Having Port of Pemba as an alternative is good option for SYR,...

Having Port of Pemba as an alternative is good option for SYR, but Nacala port will likely still be the prime port to use. Pemba port is a smaller port and currently used predominantly by Total LNG for its Mozambique LNG project construction.

In last year's attacks, it was the town of Palma that was under sieged and where the government has temporarily lost control. Pemba is the capital of the Cabo Delgado province, and that's where the main contingent of Total LNG workers are based. There were talks in last year's armed Islamist insurgency attacks were attacking Pemba as their next prized asset but fortunately, it did not eventuate.

So, your guess is as good as mine in terms of assessing terrorism threat - but I suppose so long as the large Total LNG contingent is there, there is a strong vested interest from both the Mozambique government and French government protecting the Pemba area.