Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has suspended discharge and loading of ships to resolve a crippling congestion crisis at the Mombasa port.
The suspension, was to facilitate shifting of containers so as to create room at the container terminal.
The crisis has partly been blamed on a cargo boom, but low take-off of containers due to poor road and rail infrastructure.
KPA said the crisis has been worsened by the diversion of two ships from the port of Dar es Salaam to discharge cargo in Mombasa.
Maritime stakeholders have warned that shipping lines could impose Vessel Delay Surcharges on the Mombasa port, if the congestion crisis is not resolved urgently.
The delay has impacted negatively on Kenyan and Ugandan manufacturers, whose raw materials and finished products are stuck at the port.
KPA Harbour Master and Chief Operations Manager, Captain Twalib Khamis confirmed the suspension of loading and discharging of vessels.
He, however, said the situation had eased with only two ships waiting to discharge cargo compared to 12 last week.
Meanwhile, Khamis said KPA would transfer some of the containers to two private Container Freight Stations (CFSs) from next month to reduce the congestion.
He said two CFSs have been identified to take about 5,000 containers monthly.
"We are set to transfer containers to CFSs from the first week of June so as to create room for containers at the container terminal," Khamis said.
The suspension, was to facilitate shifting of containers so as to create room at the container terminal.
The crisis has partly been blamed on a cargo boom, but low take-off of containers due to poor road and rail infrastructure.
KPA said the crisis has been worsened by the diversion of two ships from the port of Dar es Salaam to discharge cargo in Mombasa.
Maritime stakeholders have warned that shipping lines could impose Vessel Delay Surcharges on the Mombasa port, if the congestion crisis is not resolved urgently.
The delay has impacted negatively on Kenyan and Ugandan manufacturers, whose raw materials and finished products are stuck at the port.
KPA Harbour Master and Chief Operations Manager, Captain Twalib Khamis confirmed the suspension of loading and discharging of vessels.
He, however, said the situation had eased with only two ships waiting to discharge cargo compared to 12 last week.
Meanwhile, Khamis said KPA would transfer some of the containers to two private Container Freight Stations (CFSs) from next month to reduce the congestion.
He said two CFSs have been identified to take about 5,000 containers monthly.
"We are set to transfer containers to CFSs from the first week of June so as to create room for containers at the container terminal," Khamis said.