Mombasa to receive big ships in 2017

Several global shipping lines will deploy major vessels to the port of Mombasa next year in efforts to revive trade.

According to Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), big ships from Denmark's Maersk Line, Taiwan-listed Evergreen Marine Corp and French Shipping line CMA CGM will bring goods to Mombasa before they are re-exported to smaller ports in the region.

"The cargo will be re-exported to regional ports of Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam and Somalia by smaller ships," said KPA Managing Director Catherine Wairi-Mturi.

She added: "Maersk, Evergreen and CMA CGM have all committed to increase shipment business through Kenya even as Mombasa seeks to position itself as the region's transshipment hub."

She said construction of the Sh28 billion second container terminal, deepening of Likoni channel and widening of the basin to 300 metres will enable the port to handle bigger vessels.

Phase one of the second container terminal, commissioned in September this year, will increase the port's capacity by 450,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs).

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Bigger vessels have already started coming to Mombasa. In August, the port handled a 294-meters MV Ever Delight, so far the longest ship to call Mombasa after MV Ital Matina.

Ms Mturi said although global shipping trade is currently undergoing turbulent times, the future is bright.

"The shipping industry is currently going through trying times. The growth of container traffic is still very small, at 0.7 per cent this year, compared to last year," said Mturi.

According to KPA, the port handled 903,307 Twenty Equivalent Units (TEUs) of containers between January and October against 896, 717 over the same period last year, an increase of 6, 590 TEUs or 0.7 per cent.

In total, the port handled 22,895,408 tonnes of cargo this year against 22,224,369 tonnes last year.

"The recent removal of the custom bond is for instance a timely step that we believe will catalyse growth of this business and this will significantly boost Mombasa's quest to be a transshipment hub for the region," Mturi said.