Mrs Esther Gyebi-Donkor, General Manager, Corporate Marketing and Public Affairs at the GPHA, disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency in Tema.

Mrs Gyebi-Donkor stated that the Ports documented 1,521 vessel calls in 2016 as against the 2015 vessel call of 1,514 representing a marginal growth of 0.46 per cent.

She said the Ports handled 13,414,784 metric tonnes of cargo in 2016 compared to the 12,145,496 metric tonnes recorded in 2015, this she said represented a growth of 10.45 per cent adding that imports grew by 8.43 per cent while exports leaped by 25.32 per cent during the period.

Total transit traffic handled in the Port in 2016 was 862,377 metric tonnes as against the 722,508 metric tonnes handled in 2015 representing a growth of 19.36 per cent. She added that 903,277 Two Twenty-Foot (TEUs) container traffic was handled by the Port in 2016 showing a 13.70 per cent growth rate over the 2015’s 794,452 TEUs handled.

Mrs Gyebi-Adjei indicated that the Golden Jubilee Terminal delivered 96,108 TEUS which was a substantial increase of 35 per cent over the 2015 figure of 71,362 TEUs The reefer container terminal in 2016, saw 24,894 TEUs delivered, showing 132 per cent increase over the 10,702 TEUs delivered in 2015.

She added that transit terminal also delivered a total of 44,125 TEUs in 2016 representing a 59 per cent positive variance compared to the 2015 deliveries of 27,810 TEUs. She stated that stevedoring services at the Port were being provided by GPHA and 10 private stevedoring companies adding, her outfit controls 25 per cent, while the private companies operated pre-determined quota of 75 per cent

She explained that this formed part of GPHA’s Hybrid Port Management System which allowed for increased private participation with expanded role of private sector management and operations of the Port.