Nile Cargo, a portfolio company of Nile Logistics, Citadel Capital's (CCAP.CA) platform in the logistics, river transport and port management sector, has announced the completion of its first anchorage operation with purpose built floating cranes in the Port of Alexandria. With a daily handling capacity of 15,000 tons and a combined annual handling capacity in excess of 3 million tons, Nile Cargo's EGP 47 million floating cranes provide a significant increase in the Port of Alexandria's cargo handling capacity with minimal capital expenditure by the Port Authority. “We are very excited to have begun our first anchorage operation in the port of Alexandria. The use of floating cranes to discharge cargo from large ships is not only cost efficient for the Port Authority, it also significantly reduces delays to customers because ships no longer need to wait for an available berth in order to unload cargo, said Gen. Maged Farag, Chairman of the National Company for Multimodal Transport (NMT). NMT is a Nile Logistics holding company for Nile Cargo and National River Port Management Company (NRPMC), in addition to its other investments in transportation, storage and stevedoring services. The two specialized floating cranes were engineered and built in Europe to international quality and performance standards. The cranes, which sit on floating pontoons, are 38 x18 meters wide and 40 meters tall. With interchangeable parts and the ability to reach 30 meters across a ship, the cranes can efficiently discharge a wide variety of cargo including grains, scrap and bulk from large sized vessels. The first cargo to be discharged by the floating cranes was 16,500 tons of corn at the Port of Alexandria. The cargo was discharged into Nile Cargo's barges and then transported and stored in Nile Cargo's recently opened Nouberaya terminal and storage facility, which lies 2 kilometers up the Nouberaya canal from the Port of Alexandria. From there, the corn is to be transported to Cairo and Assiut on one of Nile Cargo's custom-designed, environmentally friendly and self-propelled river barges. “By rolling out additional value added services such as these we are moving one step closer to providing door-to-door services for industrial and agricultural producers and traders in Egypt and the region," said Farag. Nile Cargo recently announced that it has taken delivery of 4 new dumb barges and 2 pushers bringing its fleet of custom-designed, fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly river barges up to 45 vessels. Citadel Capital is the leading investment company Africa and the Middle East. The company founded Nile Logistics in 2006 to capitalize on opportunities in the logistics, river transport and port management sector. The four companies under Nile Logistics are: Nile Cargo, National River Ports Management Company (NRPMC), Keer Marine and Ostool Trucking Company. Transportation and logistics is one of Citadel Capital's five core industries of focus alongside Energy, agriculture and consumer foods, mining and cement manufacturing and construction.
