Dili Sea Port

The Dili seaport is a port in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor. The sea port is located in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste. The port sits in the Banda Sea. The site was chosen because of a reef along the perimeter, which provides natural protection. Protection of this kind is crucial for seaports located in South East Asia during monsoon season.
Capacity.
The seaport is relatively small, with a maximum capacity of three vessels, as the port spans 280 meters. Two roll-on/roll-off ramps exist in the seaport- one on the east end and the other on the west end. The small size of the seaport limits maritime traffic. Container storage is limited to only 1,000 containers. The main method for loading and unloading containers is cranes operated by private companies. Plans to increase the capacity for shipping containers have been created and as of January 2014, construction was underway to add storage 9 kilometers away.
Concerns.
Concerns have been raised by the government about the port's capacity and maintenance. Maintenance, management manuals, and routine port checks are nonexistent. Staff size, experience and budget are not sufficient. Accident records are not available. The government pushed the port to establish a record of incidents.
Government officials, especially former prime minister Dr. Mari Alkatiri, are concerned with how sea level rise (SLR) will affect the port. Another concern is that SLR causes flooding to a great portion of the island. Studies are attempting to establish effects on the port, but information and data are lacking.
Operations.
Entrance to the port for vessels is restricted to 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The wharves, port gates, and empty containers are operational 24 hours a day.
Theoretically, the sea port has the capacity to import and export 120,000 TEU/Year, but maintenance needs must be addressed first. The last records taken in 2012 have 258,782 containers passing in or out.
The government has begun to focus on the improvements and plans to expand to 282,816/day containers.
The Dili port experiences delays of up to 10 days for commercial container ships.
Planned improvements.
To solve the problems of congestion, the government plans to
Progress.
In June 2016, the government signed an agreement with the Bolloré Group, to rebuild the port. The deal consists of a 30-year contract worth $490 million, the largest investment in Timor-Leste in history. Plans include constructing a new port in Tibar Bay that is capable of processing 350,000 TEUs yearly. Details include a 630-meter wharf, 15-meter draft and a 29-hectare container yard.
Timor-Leste also contracted with China Harbour Engineering Company to construct the Dili port. This contract marked the first Public Private Partnership (PPP) Arrangementfor the government.
Construction of the seaport started on June 14, 2017, and is set to be completed by the end of 2020. Once completed, the Dili sea port is projected to make the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste a position of relatively high income by 2030.