Port of Doraleh


The Port of Doraleh is an extension of the Port of Djibouti, located 5 km west of Djibouti City. The multipurpose port has terminals for handling oil, bulk cargo, and containers. It was partially owned and operated by DP World and China Merchants Holdings, until its container facility was seized by the government of Djibouti in February 2018. There is a Chinese naval base under construction directly adjacent to the port.

Operations

The Doraleh Multipurpose Port has a total of 15 berths over a 4 km long quay. One of the berths is reserved for the use of the Chinese Navy, which has a base on the western edge of the port. All of the terminals have direct access to the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway, which provides landlocked Ethiopia with railroad access to the sea.

Container terminal

In 2016, 914,300 containers passed through the port of Doraleh. On April 17, 2012, the Doraleh container terminal became the second port in Africa to have equipment to detect nuclear and radioactive materials after the one in Mombasa. Funded by the US government for an amount estimated between 8 and 10 million dollars, the sophisticated equipment is designed for better control of containers. Each container passes through a portal that analyzes the contents without having to open it. If the portal detects a suspicious product, the container will be searched manually.

Oil terminal

The oil complex is characterized by the ability to accommodate vessels with a draft of 20 metres. It has a storage capacity of 370,000 m³. It is managed by the company Horizon Djibouti Terminal Limited, which is positioned as a major economic player in Djibouti. It wants to create a local supply centre for regional and international hydrocarbons. Djibouti, at the southern outlet of the Red Sea, is located on a wide shipping lane for oil. It also offers access to the markets of other countries in the Horn of Africa.