Transportation Ministry has started conducting studies as well as the public scheme of the new Alexandria seaport to expand its area from 1.6 to 3.3 kilometers and establish a new logisitic port on an area of 400 feddans at al-Nubaria, Al-Masry Al-Youm was informed.
Official sources said President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi instructed Minister Hesham Arafat to immediately carry out the project. Arafat said the current area of the seaport had not changed since its establishment. Although 65 percent of Egypt’s imports arrive through the seaport, only 30 percent of its area is used, due to absence of development and expansion plans.
Speaking to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Arafat added that comprehensive development plans were drawn to expand the seaport and establish a new one for logistics on an area of 400 feddans in Al-Nubaria area, which increases the area of the seaport from 1.6 to 3.3 kilometers, after including the wood area to the seaport.
The project is important to Egypt as it will be the first time a maritime logistical yet integral seaport is established, that links to the Nile through the Nubaria canal.
Major General Medhat Atiya, head of the Alexandria Seaport Authority, said the ministry drew a comprehensive plan to develop the seaport.
The authority has now started carrying out a large project to develop 75 platforms, 58 of which are in Alexandria, while 17 others are in Al-Dekheila area. No development occurred at all over the past 50 years, commented Atiya.
He explained that this is only the second time that a logistical seaport will be established on an area equal to 1,680,000 meters in Nubaria. The parliament’s ratification is awaited, Atiya concluded.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
