Sierra Leone: Freetown Terminal Ready for Giants

Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, and Cyrille Bolloré, CEO of Bolloré Transport & Logistics, attended the official ceremony celebrating the end of the extension work on Freetown Terminal (concession of Bolloré Ports) on November 23.

“Since Bolloré Ports won the international tender launched by the Sierra Leonean authorities in March 2011, every effort has been made to bring Freetown Terminal up to the highest international standards,” according to an official announcement.

As a first step, the existing yards were refurbished, and modern equipment purchased, which made possible to handle a traffic increase of over 30%.

In October 2016, major extension work started, and they were completed on time.

This EUR 47 million expansion contract was awarded to a consortium led by the Belgian dredging, environmental and marine engineering group DEME, the French construction group Eiffage and Eiffage’s subsidiary RMT Clemessy.

DEME’s part of the contract included the soil improvement, reclamation and compaction works, as well as the deepening of the existing and future container berths.

After two years of construction, the extended Freetown Terminal started its activities in September 2018. With its additional 270-m-long quay with a water depth of 13m, the extended terminal can now accommodate ships of 6.000 TEUs.