NIVELLES, BELGIUM — VIGAN recently announced that it has been awarded a second turnkey project in Djibouti for a new grain and fertilizer terminal in Doraleh Port.

The company said this project for the Port of Doraleh is a direct consequence of the operations of the SDTV terminal in Djibouti, entirely built by VIGAN in 2008. The SDTV terminal has been successfully unloading above 2 million tonnes per year of grain and fertilizer since commissioning in 2009.


The Port of Djibouti is located at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, at the intersection of major international shipping lines connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. The Port is a minimal deviation from the principal East-West trade route and provides a secure regional hub for transshipment and relay of goods. Since 1998, the port handled 100% of Ethiopia’s maritime traffic, which moves to and from Addis Ababa by truck and rail. To accommodate this important business, the port has made many additional dry yard areas available and is creating the Port of Doraleh, 20km outside of Djibouti city.

Port De Djibouti S.A. (PDSA) is building the new multi-purpose port of Doraleh to improve and replace the current business development of the existing Djibouti port.

The Chinese CSCEC-CCECC Consortium is the main contractor for the building of the quay and the entire terminal. The whole design and manufacturing of the new multi-purpose unloading equipment and warehouses have been subcontracted to VIGAN, while civil works will be completed by CSCEC-CCECC.

The new terminal will allow to discharge, handle, store and bag grain and fertilizer for a total of about 2 million tonnes per year, and will handle vessels from 30,000 tonnes up to 100,000 deadweight tonnage. Two separate installations for grain and fertilizer will be built to prevent cross contamination.

For the unloading of grain and fertilizer, VIGAN will manufacture and commission:
• 1 pneumatic ship unloader NIV600 with unloading capacity of 600 tph/500kW, mounted on rails
• Set of belt and chain conveyor systems;
• 1 hopper on wheels with 3 bagging lines of 60 tph and truck loading;
• 14 lines of 60 tph bagging systems
• 2 flat warehouses totaling 85,000 tonnes (grain terminal) and 2 flat warehouses totaling 145,000 tonnes (fertilizer terminal)
• 2 bulk truck loading stations
• 2 bulk receiving hoppers

Project completion is scheduled by end of 2017.