Port Of Cotonou News

The Bulgarian captain of a Portuguese-flagged cargo ship who was kidnapped along with seven other sailors by pirates off the coast of Benin last month, has been freed, Bulgaria’s foreign ministry said on Monday.The captain of the container ship Tommi Ritscher, which was attacked at the port of Cotonou in the Gulf of Guinea on April 19, was already in an European country and would soon return to Bulgaria, the ministry said in a statement.The ministry said it has been in close coordination with the ship’s owners but did not give other details. It’s unclear what whether the other seven sailors have been released.

Pirates attacked a Portugal-flagged ship and kidnapped its Bulgarian captain and seven sailors off the coast of Benin, Bulgaria's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.A ministry statement said the pirates who boarded the Tommi Ritscher container ship at the port of Cotonou in the Gulf of Guinea on Sunday had released 11 other members of the crew.It said it has requested more details from Benin's foreign ministry but no information had been received so far.A representative of the Russian Embassy in Benin and Togo was quoted as saying by TASS news agency that three Russian citizens were among the hostages seized.This is the latest incident of piracy off the coast of Benin.

The ports of Antwerp and Douala in Cameroon are to collaborate closely with each other over the next five years. The collaboration agreement was signed on Wednesday this week during an extensive visit by Antwerp port representatives to the port of Douala in Cameroon. Douala port authority  is counting on the Antwerp know-how in order to boost the efficiency of its port operations, among other things. For Antwerp the agreement represents a way to maintain and further strengthen its position as market leader in West and Central Africa. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Cyrus Ngo’o, CEO of the Port Autonome de Douala,and by Marc Van Peel and Kristof Waterschoot…

Port of Antwerp International (PAI), the consultancy and investment subsidiary of Antwerp Port Authority, has been appointed by the Council of Ministers of the West African country of Benin to modernise the port of Cotonou. This port is the economic heart of Benin, handling an annual freight volume of around 12 million tonnes. In the longer term, the port authority wants the port to grow further, but both the infrastructure and the organization are outdated. The government therefore decided to temporarily outsource the management of the port. “We are delighted that the Benin government has opted for the expertise and knowhow of Antwerp,” says port alderman Marc Van Peel, who is also chairman of PAI.

APM Terminals Cotonou, operating as Coman SA at Benin’s primary port, adds two new cranes, the largest mobile cranes in the Benin port. Cotonou, Benin- Coman SA, operated by APM Terminals Cotonou in Benin’s primary port, has commissioned two new Mobile Harbor Cranes (MHC) at a ceremony presided over by the Benin Minister of Transport, Hervé Hehomey. The new cranes will bring the terminal’s operating total to five, after the decommissioning of an older crane. The cranes have a lifting capacity of 144 tons, making them the largest in the port area. Coman SA Managing Director Koen De Backker said “These new cranes reflect our ongoing investment in improving Benin’s port infrastructure, productivity and competitiveness for our customers.

Terex Port Solutions (TPS) delivered ten Terex TFC 45 H reach stackers to Benin. The machines were put into operation in March 2016 by Société Béninoise des Manutentions Portuaires (SOBEMAP). With the robust reach stackers, the state-owned port operator will further accelerate its container handling in the West African country’s most important economic center, Cotonou. SOBEMAP, who ordered the reach stackers via the TPS distributor SOLOMAT based in Marseille, France, is responsible for all handling operations in the Port of Cotonou. The customer already operated eight TFC 45 H reach stackers, four of their own and four rented, which they acquired between 2006 and 2008.

Russia’s embassy in Nigeria confirmed on Thursday that the Greek-owned oil tanker Leon Dias has been hijacked in the Gulf of Guinea, reports TASS. There are reports that the oil tanker hijacked by suspected militants from the Niger Delta has been freed and is now located some 7.5 nautical miles near the Cotonou Port in Benin. The merchant ship, MT LEON DIAS that was allegedly hijacked by gunmen is current off the Coast of Cotonou in the Benin Republic. Nigerian military sources disclosed that the ship which is a chemical/oil tanker is currently under the custody of the Beninois Navy. "The name of the ship is MT LEON DIAS. An oil tanker…

Port Authorities have informed that the completion of heavy works for the enlargement of breakwaters at the port of Cotonou is scheduled for end of July. - Overview: Vessels complying with mentioned particulars berthing or sailing subjected to favorable weather conditions. Minimum 1 bow thruster in good working condition required. - Overview: Vessels complying with mentioned particulars berthing or sailing subjected to favorable weather conditions. Minimum 1 bow thruster in good working condition required. - Overview: Berthing and sailing always subjected to good weather conditions. - Overview: Berthing and sailing always subjected to good weather conditions. - Overview: Vessels complying with mentioned particulars berthing or sailing subjected to favorable weather conditions.

The International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC) has issued the following general advice related to the outbreak of Ebola. Vessels that have recently called in an affected country should contact their local agents prior to arrival at the next ports of call for the latest country specific advice regarding measures taken to avoid the spread of Ebola. ARGENTINA: Pilot companies rendering pilotage services in the River Plate have decided that their pilots will not board any vessel coming from the infected areas (Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone) until thirty days since the vessel sailed from last port of the infected areas. BENIN (Port of Cotonou): Vessels must notify the harbour master of the 10 previous ports of call 3 days before ETA.

Collateral hardship from the Ebola epidemic now includes a delay for Mercy Ships, which operates the world’s largest civilian hospital ship in ports on the West Coast of Africa. Already with one canceled deployment to Guinea, where Ebola first broke out last December, the Mercy Ship now waits in the water with crew and staff, pending an end-of-August decision on field service in Benin. The Mercy Ship was due to sail for the port of Cotonou, Benin, for its 10-month field service…

The late Nelson Mandela once said: “I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.” At the EU-Africa summit in Brussels last month, European leaders urged their African counterparts to facilitate that dream by shouldering more of the security burden in their countries, both onshore and offshore. The summit coincided with reports of renewed piracy activity in the Gulf of Aden; ongoing attacks on shipping in the Gulf of Guinea, and explosions and mass arrests in Kenya, all serving to underline the scale of that challenge.

Gulf of Guinea counter-piracy accord adds international ballast to company rebranding. AdvanFort International, Inc., a leading U.S. maritime security firm, has announced that the Government of the Republic of Benin has granted it permission—the first given by a West Africa government—to conduct counter-piracy operations for both domestic and foreign-flagged commercial vessels throughout Benin's waters. “It is with great pleasure that I can confirm that President Dr. Thomas Boni…

Police, aid workers and government officials gathered in Benin's port of Cotonou on Tuesday to await a ship suspected to be carrying scores of child slaves. The Nigerian-registered MV Eterino has been at the center of a frantic international search since Benin alerted the world last week that it was carrying a suspected 180 children, sold by poor families to work for nothing in oil-rich Gabon. "I am relieved that the boat is coming after four days," Benin's social protection minister said. The cargo vessel sailed from Cotonou on March 30 bound for Libreville in Gabon, but it was turned back there and later from Cameroon's port of Douala last Thursday. UNICEF, the U.N.