2 Nov 2010

First phase in Nauru port upgrade completed

4:09 pm on 2 November 2010

The last new moorings for Nauru's port have been installed and tested marking the end of the first phase in a major redevelopment to boost phosphate revenues.

The refurbishment aimed at improving the port's efficiency has been aided by a nine million US dollar grant from Russia.

A spokesman for the Nauru government Rod Henshaw says the next phase will involve repairing the port building and workshops.

"All this is going to mean that instead of having vessels of a capacity of 23 thousand tonnes, or cubic metres, they can now bring in phosphate vessels of much larger dimension, about 45 thousand tonnes fully loaded."

Nauru government spokesman Rod Henshaw