HEADACHES AT THE PORT OF MOMBASA

[John Ashworth]

HEADACHES AT THE PORT OF MOMBASA
Friday, 23 May 2008

Steadily growing traffic through the port of Mombasa was straining harbour resources, notably container storage facilities, long before the recent floods cut the railway to Kampala – a calamity that seriously exacerbated the problems. The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) container terminal was designed to handle 250,000 Total Equivalent Units (TEUs) - 20-foot boxes – a year but over the past 12 months it handled nearly 585,000 TEUs, due to increased economic activity in the region. Transit traffic through the port rose by 9.6%.

Since diverting incoming goods consigned to neighbouring countries via Inland Container depots (ICDs) helps the Mombasa port authorities to concentrate on clearing cargo destined to points inside the country, the Kenya Revenue Authority now allows such traffic to be moved by rail to the ICDs at Embakasi, Eldoret and Kisumu, before assessing them for tax. By December, the Nairobi ICD was handling some 35,000 TEUs, compared with 19,000 in 2002.

Although Rift Valley Railways have been able to effect some increase in the amount of traffic leaving Mombasa, the ICDs are still underutilised.

According to Alex Kabuga of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), quoted by Business Daily (published in Nairobi): "The rail system is not serving Eldoret ICD. The facility was built in 1995, but since then, it has never been commissioned due to under-use." The business community in the Sudan, he explains, would prefer to have containers cleared at Eldoret and ferried from there by road through Kitale and Lokichoggio.

Railways Africa

MOMBASA’S PROBLEMS INTENSIFY
Friday, 23 May 2008

Container build-up in the harbour at Mombasa has worsened materially since floods near Kampala caused damage that will keep the railway closed for at least two months. In only five days, the number of containers awaiting railage to four landlocked countries - Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi - totalled 1,237.

With many shippers and freight agents opting to change the mode of transport from rail to road to avoid delays, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) waived storage charges related to the change from 15 May to 15 June.

James Siele, RVR manager in charge of Mombasa region, was quoted saying that 60 wagons daily had moved into Uganda prior to the floods. Equipment has now been deployed at Iganga station to offload containers for onward transport by road.

Fuel tank wagons are being redirected to Kisumu from where a ferry hired from Tanzania carries them to Port Bell in Uganda.

Railways Africa

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

I remember a headache at the Port of Mombasa. The precious night we had a party at the Nyali Beach Hotel.