The Doraleh Terminal

Today, the Djibouti Container Terminal has two 400-meter berths and four quay cranes, and is capable of serving Panamax class ships. By yearend 2008, a new facility called the Dorelah Container Terminal is scheduled to open 11 kilometers from the existing Djibouti Container Terminal. The new facility will be four times larger than the existing facility. With a 1,000-meter berth, six quay cranes, and a water depth of 18 meters, the new Doraleh Container Terminal will be capable of handling post- Panamax vessels.

The Djibouti government plans a three-phase implementation of the Doraleh Container Terminal. In the first phase, it will handle 1.5 million TEUs annually. During the second and third phases, annual throughput will increase to two million and three million TEUs, respectively. A larger revenue base, resulting from the increased traffic, is likely to enable the terminal to charge lower handling fees on both local and transit boxes.

Improvements at the Doraleh Container Terminal are designed to make Djibouti one of the most modern ports on the east coast of Africa, allowing it to further develop its natural and historical role as the trade hub of the region