Financed by the Islamic Development Bank under a USD 16.8 million loan, the fishing port will be completed in a 20 month period by 2014
TIRANA, March 6 – The Durres fishing port, a project initiated back 2002, is finally on track for construction after year-long debates and legal battles between government and Durres Municipality over its new site next to the Durres Port, strongly opposed by the local authorities on environmental grounds. Durres Port authorities say construction works for the new fishing port will kick off next April as soon as the Environment and Water Administration Ministry signs the contract with Austrian company Staberg which has won an international tender to build the port. Financed by the Islamic Development Bank under a USD 16.8 million loan, the fishing port will be completed in a 20 month period by 2014.
“The real and biggest revenues will not come from fishing itself, but from the transfer of around 150 fishing boats and the freeing of the quay occupied by them in around 270 metres toward the ferry terminal in the Durres Port,” the Port Authority says in a statement.
The Durres Municipality and its left-wing Mayor Vangjush Dako has strongly opposed government plans to build the new fishing port next to the main port citing environment pollution and damage to the seaside promenade.
The construction and completion of the fishing port facilities consists of a site access road, breakwaters, quays, land reclamation and on shore works including port buildings and utilities.
Already the major transportation hub for Albanian exports, the country’s biggest Durres Port is having its eastern quay reconstructed, which along with passenger terminal in its final stage and the expected deepening of the port’s access channel will allow handling huge-capacity cargo ships, also benefitting Kosovo and neighbouring Macedonia which is mulling over using Durres Port after blockade problems with Greece.
During a recent visit to Durres port, Transport Minister Sokol Olldashi said the new 16,000 m2 quay, a Euro 8 million investment by the Port Authority, is expected to finish by next June.
“Within this season we will complete the reconstruction of quay no. 10 and the passenger terminal. Meanwhile, works for the deepening of the port’s access channel will start soon, enabling the entry of cargo ships with a capacity of 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes,” said Olldashi.
Current reconstruction works in Durres Port, worth Euro 28 million, are being financially supported by the privatization of some port services and the container terminal concession.
Latest data published by the Durres Port Authority show the port suffered a slowdown for 2011 in its two key sectors, the handling of goods and passengers. Data show the port situated in the country’s second largest city handled 3.5 million tonnes of goods and 854,000 passengers in 2011 registering a mere 2 percent growth for each of them.
The Port of Durres is by far the largest commercial port in Albania, transporting on average around 80 per cent of the country’s international ship-borne traffic. The port is currently involved in four main activities, ferry operations, cargo operations, container operations and oil storage operations. Durres Port, owned by the Albanian government, is a core part of the regional transport network in Southeast Europe, and an important centre for international trade and travel.
