THE CREATION OF LAKE TANGANYIKA SHIPPING COMPANY
LAKE TANGANYIKA SHIP BUILDING & MPULUNGU DRY PORT & AGRI-HUB
The creation of Lake Tanganyika Shipping Company is one of a series of projects required to achieve this goal.
East Africa benefits from having some of the largest bodies of water in the world.
African Roads vs the Lake
Distance saved by boat
Kigoma - Kalemie
Kigoma - Bujumbura
Kigoma - Mpulungu
Mpulungu-Kalemie
'We could deliver a container in half the time and for at least 30% reduction in cost compared to road transport'
To achieve our goal on the lake three key elements will be required
LAKE TANGANYIKA SHIPPING COMPANY
LAKE TANGANYIKA SHIP BUILDING
MPULUNGU DRY PORT & AGRI-HUB
LTSC will own and operate initially cargo vessels on the lake. It is planned that the company will develop RoRo vessels and passenger ferries in late phases.
LTSB will be created in order to build the vessels for LTSC. The ship building company will be spun off as a separate independent business once LTSC has its fleet of vessels. LTSB will be the only active shipyard on the lake on the sixth largest lake in the world. (32,600 sq Kms).
The dry port and agri-hub will be created to serve the existing Mpulungu port and the LTSC operation. It is envisaged that apart from providing warehouse facilities, the dry port will be a hub for consolidating produce and material into shipping containers.
Lake Tanganyika is a natural 670km long Super-Highway
LTSC will give a guarantee of delivery, unlike logistics via road.
Four countries border Lake Tanganyika – Tanzania, Burundi, DR Congo and Zambia. The total population of these countries is currently over 184 million.
Whilst there have been number of detailed studies carried out on improving the situation, all of the options depend on all of the ports being upgraded simultaneously in each country bordering the lake. Regrettably this level of co-ordinated simultaneous investment is very unlikely to come to fruition. Currently the lake is served by a small number of bulk and multi-purpose vessels most of which are old.
‘Containerisation… has done more for trade than every international trade agreement in the past 50 years put together.’
The barrier to shipping containers on the lake is the inconsistency of port development in each of the four countries that surround it. Meritus has a solution – the feeder barge. The feeder barge will have a low draft and use its own heavy-duty container crane. In effect it acts as a mobile floating port which removes any reliance on the operational condition of port equipment. Provided a port has a small wharf and 3 metres of draft (which we understand they all have), our feeder barge can transport up to 162 TEU containers. In addition, the feeder barge can make trans-shipments to other barges anywhere in the lake, without needing to dock, thus providing a huge level of flexibility.
The feeder barge is effectively a self-contained mobile port
By using containers, all types of goods from cement and clinker to fuel, frozen food, vehicles and mining equipment can be safely and securely transported. A container vessel carries more freight with more versatility than any other vessel. The service will generate more jobs than it displaces – more employees will be required load and unload containers in the port areas than currently load vessels, now in unsafe conditions. The feeder barge can trans-ship anywhere in the lake without the need for a port.
Kipushi Dry Port
According to the Zambian Ministry of Finance, over 650 trucks per day make the crossing. Today, the main route into SE DR Congo is through the Zambian border at Kasumbalesa. Hundreds more congregate in open areas and sell their wares direct from the vehicle – including major players such as Lafarge. Others use the mainly dilapidated warehousing to offload. These goods are then ferried across the border by the thousands of informal Congolese traders who congregate there. With traffic jams exceeding 20km, it is a bottleneck of dire proportions.
Meritus has obtained the largest plot, Mushindamo, immediately adjacent to the border and will use the plot to create a modern dry port to allow the rapid loading and unloading of trucks, allowing trade to be conducted at a modern speed and in a safe and dry environment.
Phase 1 Development
LTSC Lake Tanganiyka Shipping Company and LTSB Lake Tanganiyka Ship Building.
Feeder barge, LTSC Container yard, LTSB Fabrication yard & Phase One of Dry Port.
Phase 2 Development
Mpulungu Dry Port and agri-hub.
The dry port will a centre for consolidating and distributing shipments. Bulk shipments will be containerized in the dry port.
Transportation and Logistics
Investment in one of the few logistics companies which recognises that fewer road miles can mean better business.
In 2020, 66% of the worlds production of cobalt came from the DRC ‘CRU Group 2020’
Working together to partner with a rail operator, which would lower transit costs from Dar es Salaam into Zambia. Its innovative trailer design means that empty loads – which waste fuel and increase prices – will be almost halved. Further, by investing in an operating company, investors can expect to see early returns.
