First purpose-built marina in East Africa
Walcon Marine in the UK has been awarded a contract to design, build and install the first purpose-built yacht marina on the East coast of Africa.
English Point Marina will be the centrepiece of a new luxury resort that is now under construction. The marina will have 45 berths in total and be capable of hosting yachts up to 47m in length. Larger yachts can anchor off in protected waters.
Walcon is building the pontoons using its heavy duty Waliflote model for the largest berths and its aluminium System 2000 design, which are able to withstand the high-corrosion potential of tropical salt water, for the remainder. The company said 3.5m-wide Waliflote wave attenuating pontoons are also being installed to provide protection from the wave action that comes in from the south. All the pontoons will be built at Walcon’s main manufacturing facility in the UK.
Additional features of the new marina include a ferry berth within the marina plus a landing stage on the opposite side of the channel that separates English Point from Mombasa. These will be used to provide a regular ferry service to take residents and visitors the short distance between the development and the city. Electricity, water, sewage facilities and fuel are also integrated into the marina.
Walcon has been working on the designs for English Point marina for nearly four years, in partnership with Alnoor and Amyn Kanji, the brothers behind the project. Construction is well underway on both the marina infrastructure and the development itself, with an opening date scheduled for mid-2013.
By David Foxwell
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