A 400-METER VESSEL DOCKS AT ABIDJAN PORT: A FIRST MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE PRESIDENT'S VISION

Activités portuaires Monday 02 June 2025

A historic milestone has just been reached in the annals of the Abidjan Port.

For the very first time, a 400-meter-long vessel has docked at the second container terminal (TC2) of the Abidjan Port. This technical and logistical feat could not have been achieved without the resolute will of the President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, H.E. Alassane OUATTARA, whose vision enabled the Port Authority to modernize the port’s infrastructure.

This sea giant, the MSC DILETTA, operated by the world’s leading shipping line, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), measures 400 meters in length—equivalent to four football fields—61 meters in width, and can carry 24,000 containers.

“This is a historic day for the Abidjan Port and for Côte d’Ivoire as a whole. Welcoming a vessel of this size would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. This reflects the success of our modernization strategy, and most importantly, the vision of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Alassane OUATTARA, without whom none of this would have been possible,” declared Mr. Hien Yacouba SIÉ, Managing Director of Abidjan Port Authority.

MSC, the world’s largest shipping line, played a central role in this operation. According to Mr. Cédric GOUJON, Managing Director of MSC Côte d’Ivoire, the docking of this vessel will help position the Abidjan Port as a regional logistics hub.

As for Mr. Mohamed DIOA, Regional Finance Director of Africa Global Logistics (AGL), this unprecedented event is not just a feat—it embodies a vision, a collective ambition, and a profound transformation of the port ecosystem.

He took the opportunity to commend the “exemplary commitment” of the Managing Director of the Abidjan Port Authority, whose “clear-sighted leadership, constant determination, and hard work have transformed the Abidjan Port into a modern, competitive logistics hub resolutely focused on the future.”

The Minister of Transport, represented by his Chief of Staff Mr. CONÉ Dioman, praised this achievement as tangible proof of Côte d’Ivoire’s rise, made possible by the development of strategic infrastructure under the enlightened leadership of the Head of State:

“This event, beyond its symbolic significance, is neither a coincidence nor a mere technical feat. It brilliantly illustrates the ambitious vision led by the President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Alassane OUATTARA—a vision that places structural infrastructure, especially port infrastructure, at the heart of Côte d’Ivoire’s economic development strategy,” he stated, before congratulating, on behalf of the State of Côte d’Ivoire, the Managing Director of Abidjan Port Authority, whose dedication, competence, and passion for public maritime service continue to achieve ever high modernization, development, and influence of the Abidjan Port at regional, continental, and international levels.

Indeed, in recent years, strategic investments totaling over 1,100 billion CFA francs have been made by the Ivorian State, via the Abidjan Port Authority, for:

·              the construction of a jetty at the Fishing Terminal, inaugurated in September 2015;

·              the creation of 43 hectares of industrial land through backfilling of the Biétry Bay in 2016;

·              the extension of the Bulk Terminal quays in 2017;

·              the construction of a modern new Ro-Ro Terminal, operational since 2018;

·              the widening and deepening of Vridi Canal, inaugurated in February 2019;

·              the construction of a second Container Terminal, commissioned in December 2022;

·              the construction of a Grain Terminal, operational since May 2023.

The commissioning of the second Container Terminal in December 2022 contributed to the growth of total cargo traffic, which reached 40.1 million tons in 2024—an increase of 15.6% compared to 2023.

Thanks to the outstanding performance of this ultra-modern terminal, container traffic surpassed one million units in just two years, reaching 1.6 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), including 532,470 transshipped containers.

With this first docking of a 400-meter vessel, Côte d’Ivoire enters a new logistical era—one filled with promise and economic growth.