The Port of Leixoes will receive €510m investment (US$630m) to increase capacity and create a new terminal able to receive bigger ships.
Portugal’s Minister for the Sea, Ana Paula Vitorino, said 60% of the investment would be financed by the private sector, according to Xinhua.
Ms Vitorino said: “The aim is to not only increase the capacity and efficiency of the existing port terminal, but create a new terminal with the capacity to receive bigger ships,” reported Xinhua.
She commented: “The Leixoes Terminal is one of the top ports in the national system and is rightly, therefore, one of the ports where we make the biggest investment.”
In addition to building a new terminal at the port outside Porto, Portugal, there are plans to extend the breakwater and deepen the access channel and turning basin.
Some of these projects are already underway and due to be finished by 2021. Others are at the engineering study stage or awaiting environmental impact assessments. The whole project should be completed by 2026, reported Xinhua.
According to figures released by the Mobility and Transport Authority (AMT), the Port of Leixoes handled 19.47m tonnes of cargo in 2017.
