The Mauritius Ports Authority (MPA), the state agency responsible for port administration and development, is fully aware of the challenges and the opportunities and has to live up to the aspirations of an entire country, the expectations of a whole region, the needs of the neighbouring African continent which is opening its arms. The avenues are multiple but the port of Mauritius, endowed with undeniable natural assets and with its inestimable experience, can rely on its rich and glorious past to project a bright future.

Strategically situated on the world major shipping routes, Port Louis Harbour, the country’s only commercial port, is due to undergo a significant transformation in the short and medium term. Port Louis Harbour has emerged during the past 50 years as a modern port with a high degree of mechanization and sophistication.

Infrastructures, equipment, operating mode, working methods, administration, human resources management, technological advances; all this has changed over the first five decades of independent Mauritius, under the direction of an agency in charge of regulating the sector port without harming the men and women who had worked tirelessly for generations. Thus, the Mauritius Marine Authority (MMA) was born in 1976 and it became the MPA in 1998 and the physical handling of the cargo, until then provided by private companies, was taken care of, as from 1983 by Cargo Handling Corporation Ltd (CHCL), with MMA and the government as main shareholders.

Today the port stands at the threshold of yet another exciting chapter in its colorful and vibrant history and plans are well in hand to transform Port Louis into a maritime hub for the region. It is set to become a magnet for foreign investment as well as a transshipment platform for the entire Indian Ocean. Port Louis has the capacity to sustain cargo volumes from a mainline call by 4th generation containerships.

www.mauport.com