South-Sudan Boosts Mombasa Port’s Cargo Transit Rate

Last Updated 15 years ago by Kenya Engineer

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has indicated growth following South Sudan’s decision to make the Mombasa Port its main gateway for its imports.KPA which operates the Mombasa Port said that they indicated high growth rate in transit cargo for the last 1 year following this.According to the MD KPA Mr.Gichiri Ndua, the port last year had handled 417,033 tonnes of transit goods for South Sudan up from 223,467 tonnes in the year 2010.

The port had earlier this year faced critics following congestion as a result of failure to balance the cargo container arrivals and offtake at the port. The Port enrolled into a 100 decongestion process and has since improved.

In terms of container traffic growth, the port handled 771,000 20-foot equivalent units of containers last year up from 695,000 in 2010 registering 10.8 per cent which is over international growth rate of eight per cent.

Ndua said that the turn around of the vessels had improved to 2.9 days compared to performance contract target of three days. He said the average ship waiting had improved from 2.12 days compared to 2.36 days last year.Ndua assured port users that the clearance of the containers which had been lying at the port had improved.

Following the construction of berth 19 at container terminal, Ndua expressed optimism for more growth of cargo passing through the port in the future. “Despite slow economic growth in other parts of the world, KPA had recorded 10 per cent container growth through Mombasa port.”, He said.

Other countries such Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Rwanda and Burundi have as well registered an increase in cargo.Uganda however continues to lead in cargo for landlocked countries using the port.

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