At the end of 2018, what is your assessment of the major equipment maintenance programme conducted by PAK on both terminals?

The assessment is generally satisfactory, for, to date, equipment on both terminals are operated at their best capacity. You surely remember that during a previous interview, I stated that for the rehabilitation of port facilities, PAK was assisted by equipment manufacturers who are world leaders in their domains. The equipment has been practically refurbished, which means that the Technical Department is not surprised on the good performance of Terminals.

What is the current availability rate of this equipment, its functioning, especially on the Multipurpose Terminal where KPMO has long complained about the delays in gantries availability?

Three indicators generally account for the performance of a production system: availability (rate), use (rate) and reliability. Current availability and use rates of equipment on terminals are in line with the targets defined in the various agreements, that is 90% for availability and 80% for use. Reliability which is not a contractual indicator here, is in simple terms, the time of correct operation between two failures. We set an ambitious target, that is 400 hours taking into consideration that a month general has 720 hours and we are working towards achieving this target. The availability of an equipment does not solely depend on the technical aspects, but on the operational as well. The reasons of this slight delay of the equipment of the Multipurpose Terminal were both technical (PAK) and operational (KPMO). Fortunately, we worked together on this and today we appreciate the good performance of the terminal.

What about the project on water supply to ships?

I would rather talk of the independent production and supply system of the Port of Kribi, as water supply to ships is a goal, an output of the system. The Port water production and supply system is made up of 4 water boreholes, a treatment station and a supply network ending up on the various quays.  So, ship bunkering is possible through hoses. The system has a production capacity of approximately 600 cubic metres of drinking water per day. To date, the Port has supplied more than 10 000 cubic metres of water to ships.

What about electricity and the interconnection to the ENEO grid?

The Port has been connected to the public power grid since 2017.  This is a 30-kilovolt bi-lateral line connecting KPDC’s gas-fired power station to Mboro. In addition to this line, the Port has a 7.8-megawatt backup system which takes over in the event of a breakdown in the public grid. At the Technical Department, we are rather satisfied with the interconnection to the public grid.

Finally, tell us about the beaconing programme of the access channel to water bodies…

The beaconing of the access channel of the turning basin is the first phase of a major beaconing programme of the Port of Kribi’s maritime perimeter. the beaconing system is made up of 7 beacons including a landing buoy marking the anchoring area, a piloting buoy marking the area where the port pilot boards a vessel, and finally 5 buoys marking the access channel.