CONGESTION: Mombassa Re-Introduces Transhipment

After a three-month suspension that was caused by chronic congestion at the port of Mombassa; Kenya Ports Authority has reintroduced the handling of transhipment cargo to the Indian Ocean Islands.
The resumption of services does not however include cargo for the Tanzanian ports of Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, which in recent months has constituted the largest amount of transhipment cargo handled by Mombassa.
According to Kenya Ports Authority’s acting MD, Kames Mulewa, it has been possible to clear some space at the Mombassa terminal to handle the island transhipment cargo.
He said the number of containers at the Mombassa Container Terminal had dropped from over 19,000 to 14,600 TEUs. In July, shortly after introducing its new Kwatos computer operating system the port authority was forced to suspend all transhipments as containers clogged the terminal. Since then however deliveries from the terminal by road have improved.
Mulewu said that larger container vessels will not be able to make use of Mombassa port owing to draught restrictions (12m) and that attention should turn to developing new facilities at the port of Lamu which has a much wider channel compared with Mombassa.