PNG Ports Motukea Port in Port Moresby.