THE DEEP-WATER port of Ngqura 20 kilometres east of Port Elizabeth has been designed to accommodate up to 32 berths, according to Nick van Amstel, deputy chief engineer of the National Ports Authority (NPA). Speaking in Port Elizabeth at a NPA briefing to business, van Amstel said there would be five berths in the first phase of the port – two for containers, one for bulk liquids and two for dry bulk. In addition to supporting the neighbouring Coega Industrial Development Zone, the port of Ngqura would “facilitate international trading for the Southern African hinterland”. One of the major considerations in the development of the port of Ngqura was the Coega Industrial Development Zone. There had to be adequate space for industrial development. The land around South Africa’s other ports had already been developed almost to full capacity. Tenders have been called for the first phase of construction of the port. This will include the building of two breakwaters. The longest will stretch 2 500 metres into the sea, and the other just over a kilometre. The foundations of the breakwaters will be up to seventeen metres below se level. Another tender is for the construction of a sand bypass system to prevent a build-up of sand. An estimated 200 000 cubic metres of sand a year circulates around Algoa Bay. The third contract is for the transport of the sand and rock used in the construction. Over 29 million cubic metres of sand will be moved in the construction of the port. The construction will be fast-tracked in order to be ready in time for the opening of the first factories in the Coega IDZ, according to van Amstel. The first ships will be able to call 31 months after the award of the contracts in April 2002.