Iran war a blessing in disguise for Lamu Port

A container being offloaded from a cargo ship at Lamu Port. November 9, 2022. [File, Standard]

A Porsche 911 Turbo S, a sleek silhouette with a low, wide stance and flowing curves, was the first to slowly sneak out of the gigantic ship docked at one of the three berths at Lamu Port.

Priced at Sh18.1 million, the Porsche was closely followed by a Lamborghini’s first V12 hybrid supercar with 1000 horsepower, then a Ferrari SF90, a Maserati and a Bugatti Tourbillon.

These are some of the thousands of sleek cars offloaded at Lamu Port as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz turns out to be a blessing and a curse for the maritime stakeholders in the county.

For the last three weeks, gigantic ships bound for the Middle East have diverted and discharged cargo at Lamu as the facility is gradually establishing itself as a transhipment hub.

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) says that two ships carrying a total of 4,269 high-end vehicles from Yokohama in Japan to Jebel Ali Port in Dubai have been diverted to Lamu.

The MV Grande Florida Palermo of Grimaldi Lines delivered 3,800 motor vehicle units alongside spare parts, highlighting Lamu’s role in handling specialised cargo.

This was barely a week after MV Grande Auckland also discharged 469 units at the port of Lamu, bringing into focus a nascent but expanding automotive import channel through Lamu.

KPA officials say the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by the Iranian regime, currently under attack by the combined force of the United States and Israel, is a blessing in disguise for Lamu Port.

KPA Managing Director William Ruto says more shipping lines are expected to dock at Lamu, a move that could see an increase in transhipment business for the new port.

He said Lamu has received 74 vessels since the start of the year, which is a third of the ships it handled since the facility was opened in 2021. In last year’s first quarter, Lamu received only two ships.

“The diversion of these ships is a demonstration that Lamu is gaining its place as a reliable transhipment facility in the region. We have received the highest number of transhipment cargo since the port was opened in 2021,” said Captain Ruto.

Lamu can handle large container vessels of up to 12,000 Twenty Equivalent Units (TEUs) and large Roll-On-Roll-Off (RoRo) car carriers that often cannot dock at the shallower Mombasa port.

“We have also increased efficiency at Lamu, as ship turnaround time is a day. We discharge 1,500 cars per day and, in six to seven months, Lamu will be a regional transhipment hub,” said Ruto.

KPA projects that cargo throughput at Lamu will reach 1.2 million TEUs by 2027.