The Port of Beira lies on the northern shores of the Mozambique Channel off the Indian Ocean at the mouth of the Pungoe River in Sofala Province. Centrally located on Mozambique’s eastern shores, the Port of Beira is an important trade and transportation center for Central African products and coastal goods. Railways from Zimbabwe, Congo, Zambia, and Malawi end in the Port of Beira, and it serves as the main port for those inland nations.

The second biggest city in Mozambique, the Port of Beira exports products like tobacco, foods, ores, cotton, and skins and hides. It imports fertilizers, wheat, fuels, textiles, heavy equipment, and beverages. The fishing harbor, built in the early 1980s, contains processing plants, canneries, and chilled storage. In 1997, over 412 thousand people lived in the Port of Beira, and it was home to 546 thousand by 2006.

The Port of Beira was created by the Portuguese in 1890 on the site of a former Muslim settlement. Paive de Andrade, a Portuguese explorer, identified the site as a possible port, and the Portuguese moved quickly to gain an advantage over the British in dominating East Africa (who were settling Rhodesia).

De Andrade’s report led to a survey of the river and, in 1887, the construction of a Portuguese military post that was the base for the future settlement. Portuguese families settled the new town, and they built a railway to Rhodesia which further stimulated growth of both the settlement and the port.

By 1889, the channel entrance was marked by buoys. In 1895, construction began on port facilities, including a wooden pier that served the coming railroad. The railway arrived in 1898, quickly becoming a gateway for Rhodesia and Nyasaland (now Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi).

Called Chiveve at first, it was renamed for the 1907 visit of Portuguese prince Dom Luis Filipe, Prince of Beira, who was the first royal to visit the country. In that year, the Portuguese recognized the Port of Beira as a city.

Administered by the Portuguese Companhia do Macambique from 1891, the Portuguese government took over the city in 1942. Construction of the deep-water berths and better anchorage began in the 1920s under the control of the Companhia do Porto de Beira. As a Portuguese city, the Port of Beira was well-known for its outstanding port. It was a major East African facility that was a leader in trade, fishing, and tourism. A thriving cosmopolitan port with a diverse ethnic mix of indigenous Africans, Portuguese, Indians, and Chinese), it gained a large English-speaking subpopulation when white Rhodesians began to favor it for holiday vacations.

In 1949, the Macambique Ports & Railways Company (CFM), a public company, took administrative control of the Port of Beira. In 1998, CFM entered into a joint partnership with Rotterdam-based Cornelder Holdings for management of the Port of Beira container and general cargo terminals. The new company, Cornelder de Mocambique (CdM) is today an important partner in the region’s economic development. They have further entered a joint venture with GMS Freight out of Zimbabwe to develop an inland container terminal and dry port facilities. In the 1960s, the Port of Beira was linked with Zimbabwe by pipeline.

By the beginning of the 1970s, almost 114 thousand people lived in the Port of Beira. After independence in 1975, many ethnic Portuguese left the Port of Beira. From 1977 until the early 1990s, the country was torn by a civil war that led to almost complete chaos. Plagued by famine, poverty, and disease, the country collapsed. The Port of Beira’s famous Grande Hotel was taken over by about a thousand homeless people, and by the time the war ended, it was in ruins.

The Mozambique flood of 2000 devastated the Port of Beira region, and millions were left homeless. The local economy was in a shambles. While the Port of Beira has great potential as a tourist destination, it is hard put to invest in the industry.

The Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Mocambique, E.P. is the port authority for the Port of Beira. The Port of Beira is accessed through the Macuti Channel of about 11 meters depth which is normally open 24 hours a day, with some limits on nighttime navigation. Vessels must anchor at the bar to await assistance into port, as the River creates many constantly-changing banks and shoals.

In 2004, 208 ocean-going and 80 coastal vessels called at the Port of Beira carrying 826.7 thousand tons of containerized cargo. The Port of Beira’s container terminal handled 46.8 thousand TEUs containing 240.3 thousand tons of imports, 240.7 thousand tons of exports, and 48.5 thousand tons of coastal traffic. The Port of Beira also handled 837.7 thousand tons of general cargo, including 345.7 thousand tons of imports, 486.0 thousand tons of exports, and six thousand tons of coastal cargo.

The Port of Beira contains a total of 1994 meters of wharf that has 11 berths. Berth 1 is reserved for the fishing harbor. The Port of Beira’s Container and Multi-Purpose Terminal includes a 645-meter long berth with alongside depth of 12 meters serviced by two 36-meter gantry cranes. The terminal also contains two covered sheds that of a total 11 thousand square meters, and it has capacity to handle 100 thousand TEUs of containerized cargo per year. The Port of Beira’s container storage and stacking facilities include a 200 thousand square meter lighted container yard with 144 reefer points that can accommodate 3117 TEUs and some IMDG dangerous goods. The facilities include a fully-secured transit warehouse of 8.4 thousand square meters for stuffing and stripping containers. They also include 3.7 thousand square meters of covered storage areas and a dedicated storage area for granite.

The Port of Beira’s General Cargo Terminal has a 670-meter wharf with four berthing positions with alongside depth of 10 meters and capacity to handle 2.3 million metric tons of cargo per year. General cargo storage facilities include five warehouses covering a total of 15 thousand square meters and 12 thousand square meters of open paved area for ferro chrome, steel, granite, and other breakbulk cargo. There is an additional 175 thousand square meters of storage extension area available.

Berth 6 at the General Cargo Terminal specializes in refrigerated cargoes that include exports of citrus, vegetables, and other fresh goods. Berth 8 contains the coal terminal, and the oil terminal is located at berths 11 and the new upstream berth 12. Berth 12 can accommodate vessels to 60 thousand DWT with 12 meters draft.

The Port of Beira also has a dry dock for vessels up to 110 meters long, and it supports a ferry service that carries passengers between small harbors along the coast.

The Port of Beira is not a well-known tourist destination, but it does contain a few places that visitors will want to check out. Savanna Beach is about 25 kilometers away from the city, but it has beautiful clean water, good fishing, and a nice restaurant.

The Gorongosa National Park in Sofala Province, about 125 kilometers northwest of the Port of Beira, is a wonderful place for wildlife lovers and birdwatchers, and it offers good accommodations and food. Visitors will see elephants, lions, buffalos, and many species of antelopes. Less common are zebra, eland, and hartebeest. The Park contains Lake Urema where healthy hippos and crocodiles compete for the water. Over 400 species of birds have been seen in the park recently, and many are rare.