DATE=7/20/98
TYPE=Background Report
NUMBER=5-40959
TITLE=Djibouti Port
BYLINE=Carol Pineau
DATELINE=Djibouti
INTRO: The border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea has caused considerable hardship in both countries. But another country -- Djibouti -- has seen some benefits from the war. Carol Pineau reports from the port town of djibouti.
TEXT: More than 30 ships are anchored off Djibouti -- all waiting for docking space at what has suddenly become a very crowded Red Sea port.
While the people of Ethiopia and Eritrea experience hardship in the still simmering border dispute, the tiny neighboring country of Djibouti finds itself benefiting from the war -- and providing a key service to both nations. It has become the sea link for land-locked Ethiopia -- which had been served by Eritrean ports. And it provides the air link to Eritrea, which had been served by Ethiopia's state airline.
The war broke out in mid may. All Ethiopian Airways flights to Eritrea were cancelled. And all ships with cargo bound for Ethiopia were immediately diverted to the port of Djibouti.
Before the conflict, 90 percent of Ethiopian shipping passed through Eritrea's two ports, Massawa for the northern regions, Assab for Addis Ababa and the south. Today, Massawa continues to do a brisk business, but Assab's port is practically at a standstill. And, in Djibouti, port director Aden Ahmed Douale (pron: doo'-a-lay) says his port is operating beyond capacity, 24 hours a day.
"Since the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the port has been used at its utmost. I mean we have ships on all the berths since the 15th of may, we have ships at anchorage. We have the capacity to handle this kind of traffic, but the difficulty was the sudden arrival of all those vessels. But we are trying to move that cargo as efficiently as we can with the assistance of the Ethiopian government."
Moving that cargo is Mr. Douale's biggest concern. A visit to the truck parking area shows just how stretched Djibouti's port is.
"Here we are in lot number 15, behind quay number 14, where most of the Ethiopian trucks are parked. There is actually about 150 trucks parked here, loaded, empty, waiting for cargo, or clearance by customs."
There used to be ten to 20 trucks a day. Mr. Douale is now looking for parking facilities outside of the port. While port authorities hesitate to say they are profiting from their neighbors' conflict, Mr. Douale admits they are doing well.
"It's true that the port will increase its revenue because it's proportional to the number of vessels and it's proportional to the amount of cargo moving through the port."
The port of Djibouti has been courting Ethiopian business for some time. One year ago, the Djibouti port authority opened an office in Addis Ababa in the hope of stimulating trade. Djibouti Port officials claimed shipping through Eritrea's Assab port was costing Ethiopia one-thousand dollars more for each container, and causing delays.
Because Assab port is not deep enough to take container vessels, ships had to be unloaded in Djibouti and the cargo transferred to smaller vessels. But Assab was the traditional port for Ethiopia. So, to encourage business, Djibouti reduced prices for Ethiopia from ten dollars a ton to just one dollar. Mr. Douale says Djibouti also upgraded its facilities.
"So now I'm taking you through the new entrance to the port that has been planned to be opened normally next year, but exceptionally, we have it opened to the Ethiopian traffic."
The new entrance runs off the road to Addis Ababa. It is convenient for Ethiopian truck drivers, who are able to avoid the congested streets of Djibouti city. Part of that cargo they are carrying is food aid.
Logistically, the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia is better served by Massawa port. Since the conflict began, this region has suffered food and petrol shortages. In Tigray, the cost of petrol has doubled, and rationing has been instituted. Petrol on the black market is reported to be up to six times the official price.
Eritrea says using the port of Djibouti will prove to be a hardship for ethiopia. Eritrean port authorities estimate it will take years for Djibouti's port to expand enough to take the full load of ethiopian cargo. Not so, says Mr. Douale.
"Let's say that within the next two to three months, we will be fully operational again, because the situation is to manage this crisis, knowing that there is a lot of different types of cargo, and we need different types of equipment to move all this cargo, and it's not so easy in a few months to take this upsurge in traffic where we handle the same cargo in one month that we did in three months.
The standoff between Ethiopian and Eritrean troops continues along their disputed border. And as it does, Djibouti's port continues its booming business. (signed)
Neb/cp/jwh/mmk
20-Jul-98 7:24 AM EDT (1124 UTC)
Source: Voice of America