PORT AUTONOME INTERNATIONAL DE DJIBOUTI
BP 2107
DJIBOUTI
REPUBLIC OF DJIBOUTI

Phone +253 35 23 31
Fax +253 35 61 87
E-mail port@intnet.dj

Djibouti Port has 3,219 meters of quays. Since June 2000, Dubai Port International has managed Djibouti Port. Djibouti Port has a capacity of 6 - 8 million tons per year. Port also has capacity to handle 3 million tons of container traffic. Port berth length and draft are outlined below.

Content
Discharge Rates
Vessel Specifications
Vessel Gear and Equipment
Port cargo handling Equipment
Container Handling Equipment
Port Cost for Bulk/bagged Cargo Vessels
LASH Barge Operations
Break-Bulk Cargo Operations
Port Storage
Town storage
Truck Marshalling
Inspection & Superintendence Services

Discharge rates

Port operates on 3 shifts of 8 hours each, with a one-hour break between shifts. For bulk vessel operations, port can readily handle 3,000 tons of bulk cargo per day per vessel. With several vessels worked, discharge rates in excess of 6,000 tons per day are possible. During peak periods, Port Authority monitors vessel performance. Poorly performing vessel can be shifted to alternate berths or removed to anchorage. There are plans to construct a bulk-handling facility with work recently started.

Vessel specifications

Bulk vessels use Berths 13, 14 & 15. Vessels should not exceed 200 meters Length Overall (LOA) and with drafts limited to 11.3 meters. This enables more than one bulk vessel to be operated at the bulk berths. These LOA & Draft specifications also ensure that bulk vessels can be shifted to other Berths 7 & 8 when they are lighter. Vessels arriving with low draft can be lightened at deeper Petroleum Berths 10, 11 & 12. Heavy Ethiopian trucks not allowed on these berths with use made of smaller shunting trucks. Lightening operations involving additional handing and shunting cost up to US$5/Mtn paid by ship owners. Petroleum vessels have priority for using these Tanker Berths and Port Authority only grants exceptional approval for using these berths for lightening operations. Port authorities have persistently discouraged any relief vessels arriving with drafts in excess of 11.30 meters. Tankers have been used to deliver relief grain. These tankers almost always have LOA in excess of 200 meters and need to use vacuvators for discharge of the cargo. Due to dust and noise pollution, Port Authority may soon ban use of vacuvators.

Vessel Gear & Equipment

Bulk and break bulk vessels should be geared. Cranes should be able to lift 8 - 10 Mtn bobcats on and off the vessels. For bulk vessels, cranes should be of at least 15-ton capacity. For bulk vessels grabs used by stevedores are 6-7 tons capacity. For tankers, privately owned and operated vacuvators are available at Djibouti.

Port Cargo Handling Equipment

The general cargo sheds are adequately equipped. Several stevedoring firms own and operate stevedoring equipment including gantry cranes, forklifts, tractors and trailers. Only companies that are wholly Djibouti owned are allowed to operate vessel stevedoring services.

Container Handling Equipment

Equipment available for container handling is outlined below. The port is equipped to handle 100,000 TEUs per year, or 25 TEUs per hour.

Port Cost for Bulk/bagged Cargo Vessels

Costs charged depend on terms of shipment. Indicative rates shown below are on the basis of CIF Djibouti. These costs exclude superintendence and coordination charges.

(a) Bulk Cargo
Depending on volume of activity, number of bagging machines available at Djibouti ranges between 12 and 19. Two non-Djiboutian companies who lease them out to Djiboutian stevedores own most of these machines.

(b) Bagged Cargo
Depending on tonnage, indicative costs range US$ 7.00 to $11.00 per Mtn. Discharge rates for bagged cargo can be quite low. Even where bagged cargo was pre-slung at load ports, positioning the cargo on trucks at and removing slings at the discharge ports takes time and can delay discharge. For paper bagged milled products, damage due to slings can be reduced cushioning the slings with jute or polypropylene bags.

(c) Containerised Cargo
The following considerations apply to containers. Shipping lines offers 15 to 30 day's free time, after which demurrage applies. Port offers 30 days free time after which container is moved to Inland Free Port area where storage charges apply. Due to space limitations and demands on container handling equipment, only limited number containers can be stripped at port for despatch to Ethiopia. Where many containers are expected (say in excess of 50 boxes), arrangements can be made with port to block stack these containers. Stripping inside Ethiopia requires ETH Customs confirmation that box has been re-exported out of Ethiopia. Good coordination with transporters key to ensuring boxes are returned to Djibouti. Containers typically have payloads in excess of 20 Mtn. Transport of a large number of containers to Ethiopia requires enough draw bar type trucks that can move 2 TEU of 20 MT each.

LASH Barge Operations

A significant amount of ex-USA Blended Food and Vegetable Oil is delivered using LASH barges (typically 300 Mtn/Barge). With the cargo loaded from up-river Mississippi inland ports, barges are floated down river and loaded onto LASH vessels at major USA Gulf of Mexico ports - mainly New Orleans. Major advantage of using LASH barges is that barge carrying vessels can deliver the barges to Djibouti and do not have wait for their offloading to be completed as empties can be collected later. Major problems experienced with barge operations are: Very slow discharge operations involving conveyor belts and labour inside barge and on trucks; water ingress in some barges leading to damage to cargo.

Break-Bulk Cargo operations

Working with break-bulk is faster if bags are pre-slung and with vessels operating from a minimum 3 hooks, place and load two trucks under each hook. Delays may however be experienced with proper stacking on the truck and release of the slings.

Port storage

Port authority owns 19 warehouses within the port area, of which three are in the extension of the free trade zone, totalling some 47,380 sq. meters with a storage capacity of 672,440 metric tons per year (for 45 days turn around). Approximately thirteen hectares of open storage is provided in the port or 130,300 square meters with a capacity of 1.850 million metric tons per annum. There are in addition 13.5 hectares at the container terminal which can accommodate 5,130 TEUs at a time or more than 120,000 TEUs per annum (with 15 days turn around) which is equivalent to 1 million tons of cargo per year. Port storage - if available - is free for first 30 days. Quayside storage is possible. Most berths, transit shed, warehouses and open storage areas are served by rail. Each of the general cargo berths and the coastal cargo berth has a transit shed ranging between 1,080 to 4,900 square meters.

Town storage

The free trade zone (commercial area) at the port has been extended and now has some storage area totalling some 124,037 square meters mostly owned by the private sector. It also contains plots for lease for storage, establishment of industries and other businesses. Town storage amounts to US$1.4 per Mtn per month, with shunting and additional handling costs excluded. For any town storage in excess of 5,000 Mtn, the handling agents need to be advised in advance.

Truck Marshalling

Access for trucks to Djibouti Town and Port is restricted. Trucks must park 12 Km away from town with a limited number of passes issued only for those trucks ready to load.

Inspection & Superintendence Services

Only Djibouti owned inspection companies are allowed to operate at the port.