The Office of Merchant Navy and Ports is the port authority for the Port of Bizerte. The Port of Bizerte plays an important role in the social, economic, and cultural life of the city of Bizerte due to its strategic position on the Gibraltar-Suez trade route, its proximity to ports in Southern Europe, and its convenience for the many new industrial estates in the region.
In 2008, the Port of Bizerte handled 5.3 million tons of cargo and welcomed 558 vessels. Of the total cargo volume, 4.7 million was international traffic and 623 thousand was domestic.
In addition to cargo-handling facilities, the Port of Bizerte contains a shipyard with four dry docks. Located on Lake Bizerte, the shipyards cover 50 hectares, including 50 thousand square meters of covered structures. The Port of Bizerte also contains a business park (formerly a free zone) that has two sites, one in Bizerte and another in Menzel Bourguiba. The business park plays the role of a multi-sector distribution center.
The multi-purpose Port of Bizerte has direct access to the Mediterranean Sea through a 17-meter deep channel. The Port of Bizerte has easy access to the nation's rail and road networks, and it is only 60 kilometers from the Tunis-Carthage airport.
The Port of Bizerte covers 74 hectares of land area and 161 hectares of water surface. The average depth of the Port of Bizerte is 10 meters. The channel to the commercial docks is 75 meters wide with a draft of 13 meters.
The Port of Bizerte contains a total of 1.6 meters of quays. It has 520 meters of conventional docks with alongside depths from 9.3 to 9.8 meters. It has another five docks that specialize in handling hydrocarbons, steel, metallurgical products, cement and clinker, and cereals. The oil dock has two berths, one that is 250 meters long with alongside depth of 10.67 meters and another that is 150 meters long with alongside depth of 8.25 meters. The cereals dock, which includes a modern silo, is 200 meters long with alongside depth of 9.75 meters. The Tunis Acier steel dock is 120 meters long with alongside depth of 9 meters. The cement dock is 180 meters long with alongside depth of 10.5 meters with an extension that is 120 meters long with alongside depth of 5.5 meters. The OXY dock is 16 meters long with alongside depth of 6.2 meters.
The Port of Bizerte contains 22 thousand square meters of open-air paved storage areas. It also has five warehouses that support port operations with a total of over two thousand square meters. Additional warehouses covering a total of 6.5 thousand square meters are located at the docks.
Port of Bizerte facilities located at Menzel Bourguiba include the North Dock (220 meters long with alongside depth of 5 meters), the Honour Dock (100 meters long with alongside depth of 5.5 meters), and the South Dock (150 meters long with alongside depth of 9.5 meters).
To be completed by 2020, the master plan for the Port of Bizerte contains several ambitious projects. The Port of Bizerte will create a dock dedicated to cruise passengers. It will add another one thousand square meters of covered surfaces for cargo-handling. The Port of Bizerte will build an oil post, add a specialized post for the "El Fouledh" company (by 2015), and add a specialized dock of 200 meters with alongside depth of 12 meters for the free zone.
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