Mombasa port managers have readmitted transshipment cargo destined for the rival port of Dar-es -Salaam in Tanzania.
The ban had been imposed several months ago in a bid to ease congestion at the local facility. The move is expected to boost business after a massive down turn due to congestion triggered by effects of the post election violence.
The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) said in a statement it was resuming services to other adjacent India Ocean island ports.
“Re-acceptance of transshipment to Dar -es -Salaam will now resume together with others to the Indian Ocean islands,” KPA said.
The port of Mombasa has since 2006 suffered massive pile up of cargo, an issue that saw KPA slap a ban on all transshipment cargo destined to the port of Dar- es- Salaam following protests of delays and huge surcharge fines on their over stayed consignments. At its peak, vessels waited for about 14 days to berth in addition to a vessel delay surcharge at the rate of $300 per container unit.
Besides the freeze on transshipments to Tanzania, KPA also granted special waivers on accumulated storage charges in a bid to encourage traders to collect their cargo and decongest the port.
But now KPA says the situation has greatly improved especially with the enlisting of services of several container freight stations (CFSs) to take up delayed cargo. Statistics show that at the moment, there are a total of 10,435 container units at the port against a handling capacity of 14,000 containers. “The situation has greatly improved and the containers are now within the port’s handling capacity.
The congestion is cleared,” Kenya Shipping Council (KSC) chief executive officer, Mr Gilbert Lang’at, told Business Daily but urged the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to lift the current bond it imposes on such transshipment cargo to spur growth in trade.
He argued that besides reducing the cost of doing business, lifting of the bonds would also help in expediting operations at the port in that the routine of clearance would be shorter and faster.
Pushed to the edge by a sharp rise in container arrivals from November 2006, KPA undertook to contract two CFSs, the Consolbase Limited and Mombasa Container Terminal, to take fresh containers, a step that has helped create space at the port’s container terminal for handling incoming and outgoing cargo.
Recently, KPA also listed additional services of the Kipevu Terminal Base to take over-stayed containers following its gazettement by KRA.
The port management is seeking further CFSs around the facility to help it further alleviate the problem of storage.
The concept of CFSs is fast catching up at the Mombasa port where Uganda is also preparing to open its just-completed internal car depot.
The Sh200 million custom bonded depot can hold about 3,000 cars a day, with industry estimates showing that some 40,000 cars enter the Ugandan market through Mombasa every year.
The Rwandese government is also planning to have a Container Freight Station (CFS) to handle their cargo in Mombasa — which considered the main gateway to landlocked nations as far as the Grate Lakes region.
Some critics, however, maintained that the CFSs concept may not have a greater impact in solving congestion problems because they are still bound by transit rules.
KPA, however, said even with the improvement in cargo flow, it would continue to prod dealers to ensure that goods do not overstay at the port and trigger new rounds of pile up.
KPA said it was keen on having all importers to remove their containers from the port as soon as they arrived.
The ban had been imposed several months ago in a bid to ease congestion at the local facility. The move is expected to boost business after a massive down turn due to congestion triggered by effects of the post election violence.
The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) said in a statement it was resuming services to other adjacent India Ocean island ports.
“Re-acceptance of transshipment to Dar -es -Salaam will now resume together with others to the Indian Ocean islands,” KPA said.
The port of Mombasa has since 2006 suffered massive pile up of cargo, an issue that saw KPA slap a ban on all transshipment cargo destined to the port of Dar- es- Salaam following protests of delays and huge surcharge fines on their over stayed consignments. At its peak, vessels waited for about 14 days to berth in addition to a vessel delay surcharge at the rate of $300 per container unit.
Besides the freeze on transshipments to Tanzania, KPA also granted special waivers on accumulated storage charges in a bid to encourage traders to collect their cargo and decongest the port.
But now KPA says the situation has greatly improved especially with the enlisting of services of several container freight stations (CFSs) to take up delayed cargo. Statistics show that at the moment, there are a total of 10,435 container units at the port against a handling capacity of 14,000 containers. “The situation has greatly improved and the containers are now within the port’s handling capacity.
The congestion is cleared,” Kenya Shipping Council (KSC) chief executive officer, Mr Gilbert Lang’at, told Business Daily but urged the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to lift the current bond it imposes on such transshipment cargo to spur growth in trade.
He argued that besides reducing the cost of doing business, lifting of the bonds would also help in expediting operations at the port in that the routine of clearance would be shorter and faster.
Pushed to the edge by a sharp rise in container arrivals from November 2006, KPA undertook to contract two CFSs, the Consolbase Limited and Mombasa Container Terminal, to take fresh containers, a step that has helped create space at the port’s container terminal for handling incoming and outgoing cargo.
Recently, KPA also listed additional services of the Kipevu Terminal Base to take over-stayed containers following its gazettement by KRA.
The port management is seeking further CFSs around the facility to help it further alleviate the problem of storage.
The concept of CFSs is fast catching up at the Mombasa port where Uganda is also preparing to open its just-completed internal car depot.
The Sh200 million custom bonded depot can hold about 3,000 cars a day, with industry estimates showing that some 40,000 cars enter the Ugandan market through Mombasa every year.
The Rwandese government is also planning to have a Container Freight Station (CFS) to handle their cargo in Mombasa — which considered the main gateway to landlocked nations as far as the Grate Lakes region.
Some critics, however, maintained that the CFSs concept may not have a greater impact in solving congestion problems because they are still bound by transit rules.
KPA, however, said even with the improvement in cargo flow, it would continue to prod dealers to ensure that goods do not overstay at the port and trigger new rounds of pile up.
KPA said it was keen on having all importers to remove their containers from the port as soon as they arrived.