PNG Ports completes first stage of foreshore project

PNG Ports Corporation Limited has completed the first stage of the Alotau port foreshore protection project.
PNG Ports chief executive officer Neil Papenfus said a similar project was also being carried out at the Wewak Port, due for completion next month.
He said both projects, costing K780,000 and K1.2 million respectively, were part of PNG Ports’ nation-wide port foreshore protection programme to cost K10 million.
Papenfus said the programme was essential to prevent loss of land at the shorefront, damage to existing port infrastructure and potential stand-down time of port operations.
“Alotau has completed the first stage of the project and is the first of the 10 port foreshore projects to be carried out,” he said.
“This K10 million investment aligns with the company’s infrastructure redevelopment drive to build safe and sustainable infrastructure, factoring climate change and seismic resilience in the design of all port infrastructural upgrades.”
“Kimbe, Lorengau, and Motukea ports are in the design stages, with Rabaul, Kavieng, Vanimo, Madang and Buka to follow. The port foreshore protection programme should be completed by 2026. Foreshore protection provides a barrier for our port infrastructure which are directly exposed to risks stemming from rising sea levels and intensified storm surges associated with climate change,” he said.
PNG Ports continues to implement multiple capital expenditure investment projects each year, guided by the 30 Year Port Infrastructure Master Plan.
The Master Plan, launched three years ago, highlights the need for PNG Ports’ long-serving infrastructure and port assets to undergo ‘priority repair and modernisation’, in order to meet current and future operating requirements.
This detailed Master Plan also attracted funding from the European Union and the Australian Government through the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific.