THE SEA PIRACY IN EAST COAST OF AFRICA MUST BE TACKLED

Suspected Somali sea pirates have seized a Greek cargo ship with its Ukrainian and Philippine crew off the east African country of Tanzania Thursday, Greek port police said. The MV Delvina, which had a cargo of wheat, was heading for Mombasa, Kenya from the Mediterranean when it was captured 280 nautical miles east of the Tanzanian coast.

It is understood that, they have now extended their attacks as far as syschelles 700 miles into the Indian Ocean where even the International Navies including US Navy, The NATO ships stationed can't control them. This is a disaster for trade into Eastern Africa and the world must assist in handling the situation before it gets out of hand.

NOTE ON RO-RO SHIPMENT TO KENYA AND UGANDA

Three foreign companies have been contracted to inspect vehicles destined for Uganda before shipment, starting this month. By hiring them, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards hopes to curb increasing volumes of substandard used cars in the market.

The agencies that won a five-company international competitive bidding process include the Japan Export Vehicle Inspection Centre, (which will inspect vehicles from Japan, United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore and other countries, apart from the United Arab Emirates. The company has branches in these countries. Other agencies are: Jabal Kilimanjaro Auto Elect Mechanic and Paints Company, which will inspect all vehicles originating from the United Arab Emirates; and East Africa Auto-Mobile Services, which will also inspect vehicles coming from the United Arab Emirates.

The companies will charge varying inspection fees. For instance, vehicles from Japan, Singapore, UK, South Africa and Dubai will attract fees of $145, $180, 125 pounds, R160 and $125, respectively.

Any vehicle imported into Uganda without certification will be subjected to a penalty of 15 per cent of the cost insurance and freight (CIF) value and then sent for inspection. The Bureau of Standards said the companies have already apprised auction houses and relevant authorities in the export countries of the new procedures.

“Any vehicle being shipped from any part of the world must be inspected and a certificate of conformity issued. It does not matter whether the importer is an individual or a company,” said Patrick Sekitoleko, quality assurance manager of the standards bureau.

Most of the vehicles imported into Uganda are from the Middle East, Japan or Europe.

Unfortunately, some are in dangerous mechanical conditions and are imported without following proper procedures. The move is the first of the bureau’s new programme of pre-export verification of conformity (PVoC) to cover all imported goods. The PVoC will detail the condition, accessories, structural, functional and mechanical integrity of used vehicles destined to Uganda.

In Kenya, the age of the vehicle is the parameter used to control importation. Vehicles older than eight years are not allowed into the country. The inspecting companies will be based in the countries of origin.


They will inspect the vehicles and issue certificates of conformity to those that meet the standards.
There will also be an accompanying report attesting to the inspection. The Certificate of Conformity is a mandatory clearance document that all imported vehicles must have. The documents will be tamperproof. The bureau has been carrying out destination inspection where goods are inspected on arrival at the ports of entry. The inspection has been largely successful, despite implementation challenges like delayed clearance of imports at the ports of entry. Most products must be sampled and tested before they are released into the market. With the PVoC, delays at ports of entry are expected to reduce. The PVoC will benefit the importer, the country and the buyers.

For the first time, professional independent assessment of vehicles’ overall conditions prior to export will be done. The move will also curb importation of stolen vehicles into the country. The Bureau of Standards has been battling with importers of substandard products at the ports of entry.
Some importers, fearful of losing business, have resorted to of coercing, intimidating and enticing inspectors to clear their substandard goods.

Some simply abandon such goods at the ports and change their business names to avoid being blacklisted.

THE FUTURE OF THE MOMBASA PORT AND THE KENYA MARITIME OVERHAUL

International firms have shown interest in the management of Mombasa port even as it emerges that a recently enacted law denies them a stake in the venture. The government has already started the process of privatising the port. A study to determine which sections of the facility should be handed over to private hands is in the offing. The move is expected to increase efficiency at the port, which serves five countries in the region.

Although the firms interested in bidding are expected to have huge capital outlays as port management is a capital intensive affair, the Merchant shipping Act (MSA) bars shipping lines from involvement in any other business in the country’s transport and logistics supply chain, a provision which could lock them out.

“We still don’t understand why the section was inserted at the last minute. One could read mischief in the sense that someone wanted to lock out shipping lines from competition in the port privatisation tendering process,” said a manager of a shipping line who did not want to be named.

The Privatisation Commission of Kenya has already started the process of identifying a consultant who will advise the government on which part of the port should be privatised.

“The firm would advise us on which areas should be privatised because, as you should realise, the government has privatised some of its parastatals yet we don’t get the desired efficiency,” said Transport minister Chirau Mwakwere.

DP World has already indicated that it would like to take over the management of the Mombasa container terminal if it goes up for privatisation.

Mr Anil Singh of DP World reportedly said that the firm was awaiting the completion of a study into the future of the port, by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), which would propose the extent of private sector concessions on offer.

“We would want to be involved sooner rather than later. We have been waiting for an indication,” said Mr Singh.

The debate over whether to transfer control of Mombasa port to a private operator has raged for at least five years.

But the government doesn’t seem to have reach an agreement on the issue.However, it remains to be seen whether this will translate into the introduction of the port/landlord model of management.

One of the government’s main challenges will be to decide whether it offers concessions for both the existing KPA terminal and the new Kipevu West Container Terminal (KWCT), which is due for completion in 2015.

The option of allowing KPA to retain control over the existing terminal, while acting as the landlord of its main competitor, KWCT, might be unworkable according to some experts.

Maersk-Kenya, a subsidiary of APM Terminals, has in the past also indicated its interest to bid for berths. However, DP World’s interest could result in strong competition for any port privatisation tender.

The Dubai based company already operates port facilities on all sides of the Arabian Peninsula and has recently taken over the Dakar container terminal in Sénégal, West Africa. Mombasa could fit in well with the company’s expansion agenda.

Stakeholders in the maritime industry have been asked to support the recently enacted Merchant Shipping Act 2009, to boost trade in the region. Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere said the Act will spur economic growth, given that 95 per cent of international trade is maritime-based.

Speaking during the official opening of a regional stakeholders meeting on the establishment of consultation machinery on maritime transport services in Mombasa, Mr Mwakwere moved to allay fears among a section of shipping lines that the new Act will lock out foreigners.

“It is regrettable that some stakeholders misinterpreted this Act as one enacted to restrict foreign direct investment in the maritime transport sector. This is not so. On the contrary, the government through my ministry, encourages collaboration between local and foreign firms.”

The Act does not prohibit direct foreign investment in any segment of the logistics chain. It addresses the issue of vertical integration of the logistics chain where a few dominate the sector by applying pricing practices that limit the entry of new participants, he added.

The minister said the government had mandated the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) to monitor the efficiency and competitiveness of a transport logistics supply chain required in Kenya’s maritime industry.

ROW OVER CHARGES AT MOMBASA PORT

Kenya Shipping agents are up in arms this week at the continuing delays to import cargo which is afflicting the industry. The privately run Container Freight Stations (CFS’s) which were set up in 2007 specifically to cope up with the backlog long associated with the country’s trade appear to be the root of the problem.

Containers are piling up awaiting clearance exactly as they used to at Kilindini Harbour, the deepwater facility in Mombasa Port. The CFC’s handle three quarters of the arriving containers and, having seen the charges for scanning and inspection scrapped by the Kenya Ports Authority this month, are apparently now levying a $75 a box charge for handling.

There are several causes for the delay, the four customs bonded CFS’s often have old dilapidated handling equipment and too little of it. After an initial three week period cargo officially goes into store in the Kenya Revenue Authority (Customs) warehouse and incurs a rent charge. If it doesn’t transfer in time the rent still accrues plus charges from the CFS’s in addition.

There are also allegations of corrupt practice. Rent is free within a CFS for the first, recently reduced, five day period and then charges start to accrue. The slowing of document processing and subsequent delays in clearance is an old, oft used trick, like cube cutting to extort extra revenue from shipping contracts and always becomes more prevalent in times of financial crisis.

The problems are likely to prompt action from the authorities. The Kenyan Maritime Authority and the Ministry of Transport are said to be taking a keen interest in the situation. Meanwhile the Kenya Ports Authority are proceeding with works to expand the docks at Mombasa to allow larger ships access and to speed transit through to end users.

Japanese investors have provided funds to the KPA to deepen the approaches and harbour by dredging although this has met with local opposition from fishermen who will be adversely affected and inviting a possible clash with environmental activists.

KENYA SHIPPING LINES AND THE COST OF MARITIME CHARGES

The Kenya Shippers Council (KSC) has initiated talks with shipping lines and agents with the aim of reducing the cost of maritime transport, which has made the East African route one of the most expensive in the world.

The Kenya Ships Agents Association executive director, Mr Frederick Wahutu, said they were yet to agree on charges to be levied. According to Mr Wahutu, some of the levies shippers claim to pay to shipping lines and agents were not collected by the two.The shippers have complained about numerous high charges levied by shipping lines and their agents, most of which they say are unjustified.

According to a press release posted on the Kenya Association of Manufacturers’ website last week, KSC had enumerated several charges that it claims are unjustified. Cargo owners, KSC said, were concerned about the delivery order fee which, according to ship agents, is a service charge. Deliver order fee, of up to $65 depending on which shipping line one is dealing with, is charged for issuance of a letter of release of shipped goods in exchange for the bill of lading and is a practice unique only to Mombasa.

“There is a bill of lading fee which KSC regards as an unjustified cost because it is basically an invoice,” the statement says. According to Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) report, a bill of lading fee of $50-60 is levied in addition to delivery order fee.

Bill of lading is issued as a right when one pays for freight. Charging for it, the KMA report says, is equivalent to charging a fee when collecting an air ticket bought on the internet.

The amendment to the bill of lading and manifest correction is charged between $30 and $50 which is considered to be too high.

KSC has also raised concern over a $25 charge for cleaning an empty container. Whereas cleaning should only arise when the goods carried in the particular container were potentially dirty, according to KMA, the situation on the ground is that all shipping lines operating in Mombasa port collect advance cleaning fee whether the container is dirty or not.

Mr Wahutu said that in some cases shippers may release a clean container but by the time it reaches the shipping lines or his agent, it will be dirty. The shipping lines charges a terminal handling charge of $70-$80 per container.

The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has a similar tariff for the same container and a shipper ends up paying twice with no attendant value addition, according to KMA. “Again this is unique only to Mombasa after Tanzania scrapped the charge ages ago,” the KMA report says.

TRADE NOTICE: MID JULY-AUGUST

The following will be our schedule for End of JULY, 2009 Through Half of AUGUST, 2009

RO-RO CAR SHIPMENT / CONTAINER VESSEL SAILING FROM DUBAI-UAE

MOMBASA/ DARES SALAAM NEXT VESSEL: JULY 23RD , 2009

DJIBOUTI- BERBERRA NEXT VESSEL: 26TH JULY, 2009

PORT SUDAN NEXT VESSEL: 07/08TH AUGUST, 2009

All types of cargo ( RORO, Break-Bulk, Project) will be received. Please keep being posted.

Thanks

RO-RO, BREAK BULK, PROJECT CARGO VESSEL SCHEDULE

The following will be our schedule for End of April, 2009 Through Half of May, 2009

MOMBASA/ DARES SALAAM (Vessel already arrived and discharging).
NEXT VESSEL: MAY 6TH, 2009

DJIBOUTI/BERBERRA NEXT VESSEL: 29TH APRIL, 2009.

PORT SUDAN NEXT VESSEL: 11/12TH MAY, 2009.


All types of cargo ( RORO, Break-Bulk, Project) will be received. Please keep being posted.

Thanks

NOTICE TO TRADE: AFRICA CONTAINER SHIPPING ROUTES

Beginning This month, we will have Africa container services to the following ports directly to the following ports.


Mombasa(Which will cover South Sudan Cargo including Juba and Southern Ethiopia), Dar-Es-Salaam(Will cover Rwanda cargo, Burundi Cargo and Eastern Congo(Lubumbashi), Malawi, )Beira, Maputo, Berberra, Djibouti, Assab, Port Sudan, Port Said, Abidjan, Tema, Port Gentil, Cotonou, Dakar, Libreville covering the whole continent of Africa.

Other focal points like Alexandria, Algiers, Massawa, Bamako, Banjul, Bissau, Blantyre, Bobo-Dioulasso, Bulawayo, Cape Town, Casablanca, Conakry, Douala, Durban, East London, Freetown, Gaborone, Harare, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kitwe, Lagos, Las Palmas, Lilongwe, Lobito, Luanda, Lusaka, Mahe, Matadi, Mauritius, Mogadishu, Monrovia, Nairobi, Ndola, Niamey, Nosy Be, Nouadhibou, Nouakchott, Oran, Ouagadougou, Pointe Des Gallets, Pointe Noire, Port Elizabeth, Port Harcourt, Port Louis, Praia, Sfax, Takoradi, Tamatave, Tanga, Tangier, , Tenerife, Tunis are covered through the above nearest ports.

We have agencies in Inland Container Depots like that of Nairobi ICD and so on. Please check if you some more information on these... Shipping cargo to Africa has never been easy as ABCD....Among the details you will find are Port PDA's, Port particulars, Some Vessel/ Ship particulars and so on.

Our normal RO-RO services include Ports in the Red Sea and Eastern Africa together with the ports in Gulf of Aden. General cargo to South West Africa Including Namibia, Angola(Luanda, lobito) Matadi will also be accelerated.

Africa Shipping Line RORO(Car shipment)/ Container/ BreakBulk services to Juba, South Sudan have began in earnest and shipping agents who have RO-RO cargo or any other type of cargo can contact Mr. Ibraheem on 971.50.8976941 placing shipment orders. Rates are favourable. We will also undertake all kind of general cargo with minimal handling.Our Cut off times are strictly as schedule. Shipment of vehicles, cars to Africa has never been such easy.

CONTAINER TRAFFIC IN MOMBASA INCREASES

Container traffic at Mombasa port rose slightly by 5.2 per cent to 615,733 twenty-foot equivalent units (Teus) last year, authorities said. The growth was, however, slower than the 22 per cent expansion the port saw in 2007 when it handled 585,367 Teus, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) said in a statement.

"The slowdown in growth of container traffic was a result of a sluggish economic performance occasioned by the post-election skirmishes experienced early in the year and the current global economic downturn" KPA said.

KPA said total throughput increased to 16.41 million tonnes from 15.96 million in 2007. Although the post-election violence blocked transport routes to neighbouring landlocked countries, transit traffic headed there grew by 10.2 percent to 4.87 million tonnes from 4.4 million in the previous year, the authority said.

Three-quarters of the transit traffic was destined for Uganda, which imported 3.7 million tonnes of merchandise. The Democratic Republic Congo was in second place with 304,400 tonnes. The amount of bulk liquid handled by the port on the Indian Ocean reduced slightly to 5.63 million tonnes, a 0.2 per cent fall from the previous year. Transshipment, or goods destined for an intermediary destination, was also down.

KPA said it awarded Japan Port Consultants a project design and supervision contract for a second container terminal with a 1.2 million Teus capacity.

CAPTAIN OF MAERSK MV ALABAMA FREE AT LAST....3 SOMALI PIRATES KILLED, ONE ARRESTED

The hijacked MAERSK MV ALABAMA ship freed by its crew has docked in Kenya and the captain rescued today in a dramatic and swift rescue mission which killed 3 somali pirates and one arrested.

Earlier reports indicated that US navy operation had stopped negotiating with the somali pirates Saturday Night and demanded the Pirates to be arrested and be put on justice but when they refused, The US Navy Seals made a dramatic operation that rescued Capt. Richard Phillips.

Somalia's vast sea area makes it very complicated to deal with these pirates and a concerted effort to guard and protect the critical sea routes have become a nightmare to US and European countries which have sent defense vessels there...

However, Sea Farers Association Spokesman based in Kenya, Andrew Mwangura says that the pirates are still holding many other crew and it would be justified if something is done and try to also rescue them. Among them are many philipinos, Indians, Srilankans and many Chinese and European crewmen.

Earlier reports indicate that, the pirates holding Phillips in the lifeboat fired a few shots at a small U.S. Navy vessel that had approached, a U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The official said the U.S. sailors did not return fire, the Navy vessel turned away and no one was hurt. He said the vessel had not been attempting a rescue. The pirates are believed armed with pistols and AK-47 assault rifles. Other pirates had difficulties trying to rescue them. Somali Pirates are holding about a dozen ships with more than 200 crew members, according to the Malaysia-based piracy watchdog International Maritime Bureau.

SHIP OWNERS TO RAISE RATES TO AVOID PIRACY

Exporters hiring ships using piracy-prone routes will incur additional insurance costs and pay for the days a vessel is detained by hijackers.Other costs relate to additional crew and preventive measures employed to reduce the risk of attacks, according to new guidelines published by the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), an independent international shipping association.

The new guidelines on transportation of bulk cargo vulnerable to piracy mean companies will spend more when hiring a ship for a specific period.For instance, if a ship is hired for 15 days, and is hijacked and detained for 25 days, the company hiring it will pay for the extra 10 days. Other costs the company could incur are those of additional personnel and for preventive measures to reduce the risk of pirate attacks.

This is justified on the basis that without the charterers specific orders to proceed to or through a risk area, such costs would not have been incurred. Ships that are hired for a specific period of time are mostly used to transport bulk cargo like oil, clinker or coal. It means that cement makers and oil importers in Kenya will need to be extra cautions in line with the new guidelines, which could see them spend more on shipping if not properly followed.

JEBEL ALI LOADING: PORT SUDAN & DJIBOUTI

ANNOUNCEMENT!!! ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

AFRICAN SHIPPING LINES-DUBAI will be loading a RO-RO vessel + Break Bulk

FROM: JEBEL/ALI
TO: PORT SUDAN/ DJIBOUTI/ BERBERRA
FROM: 27TH MARCH 2009.

AFRICAN SHIPPING LINES AGENCY-DUBAI (ACTS AS AGENTS)

PLEASE SOLICIT EXPORT ENQUIRIES FOR RORO UNITS (SEDANS & HIGH/HEAVY).

ETA: PORT SUDAN 8TH APRIL 2009.
ETA : DJIBOUTI 10TH APRIL 2009.

FOR FREIGHT / SPACE ENQUIRIES PLEASE CALL:

MR. IBRAHIM ON +97150-8976941 or leave a message on this site or by sending an e-mail to africanshippingdubai@gmail.com or by replying to this message.

THE FUTURE OF KENYA SHIPPING LINE

Kenya continues to lose out in the lucrative shipping industry as it continues to rely on ships for hire to transport its exports.The hope that one day the country could own its own shipping line continues to remain a mirage despite its neighbour cashing in on the high freight.


The Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL) continues to carve a niche in the world’s shipping industry as Kenya National Shipping Line (KNSL) shows no hope of owning its vessels soon.Maritime experts are now calling on the government to offer incentives to private entities interested to buy ships that could fly the Kenyan flag.“The dream that the country would one day own a ship, which led to the formation of KNSL in 1989, has died,” says Wilfred Kagimbi, Kenya Maritime Authority chief surveyor and receiver of wrecks.


Mr Kagimbi says KNSL dream has been overtaken by time as other African countries which purchased their own vessels have already relinquished management to private hands.

Shipping to Africa and especially to Kenya and adjacent countries is normally done by reliable shipping lines like African Shipping Line based in Dubai and other Major Lines. Freight goods include RO-RO cargo, Break bulk, project and containerized cargo mostly to Kenya and Tanzania ports that leaves for Interior.

SMOOTH TRANSPORTATION IMPROVES CARGO CLEARANCE AT MOMBASA

Mombasa port has recorded impressive operational performance at its container terminal in the last few weeks.The port realised a record 1,117 moves in 24 hours mid last week in the handling of MV MSC Eagle.


The vessel that had docked at berth 17 had earlier recorded 555 moves in a full shift of eight hours. The acting terminal manager, Mr Sudi Mwasinago, said effective equipment and labour utilisation on the vessel resulted to the exemplary performance.He noted the performance is way above the agreement between KPA and the East African Conferences Lines (EACL) that requires the port to maintain a threshold above 200 moves per 24 hours. As for the performance contracting between KPA and the government, the port is required to attain 136 moves per shift, translating into 408 moves every 24 hours.


“The splendid performance is attributed to the improved co-ordination and supervision of ship and yard operations,” said Mr Sylvan Mghanga.


Other factors he cited include adequate space in the yards, optimum labour, equipment and motivated staff. Starting mid last month, the port has been registering general improved performance in a number of areas. The total container population has reduced drastically from 15,000 TEUs in January to 10,000 TEUs this week, against total yard holding capacity of 15,000 TEUs.



The port management also attributes this to efficiency in cargo deliveries by road which currently stands at about 1,000 TEUs per 24 hours. The last week record performance is only comparable to 1,076 moves per 24 hours realised in the handling of MV Msc Sudan in September 2006.


Earlier in the year, a record performance was realised on the handling of MV. Nordstar of Maesk Lines, which recorded 924 moves in 24 hors and 453 moves in one shift.Moves per hour or per 24 hours is the most efficient index of measuring port performance, which tallies the number of containers moved from a vessel to the yard or from the yard to the vessel.

But even as the port remained upbeat on its improved performance, the clearing agents say the Kenya Revenue Authority’s Orbus system that is used for payment of duties has failed them.“We recognise the improved performance on the part of the KPA, but we are very frustrated by the KRA over the constant and sometimes prolonged system failure,” says Mr Gerald Kagumo, the chairman of the Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (Kifwa).

The KRA was yet to say precisely what the cause of the problem was but officials at the Mombasa Long Room assured the clearing agents that their IT experts were trying to sort out the problem.

SHIPPING LINES INCREASE RATES AS COSTS SOAR

As rising operation costs eat into returns, shipping lines have increased freight rates for cargo shipped into the region from India, a move that is likely to push importers into passing on increasing costs to consumers.

Emirates Shipping Line (ESL), Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), French carrier CMA CGM, and Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) have adjusted their charges up to $300 per a Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) shipped from Asia to East Africa.

TEU is the standard unit for counting containers of various capacities and for describing the capacities of container ships or terminals.

“The economic crisis... requires extraordinary measures,” stated Emirates Shipping Line press statement.

Experts say the high cost operations in the region could complicate matters for Emirates shipping line that had pulled out of highly competitive markets like the US due to low business occasioned by global downturn. ESL ships now call at the State-owned Jaya Container Terminal and it uses Colombo Port as a hub to service its markets in the Far East, India, the Middle East and East Africa. ESL, founded in 2006, continues to see opportunities in the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent and Africa regions, which have not witnessed a severe volume crunch.

The shipping line plans to introduce more vessels on the route between Jebel Ali and East Africa hoping to boost its market share.Mediterranean Shipping Co., Emirates Shipping Line and CMA CGM effected the increase the rates on February 17th, while MOL implemented the new charges last Saturday.

Other African sector shipping Lines including the African Shipping Line based in Dubai, UAE have either re-adjusted their prices or are considering a way forward, agencies describe.

MOMBASA PORT SET TO HAVE A SECOND CONTAINER TERMINAL

The Kenya Ports Authority will increase efficiency and capacity at the port of Mombasa in a bid to position it among the top 20 ports in the world by 2010.
Currently the port is ranked fourth on the continent after Richards Bay, Saldanha and Durban in Southern Africa.

Recently-confirmed KPA managing director James Mulewa said that in order to solve the problem of capacity limitation, the authority will build a second container terminal to increase the volume of cargo handled from 600,000 twenty-foot-equivalent containers to 1.8 million. The authority has also asked for Ksh3 billion ($37.5 million) from the government “to replace the aging cranes and other equipment bought five years ago, which are now due for replacement” said Mr Mulewa.

He said the movement of cargo had improved since the number of weighbridges were reduced to two, adding that when the Rift Valley Railways streamlines operations and improves cargo delivery, it will help the port handle an increased volume of cargo. The port will also approve more container freight stations for licensing by the Kenya Revenue Authority. Currently, there are only two such stations that handle containers — Consalbase and Mombasa Container Terminal.

The two set up in October last year have handled over 50,000 teu at a time when the port was faced by a serious threat of Vessel Delay Surcharges by shipping lines.

“More CFSs with the capacity to handle 3000 teus at a go will be licensed,” Mr Mulewa said.

However, the KPA boss said that since the development of the port of Mombasa had almost reached its full capacity, and in order for the country to remain relevant in the future shipping industry in the region, it was necessary to build a second major port in Lamu. The port of Mombasa was designed to handle only 20 million tonnes of cargo per annum. The Lamu port will be expected to serve landlocked Ethiopia and Southern Sudan, with a population of 80 million and 12 million respectively.

The reconstruction of Southern Sudan has generated huge imports needs and Lamu’s direct line of sight with Addis Ababa will allow for the shortest railway link between them. With the entry of Southern Sudan into the region’s economy, it is estimated that the demand for cargo imports will rise to over 32 million tonnes of per annum. The port of Mombasa and the existing road and rail network cannot possibly handle the increase in volume and weight of materials that will be required by Southern Sudan.

Currently Southern Sudan is exporting crude oil through a 1,600 kilometre-long pipeline connecting its oil fields to the Red Sea at Port Sudan. It is expected that these volumes will increase and the region has proposed an alternative oil pipeline through Kenya. The proposed route of this second corridor is Lamu-Garissa-Isiolo-Maralal-Lodwar and Lokichogio, branching at Isiolo to Nairobi to the south and to Ethiopia in the north. It will also serve South Sudan cargo through Juba.The port at Lamu is envisaged to be linked to the port in Mombasa by a new railway line and an access road, according to a lead consultant on the project, Dr Mutule Kilonzo. Lamu has naturally deep waters and a port there would accommodate bigger ships than those docking in Mombasa.

A free trade zone that will be developed along with the port is expected to foster the growth of trade and commercial activity to make Lamu a commercial hub. Dr Kilonzo said the project is expected to start by 2010.

Dubai World has been eyeing the Mombasa Port for sometime and we are unsure if the new project will be theirs for a take.

TANZANIAN DAR PORT SET TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS

The Dar-es-Salaam port is working on a major upgrade that could get rid of congestion, attract new business and position itself as “the harbour of choice” in the region.This could see the Mombasa Port, also battling with congestion made worse by the post-election violence, face increased competition for business in the region.

A senior Tanzania Port Authority (TPA) manager, Mr Jason Rugaihuruza, says they have embarked on new strategies that would lead to increased container terminal capacity and the use of inland depots, optimimum use of the terminal capacity within the port and active participation of various stakeholders in the programmes to reduce dwell-time of cargo at the port.Key long-term measures by the TPA include construction of multi-storey car park to leave space for container handling. This plan, according to Mr Rugaihuruza, is expected to be ready by the end of 2010.

The port managers are also planning the construction of a new container terminal at Bagamoyo and two berths.

GHANA CONTRACT WITH MERIDIEN PORT SERVICES STILL INTACT

Ghana's Ministry of Harbours and Railways on Thursday denied media reports that it has suspended the contract between the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and Meridian Port Services (MPS) to shorehandle containers in Tema Port.

A statement signed by Mr Ahmed Ayuba, Special Assistant to the sector Minster, Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, said no directive had been issued regarding the suspension of the contract.The statement said following increased agitation by indigenous stevedoring companies on stevedore operations, Prof Ameyaw-Akumfi invited the Ghana Association of Stevedoring Companies (GASCO) where he reaffirmed that the implementation of rights under the concession agreement between GPHA and MPS with respect to shorehandling of containers in the Tema Port had been suspended.

“The Minister assured GASCO that a meeting among GPHA, GASCO and the Ministry will be held to identify and resolve challenges facing stevedore companies in the Tema Port.”

Early last week, the Times newspaper reported that the GPHA had suspended the implementation of a license agreement under which MPS was expected to handle all vessels carrying more than 50 containers to the port. In the said report, Kwadwo Adansi Bonna, General Manager of GPHA, explained that though the implementation was based on the license agreement, it had not been approved by the GPHA. This was after another media reports on the mounting tension at the port over the decision by GPHA to implement the contract with MPS.

Eight indigenous stevedoring companies had complained that the implementation of the contract would collapse their businesses and make about 3,000 workers jobless. Under the contract, MPS would handle vessels with 50 and more containers. The company has the technological advantage for quick turn around time for ships.

INCREASED CONTAINER TRAFFIC CONGESTS MOMBASA

Shippers in Africa have been told to prepare to absorb extra costs caused by congestion in the regional ports following increased global container traffic, which have also stretched global port capacities.

Experts say this perennial problem dogging most ports in Africa could take up to 15 years of infrastructural and other logistics enhancement to be solved. This is in contrast to other parts of the world where it would take a far much shorter period. This is as a result of African governments’ bureaucracy.Global ports are currently recording increased container traffic, leading to congestion at even reputable ports like Liverpool, Southampton in England, Colombia, Kochi, Mumbai and Karachi in India and Sydney in Australia.

Others, according to a World Bank report, are Santos and Buenos in South America while those in North America are Los Angeles and Oakland. In Africa, they include the ports of Mombasa, Dar-es-Salaam, Durban and Abidjan, among other smaller ports. Kenya has embarked on improving it's ports and harbours and is putting stringent measures to improve and maintain efficiency to be among the most valued ports.

KPA TO ENLIST CONTAINER FREIGHT STATIONS (CFS) TO EASE CONGESTION

Pic

Cargo pile up at Mombasa port container terminal. Kenya Ports Authority has invited bidders to apply for container freight station licenses

More container freight stations will be enlisted to mitigate the cargo congestion crisis at the Mombasa port.The Kenya Ports Authority has invited bidders to apply for container freight station (CFS) licenses in a move that affirms the increasing role that such stations will continue playing in the local cargo handling chain in future.

Firms to be licensed will operate alongside the two leading logistic service providers — Consolbase Limited and Mombasa Container Terminal, which are mandated by KPA to clear containers on its behalf. Apart from the two, there are 11 other container freight stations which specialise in handling group cargo and motor vehicles.

Container freight station is emerging as a major sub-sector in the shipping industry, as shrewd investors steadily move in to cash in on this logistic solution.Though the concept is relatively new in Kenya, those venturing into it say that such terminals have a bright future considering the recent trend of port authorities commercialising cargo handling services.

Over the last five years, 13 firms have ventured into freight stations. These include Awanad, Mitchell Cotts, Mombasa Container Terminal, Kencont, Consolbase, African Liner Agencies, Boss Freight, Siginon, Regional Logistics, Makupa, Kenfreight, Portside and Interpel.

“I think CFS will play a bigger role in future; their role in helping to decongest port during the post election violence is an illustration of the critical role they can play in the cargo handling chain,’’ Mr Mohammed Jama, a director of Interpel CFS told Business Daily.

A Container Freight Station is an extension of the port thus it ordinarily has to operate under customs control and other governmental agencies. It must have the minimum cargo handling and storage facilities.A CFS operates in the same way as an inland container depot (ICD) only that the latter is in most cases located further inland. Their main functions include receipt and dispatch of cargo, loading and offloading of group cargo from containers, provision of transit operations among others.

Their popularity has been boosted by the shipping trends worldwide and a realization by both government and private sector of the great economic benefits accruing from such yards or terminals. Some of these include convenient handling of long distance or transit cargos.The make it possible to bring the customs services near the centres of production and consumption. There is also the efficiency of the yards which leads to less demurrage and pilferage being incurred.

The direct movement of cargo from the Mombasa port to the CFS means such cargo is not subjected to customs procedures at the gate of the port thus saving on time. When the KRA is licensing a CFS it has to take into account factors such as location, facilities, security and equipment, among others.

A nearby railway line is an important asset for CFS developers, but following the poor performance of the Rift Valley Railways in recent times, several of the recently gazetted CFS happen to be kilometres away from Kenya’s lines. Other key facilities include warehouses, gate complexes, cargo handling equipment such as cranes, haulers and trolleys and a premises to house customs and other agencies.

A warehouse is needed to provide storage and working area for non containerized cargo. Enough space is needed to isolate the separate export bound cargo from the imports which are unpacked and distributed to individual owners.A gate complex is required for proper regulation of entry and exit of vehicles carrying cargo and containers through the terminal. It is where documentation, security and container inspection procedures are undertaken.

DUBAI WORLD KEEN ON MOMBASA PORT

Dubai World, a UAE government investment with a plan on four strategic growth including Transport & Logistics, Drydocks & Maritime, Urban Development and Investment & Financial Services is set to take up the Kenya's Mombasa port any time soon.

Analyst say, If that happens, massive equipment investment would be in the works and ship turnaround cut to just three hours like they did in Dakar, Senegal, and Djibouti which they control.They are also partners and managers in Sokhna port of Egypt, Aden and Jeddah. Their entry would appreciably change the politics of the port which is simmering to inefficiencies.

DP World operates several ports in the world after it became economical to separate ownership and operation globally and it's noteworthy that the 10-year-old DP manages more than the Djibouti Port — including container, oil terminals and berths and marine services, Djibouti Airport and a free trade zone. The port has now become a byword for efficiency, especially in handling massive cargo from Ethiopia after a fallout with Eritrea, who almost exclusively handled their exports before.

DP spokesman Anil Singh said the group has been waiting for the port to complete a feasibility study, a process that would pave the way for private players. “We would want to be involved sooner than later. We have been waiting for an indication,” Mr Singh said.

Mombasa Port has lately contributed to the brisk economic growth in Kenya and the whole of East African region business relies mainly on it, Factors that saw port cargo grow by 10.7 per cent last year. In 2003, it was handling cargo estimated at 12 million tonnes annually. This has shot up to slightly under 16 million, only exacerbating the administrative chaos that have become a permanent feature of the deep-sea port. In terms of twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), the growth has been faster at 22 per cent with a total of nearly 600,000 containers handled.

DP World says the port needs major rehabilitation and new equipment. The spokesman said they would be happy to make a difference.

“The process of making the initial changes takes between three and six months,” Mr Singh said.

Meanwhile, DP World is set to open a new container terminal in Djibouti this December and have already cut waiting time in Dakar from seven days to three hours. Mombasa certainly can do with that efficiency. Given the kind of politics surrounding the port, it is unlikely we can easily reach that efficiency level shortly though, they say.

Certainly, if Kenya wants a manager, DP World, who famously failed to secure contract for running US ports due to clearly xenophobic lobbying, would have to contend with other aspirants, including the famous Singapore PSA.

CARS AT MOMBASA PORT TO BE DESTROYED FOR SCRAP

More than 700 imported vehicles and cargo in 7,000 containers abandoned at the Mombasa port will be destroyed. The exact value of the cargo could not be established, because owners did not lodge documents to show their value, but it was estimated to be worth billions of shillings.

Acting Finance Minister John Michuki announced in Mombasa on Wednesday, saying the cars would be crushed and sold as scrap because they had been at the port for long and were more than eight years old. Imported cars older than eight years are not allowed into the country.


Mr Michuki gave port users up to October 31, to embrace 24-hour operations. Addressing stakeholders, he said the containers had taken up space at the port, and would be destroyed.
"The question whether the goods should continue lying at the port or not has been a subject of public interest. It has been decided that Customs will advertise the vehicles before they are crushed into scrap metal," he said.


Transport Assistant Minister John Mwau, Environment Assistant Minister Ramadhan Kajembe, Attorney-General Amos Wako, Finance PS Joseph Kinyua, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Commissioner-General Michael Waweru and KPA acting Managing Director James Mulewa, among others, accompanied Michuki.


The stakeholders were drawn from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, Kenya Shippers Council, Kenya Transport Association and Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (Kifwa) among others. The minister said officials from the National Environment Management Authority had been directed to deal with containers with cargo that could be an environmental hazard.


However, Minister Michuki assured a representative of the Ugandan government, Mr Patrick Kyemba, that exporters from the neighbouring country would be allowed to collect their vehicles if they presented ownership documents to KRA.


Kyemba had pleaded with the minister to allow Ugandans more time to remove their vehicles from the port to container freight stations in Mombasa. During the meeting, Michuki directed KRA and KPA to merge their electronic clearance systems by October 31, to allow quick processing of cargo documents.


The minister said the 24-hour port operation, which was introduced on August 18, had not improved the flow of cargo through the port because of teething problems.He asked KPA to seek approval for a Sh1.5 billion loan from the Finance ministry, to buy cargo-handling equipment to boost the 24-hour port operation. Michuki said he had written to Internal Security Minister George Saitoti, asking him to provide more police officers for security during night port operations.



He said there was a high risk of losses at the port due to insecurity, adding that adequate security personnel must back the round-the-clock operations. Michuki also said he had written to Industrialisation Minister Henry Kosgey, urging him to ensure that Kenya Bureau of Standards had personnel on night duty.





"After visiting the port yesterday (Tuesday), I wrote to the two ministers so that they can act to ensure the 24-hour port operations succeed," he said. At the same time, Michuki announced that idlers would be kicked out of the port to end corruption. "By October 31, clearing and forwarding agents should operate from their offices in town and not the port. All busybodies must be removed because they promote corruption," he said.


Michuki said he would convene a port stakeholders’ meeting on November 10 to ensure his deadline was honoured by KRA and KPA. He took issue with Coast MPs demanding that KPA managing director must be from the region, saying the port was an international facility. "This is an international port and should not be treated as a village project. The only reason why one should serve as KPA MD is competency," Michuki said.

Mr Waweru said KRA would not allow KPA to transfer cargo directly from the port to inland container depots upcountry until it executed Sh500 million-security bond.
If allowed, he explained, it would lead to loss of revenue.

MOMBASA PORT'S NEW CONTAINER TERMINAL FUNDED BY JAPAN

Design work for the Sh16 billion container terminal for the port of Mombasa begins next month. The project with a capacity of 1.2 million teus ( 20 foot equivalent units) will be completed in 10 months.

Engineering work could begin from July next year and the first phase of the terminal completed in 2013. The project, the biggest ever at Mombasa port in recent times, is being undertaken by Japanese Port Consultancy.

But while the construction of the new terminal would modernise the port, it has emerged that movement of containers would be hampered unless wide roads are constructed.

Briefing Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his delegation at the port recently, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) officials said the new terminal was designed with a six lane road up to the Old Port Reitz Airport Road where it joins a single lane road. KPA chief operations manager Engineer Joseph Atonga warned of chaos if the roads is not widened. The six lanes cover about 1.6km from the new container terminal to be located west of the existing port.

“We have informed concerned ministries about this problem. We will require six lanes beyond the new container terminal to ensure smooth flow of traffic,” Atonga said. This is expected to be costly because it would involve compensation of property owners and demolition of houses and other structures.

The Sh16 billion, a soft loan from the Japanese Bank of International Corporation, did not include construction of the road extension beyond Port Reitz area.

“We are asking the Prime Minister to assist us address the problem,” said Atonga.

Raila said the Government was interested in modernising the port and making it more efficient. He said the Government would fast-track establishment of a free port at Dongo Kundu area near the port. The project will include a fixed by-pass linking Moi International Airport and the Diani tourist resort in the South Coast. Meanwhile, priority will be given to the extension of a two kilometre stretch from the Old Port Reitz airport road to Magongo area.

This is expected to cost between Sh400 million and Sh500 million.

TAPPING AFRICAN BUSINESS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST

Africa, particularly the Horn of Africa now seems to be playing a greater role in world trade that is combining East and West business through Freight( Airfreight, Sea Freight) and so on.

From Crude Oil of Arabian countries, almost all kind of trade from China, Motors from Japan, Hides and Skin from Africa, The business is booming from East to West with Middle East and Africa playing bigger roles in providing logistics.

VEHICLE IMPORTERS AT MOMBASA PORT TO PAY US$300 FOR NUMBER PLATES

Local motor vehicle importers are incurring an extra cost of Sh20,000 per vehicle as demurrage charges in a newly-introduced rule by Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) for number plates.

KRA had directed, in April last year that importers would not be allowed to take their cars until they acquired actual number plates for the same.The taxman had argued that motor vehicles without number plates were being used in acts of thuggery in the country, which they said were on the rise.

Efforts to get a comment from KRA over the matter were futile. Importers are, however, questioning the rationale of introducing the clause arguing if the main issue was theft, the law enforcers could easily identify the vehicles used by logging in the chassis number to identify the owners of the vehicle.

PORT SUDAN RECORDS REMARKABLE GROWTH

Port Sudan recorded a remarkable performance in total cargo traffic last year, which saw her ranked top of Dar- es- Salaam and just a digit below the port of Mombasa, in the Eastern and Southern Africa ports standings.

According to the Ports Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA) statistics, Port Sudan recorded a total cargo traffic growth of 10.3 per cent compared to Dar and Mombasa that had 1.9 and 10.7 per cent respectively.The 26 ports under PMAESA recorded an average annual growth of 3.5 per cent from 249.2 million tons in 2006 to 257.8 million tons recorded in 2007.

The growth rate is said to be a consistent with the average economic growth of 3.5 per cent witnessed in many countries in the region. Shipping Lines that operate at Port Sudan Include AFRICAN SHIPPING LINE and WADI AL NEEL shipping of Sharjah-UAE.

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CONTAINER TERMINAL AT MOMBASA AND IT'S IT WOES

Is Kilindini Waterfront Automated Terminal Operation System (Kwatos) failing? This is the million dollar question bothering importers and exporters as they incur losses due to delays occasioned by the system.

Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (KIFWA) chairman, Mombasa branch, Peter Otieno said that it was taking up to two weeks to clear a container from the port. The situation could be worse for those importers who are incurring demurrages.

Before the introduction of Kwatos it took a clearing agent up to a week to clear a single container from the port of Mombasa, said Mr Otieno in an interview with Shipping News.

“We are now incurring an overhead cost of Sh21,000 to clear a single container from the port of Mombasa since the introduction of the system,” said Mr Otieno, arguing that the manual system should run together with Kwatos until the cause of the hitches was identified and rectified.

TRANSHIPMENT CARGO "TEMPORARILY" SUSPENDED AT MSA

Kenya Ports Authority has suspended landing of transshipment cargo in Mombasa port from next Monday due to over congestion.

This will allow the port to clear a backlog of 2,741 Twenty Foot Equivalents Units as at Wednesday, destined for Dar es Salaam and other Indian Ocean ports. Normally, the port handles about 2,000 units for transshipment.

The port of Dar es Salaam, which regularly faces similar problems of congestion, significantly relies on Mombasa as one measure of controlling the problem.

Mr Harry Abok, the port’s corporate communication officer, said the suspension was only temporary. “We shall resume transshipment business as soon as we clear the backlog,” the officer said.

Mr Abok said that the port of Mombasa is not bound to take any transshipment cargo and only engages in the business when it is convenient.

Unlike the inland cargo, the transshipment cargo is kept near the berth for convenience and is supposed to stay at the port for only 32 days. “But this does not normally happen and sometimes it takes longer than the stipulated period...

“And since the containers cannot be taken to container freight stations, there is always the problem of availability of space whenever there is a slight congestion at the port,” Mr Abok added.

Once the transshipment cargo has been offloaded from the ships, it is taken to the port of destination using small ships, Mr Abok said.

He said the suspension was not unusual and the port had done it in the past. “During the post-election period, for instance, we suspended the service and resumed in March when the conditions at the port improved,” he said.

KPA announced the suspension on Wednesday in a media advertisement.
There are 11 ships waiting for berths at the port. Mr Abok said this is a high season when the port receives many vessels, some arriving at the same time. The port has increased the number of berths reserved for containers from four to seven.

Kenya's Port managing director Abdallah Mwaruwa expressed concern about lack of stability and satisfaction with the computerised cargo handling and clearance system- Kwatos, which is the main reason why the port is experiencing the present congestion.

Since it was launched on July 1, this year, the Sh450 million system has reported problems of network interface with the already existing enterprise resource planning system which computerised KPA’s internal managerial system in the first phase of computerisation.

Mr Mwaruwa said the port may resort to the old manual system for some time. “The review will hopefully give Kwatos more time to be rectified,” he added.

KENYA: MOMBASA PORT FACING CARGO CLEARANCE PROBLEMS

The Kenya's Port of Mombasa is facing one of its stiffest challenges in recent times, due to an operational crisis caused by a new cargo clearance system at it's facilities.This follows the introduction of the automated Kilindini Waterfront Terminal Operations System (Kwatos), a cargo clearance system, which has failed to stabilise and which is causing congestion.

As a result, Shipping Lines, transporters and clearing and forwarding agents have appealed to the Government to intervene and by yesterday, KPA's MD Abdalla Mwaruwa though admitting that there was some teething problems with the systems at the port which led to congestion at the port, defended the Sh450 million investment and asked for patience, saying it was experiencing teething problems but would eliminate paper work associated with clearing of cargo in the long run.

Eight ships were yesterday waiting to discharge cargo and thousands of containers and imported vehicles littered the Port as the computerised clearance system was still down.

DJIBOUTI PORT TO INCREASE TARIFFS FROM AUGUST 15TH

There will be a new set of tariff rates to be applied to all services at the Port of Djibouti, beginning mid-August 2008, DP World Djibouti announced. Communicated to the Ethiopian authorities through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who were caught off guard, and so completely taken aback by this development, various sources revealed.

The new rates would introduce increases of up to 25pc in marine charges; an average of 2,000 ships dock at the Port of Djibouti every year. Other increases include cargo port dues, storage charges (25pc), and a 15pc rise in the cost of container stevedoring by the latter for the first time since 1984, disclosed a letter signed by Aboubaker Omar Hadi, commercial director of DP World Djibouti, on June 25, 2008.

This will be the first comprehensive adjustment of tariff on port operations since Ethiopia and Djibouti signed a port utilization agreement in May 2004. The port’s management was given to DP World in 2000, under a 20-year contract. The current increase in various forms of port dues is attributed to a global escalation of prices on fuel, which increased by 350pc, and a headline inflation of 19.2pc in Djibouti, the letter stated.

The letter also argued that the management had invested in the acquisition of new equipment, such as four reachstakers, and ordered an additional six at a cost of six million dollars. This is meant to improve services by providing port operations 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This is all in its bid to “deliver world class port and marine services.”

But increasing the tariff amount is only a part of what was in the letter. The management decided to reduce the free storage period for local cargo from 10 to three days and on that of transit cargo (mostly to Ethiopia) from two weeks to eight days. The management has also introduced a new fee of one dollar whenever a gate pass is issued.

“Every port in the world has increased its tariffs,” said a Djiboutian businessman. “It shouldn’t be surprising that the management did this. Every thing seems to be increasing these days” . The increase of port dues is a very sensitive issue for Ethiopia, a country that depends almost entirely on the Port of Djibouti for its international trade.

The Port is not only used as a gateway for Ethiopian transit cargo, but also as a point of destination, according to a study conducted by the Ministry in November 2004. The volume of its import and export cargoes has been on the rise: from 3.9 million tonnes in 2006/07 to 4.6 million tonnes in 2007/08. Projected to grow by 20pc, the volume is anticipated to exceed five million tonnes this year.

Last time, the port attempted to increase its tariff in January 2001 by 30pc, Ethiopian authorities protested vehemently, for it would have had subjected the country to an additional cost of nearly 170 million dollars.

How much the latest increase will cost Ethiopia is a question that trade and transport experts were pondering last week. A technical committee under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) was formed last week. It comprises members from four federal agencies: the Ministry, Customs Authority, Maritime Transit Enterprise (MTS) and the Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL).

“We have been informed through a letter issued by the port,” Ephraim Tufa, head of Port Department under the Ministry and chairman of the intra-agency committee, says “It is too early to determine the extent of the impact on our economy. But I can tell you it will affect us a lot.”

The committee is analysing the impact of the tariff increase on all four areas. A particular concern for Ethiopian authorities, however, is the reduction of free storage period from 15 days to eight days. Ethiopian cargoes are often laid inside the port and free zone areas without being cleared for months. A glimpse along the road that passes through free zone and vehicles depot located behind the airport would have exposed a pile up of goods destined to Ethiopia; inside the container depot is a mountain of containers. The shorter the free storage grass period is the higher the cost for Ethiopian importers, both private and public.

The cost benefit analysis is expected to be completed next week, and the finding will be submitted to Girma Birru, minister of Trade and Industry, and Ethiopia’s led trade negotiator on bilateral and multilateral fronts.

He signed the port utilization agreement four years ago in Djibouti; it is an agreement that compels Djibouti to conduct consultation with Ethiopia prior to the introduction of tariff adjustment. “I’m surprised they did this before talking to us,” said a prominent negotiator on port related issues with Djibouti.

Other sources knowledgeable of the agreement between the two countries say Djibouti’s commitment it to inform Ethiopian authorities two months ahead of an intended increase, providing sufficient time for the first to start engagement.

“They [Djibouti authorities] have informed their counterpart their intention of adjusting the tariffs long ago,” said another businessman in Djibouti. “What you may see now the start of discussions between the two parties.”

Ethiopia uses 90 percent of Djibouti port’s services and relies nearly 100% on the port for imports. It is to be recalled that the Port of Djibouti had introduced an increment in 2001, after negotiations with the Ethiopian government.

Ethiopia’s import traffic via Djibouti port has been regularly increasing. Over 3.9 million metric tons of goods were imported in the year 1998 E.C. The volume increased to over 4.6 million metric tons in 1999 E.C.

According to a report from ENA, Ethiopia’s import via the Port of Djibouti increased by 20% in March this year, quoting the Ethiopian Ambassador to Djibouti, Ato Shemsedin Ahmed Roble. Relief grain import has decreased while construction materials and goods related to investment and infrastructure development have significantly increased lately.

However, in view of the current drought this situation may reverse. The new increment when applied will concern all port users, including vessels, operators, charters, mortgagees or agents, the cargo owners or agents (shippers), and other users of the port.

Djibouti Port Commercial Director, Aboubacar O. Hadi had explained that port charges on import represent only 1.6% of the total value of goods and on export the charges represent only 0.78%. In view of the continuous upgrading undertaken by the Port, and the hike in petrol price, over USD 145/barrel and rising, increments in the port charges were inevitable, note observers.

In 2007, Ethiopian imports were at 5 billion dollars and exports were 1.2 billion dollars worth. The port charge increment would incur millions in additional costs for Ethiopia.

The port of Djibouti had total traffic of 7.4 million metric tons in 2007, a 36% increase from the 5.4 million metric tons in 2006. The transshipment traffic has also been growing rapidly. Ethiopia and Djibouti combined represent 120,000 container imports, while transshipment alone is 50,000 containers.

The Port is also expecting to increase its transshipment business starting from next year with the Port of Doraleh. After completion in December 2008, the Port of Doraleh expects to service in the first two years 1.5 million containers per year. Later, it is expected to handle 2 million containers.

DUBAI AFRICA SHIPPING ACCELERATES

State-owned Dubai World is targeting new projects in six African countries as part of its investment drive on the continent, in which an official says ""We look at Africa as an emerging market because I would say other markets are dying of credit crunches," Daniel Saliba, an analyst for the company's Transactions for Africa and Indian Ocean unit, told news conference recently.

through it's Dubai World, One of the World's largest holding company that manages and supervises it's portfolio of businesses and projects across 100 different cities in the world to do business with Africa.

are sourced in Dubai. Whatever the trader is looking for, it can probably be found here. Clothes from India, electronics, and cars from Japan, locks from China, mobile phones from South Korea, food from Indonesia, half-life size models of Santa Claus from an unknown destination. The list is as endless as anyone's imagination.

Many international businesses which are interested in developing their market in the Middle East have been lured by some attractive features offered by Dubai. The sheer size of the market in Dubai has been increasing at a steady pace. Although the United Arab Emirates has a relatively smaller population than other Middle East countries, its total imports have been registering a steady growth with the passing of each year. The impressive performance can be attributed to the fact that Dubai has emerged as the major re-export centre for the entire Middle East region.

As the growth accelerates, So do shipping companies that operate UAE-African routes.They have been reporting impressive growth over the years and many lines are now eyeing the sector. Significant growth has been reported in shipping movement especially in Containers and RO-RO services to Africa from Dubai over the past years and this has led corporate business establishment like DubaiWorld and others to open offices in Africa and UAE to streamline their actvities.

MAERSK LINE CLOSES MOMBASA'S CONTAINER CENTRE

Maersk Kenya Limited has closed down its Mombasa Logistic Container Centre (LCC) and sent about 123 employees home.The company says that it had subcontracted the service of empty container handling to three local companies, which the management was not ready yet to reveal.

The establishment’s commercials planning manager Ms Vera Kereko confirmed the closure saying that the move was taken after the lease of the land the centre was standing on expired.The LCC was located on a property, which belonged to the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), whose lease expired on the 31st July 2008.

Meanwhile, The management of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) is calling for patience from its customers over the teething problems experienced by the new cargo handling system —the KWATOS.“Teething problems are expected before the system fully stabilises in two to three months from now,’’ says Capt Twalib Khamis, the Harbour Master & Chief Operations Manager.

Capt Khamis argues that the implementation of the new system has largely been a major success and the problems encountered are easily containable and are being sorted out.

KENYA PORT AUTHORITY GIVES NOTICE TO "UNCLAIMED CARS"

Port users in Mombasa want the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to sell by public auction over 665 motor vehicles that have been lying unclaimed at the Mombasa port for a long time.

A six-person task force appointed to deliberate on how the vehicles could be disposed of has recommended that the taxman serve a 30-day notice to the respective importers to come forward and collect the vehicles.

The vehicles that would remain uncollected after expiry of the notice should be sold by public auction, the task force recommended in a report that is expected to be adopted by the major the industry.

The vehicle owners are said to owe the KRA and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) over Sh500 million in unpaid duties and accumulated storage charges. The task force, which is led by the KPA’s reforms programme manager Mr James Mulewa, is advising both KRA and KPA to grant the vehicle importers a full waiver of accumulated customs warehouse rent and/ or port storage charges to importers of these vehicles so as to enable them to clear the vehicles.

Grant amnesty For Kenyan importers who come forward to claim their vehicles within 30 days of the gazette notice, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) should grant them amnesty even though their vehicles are over eight years old or left hand drive, the report continues.

“Vehicles still remaining uncleared at the port after the 30-day gazettement period is over should be auctioned as scrap or spare parts on “as is where is” basis for either local use or export,” the committee further recommends.

The committee says importers of most of the vehicles are from Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Such importers should approach the Government of Kenya through their respective embassies for protocol arrangements to have their vehicles disposed off in their home countries within the proposed 30-day notice period.To avoid unnecessary diplomatic friction, the sale notice should be widely publicised both locally and regionally and also be given to the embassies of the destination countries besides being placed on the web sites of all the key stakeholders such as KRA, KPA, KIFWA, KSAA, Kampala City Traders Association (KCTA), Uganda International Clearing and Forwarding Association (UCIFA), among others.

“The above recommendations and procedures if adopted by the Authorities concerned will facilitate quick disposal of these long stay vehicles at G-Section and avail the space for better use,” the committee says.The committee said the number of vehicles could be more if those lying at container freight stations were counted.

The task force has been investigating the problem since its launch by stakeholders in August last year.It was formed after the uncollected vehicles brought a parking and congestion crisis at the port area leaving little room for other cargo.

The findings show that some of the vehicles do not conform to the Kenya Bureau of Standards Act as they were over eight years old at the time of importation. Others are left hand drive, which is also incompatible with the KEBS Act. Ninety per cent of the vehicles are transit goods and they have accumulated huge storage charges.

Some of the vehicles are said to have been broken into and vandalised, some vehicles have no bonnets and/or wheels while others are severely corroded by the coastal weather especially those in the open yards.

Some of the vehicle parts are said to be untraceable as they had been loaded separately in the containers carrying the vehicles from the port of origin. “Some of these items cannot be matched with the parent vehicles; others are missing and some have already been auctioned by KRA,” the task force says.

The committee comprises of members drawn from the KPA, KRA, KIFWA, Kebs and the Ugandan business community representatives.

ZAMBIA COPPER EXPORTS WILL BE SHIPPED THROUGH KENYA'S MOMBASA PORT

Mombasa port may resume handling Zambian copper exports following increased mining targets.

Zambia used the port more than 30 years ago to ship rich copper exports and now wants this business restarted as soon as modalities are finalised.

Zambian Permanent Secretary for Communications and Transport Fustern Mambwe said the main mining pit in the town of Ndola was expected to produce 20 million tonnes between next year and 2010.

Leading a delegation of permanent secretaries and top company officials from Zambia to Mombasa, Dr Mambwe said his country has targeted copper exports to lead a major push in economic development.

Saying other smaller copper mines had been given production targets, the PS said cumulative amounts cannot rely on the two outlets of ports of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Durban in South Africa. Besides, he added, the two ports are congested as opposed to Mombasa.

KENYA'S MOMBASA PORT TO BOOST EFFICIENCY

Kenya's Mombasa port users have expressed hope that the automation of the port terminal will greatly enhance efficiency of the shipping industry.

The Mombasa port serves inland countries as far as Central African republic, Uganda, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Southern Sudan.

Ugandan business community representative, Mr William Kidima, termed the activation of the Kilindini Waterfront Automated System (Kwatos) as a milestone towards streamlining the services at the Mombasa port.

Kidima, however, cautioned that the system must be backed by competent and motivated port staff if the shipping industry is to realize its full benefits.

‘’The new system is good and we support it. However, everyone must know that Kwatos will not move a container from point A to point B or from the yard to the scanners. That still remains the work of the port’s crane and forklift drivers, who need to do satisfactorily work and he on time,’’ Kidima said.

The Kenya International Freight & Warehousing Association (KIFWA) officials said the implementation of Kwatos has complemented the gains of the Simba system of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

“With the launch of Kwatos, we hope the port management will have no excuses of delays such as those that have been happening at the gates,’’ the Kifwa vice-chairman, Mr Peter Mambembe, said.On his part, the Uganda representative said his country’s business community did not have problems with the port, which he described as more efficient than the KRA.

The latter, he said, should take cue from the port and reduce red tape.The Sh 450 million Kwatos system has automated operations in the container terminal, conventional cargo terminal, inland container depots in Nairobi and Kisumu as well as the marine operations.From the costs, Sh200 million covered software while Sh250m went into supporting infrastructure — such as gate modernisation, weighbridges, computer hardware and wireless infrastructure.

The IT project is expected to propel the status of the Mombasa port to new heights in terms of efficiency.The staff of Total Soft Bank, the Korean firm that installed the system is under the supervision of Mr Amos Wangora, KPA’s designated project manager.The port management expects the system to bring about better planning in the operational areas due to enhanced capacity and use of planning tools; optimised use of equipment leading to reduced wear and tear; and enhanced monitoring and supervision of work due to availability user friendly documents and procedures, reduced dwell-time of containers, and less congested offices and operational areas as clients are served from their premises or on appointment.Besides, there would be reduced time wastage as a result of enhanced communication andof real-time information.


The other benefits are enhanced security and better monitoring of cargo. The system users on the other hand will benefit from real time tracking of containers and documents, a development likely to reduce dwell time of goods in port.At the same time, the enhanced efficiency and time spent by clients in the port is likely to witness reduced overhead costs of overheads at the port and, indeed, reduced bureaucracy and corruption as client would henceforth be able to monitor status of documents and cargo on-line.The shipping service and road transport providers can also expect faster turn-around of vessels and trucks in the port.

NOTICE TO TRADE: DAR TO INCREASE CONTAINER STORAGE FEES

The Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) is to increase storage charges for all containers at the Dar es Salaam port to discourage port users from turning it into a storage facility. The Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (Sumatra) is reviewing the proposed increase of between 100 and 150 per cent.

Congestion at the port of Dar Es Salaam has hampered its activities, increased service and production costs, caused loss of customers and failure to capture market opportunities by traders.
Another measure to ease piling up of cargo at the port are clearance incentives being proposed by TPA together with Tanzania International Container Terminal Services (TICTS) to shippers to clear their cargo at the port within 72 hours after the vessel has completed discharge.

Current tariff rates are $20 per day for the next 30 days after expiry of the grace period and thereafter $27 per day. When the new rates are effected, shippers will pay $40 per day as storage rates for the second week that cargo stays at the port and $50 thereafter per day for domestic imports and exports.

Transit cargo will attract a storage fee of $50 per day after an expiry period of 15 days on imports while exports not cleared at the port after 21 days will also be charged a fee of $50 per day.
TPA does not charge any storage fee for domestic imports and exports cleared within one week, while exports in transit only attract storage fees after 21 days.

In a notice addressed to stakeholders, the director general of Sumatra, Israel Sekirasa, says clearance incentives will include a rebate of $15 for 20 foot and $40 foot 40 foot containers removed from the port within 72 hours after the vessel has completed discharge. The current fees are $10 and $15 respectively.

Removal charges will also be imposed on containers overstaying in the port after expiry of the grace period at a rate of $150 per 20 feet container and $225 per 40 feet container.
Removal charges being proposed are meant to cover TPA/Ticts costs of marshalling and re-handling of containers, which includes removal to alternative locations to allow for optimal capacity utilisation in the terminals.

The free storage period, which runs from one week for domestic imports and exports to maximum of three weeks for goods in transit, will remain the same until documentation and cargo clearance procedures are streamlined and the transport system improved to hasten cargo offtake.

Congestion at the Dar es Salaam port has become so chronic that last week, TPA, in collaboration with Ticts, organised a two-day workshop in Dar es Salaam for all major port stakeholders who ended up signing a memorandum of understanding after realising that there was no solution to effective port performance if each stakeholder worked on their own.

The memorandum was signed by 15 stakeholders among them the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, TPA, Sumatra, Tanzania Revenue Authority, Ticts, Tiscan, shipping lines and agents.

KENYA'S MOMBASA PORT AUTOMATION

The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has completed the automation of waterfront cargo operations at the Mombasa port. The Kilindini waterfront project, which was developed at a cost of over KSh200 Million, goes live next Tuesday.

The areas to be computerised include container operations, conventional cargo operations, inland container depot operations in Nairobi and Kisumu, and marine operations across the country.

"This system computerized all the human resources, financial and procurement processes," said KPA public relations officer, Harry Abok, on Thursday.

According to KPA, the modernisation of internal management processes and cargo operations began in earnest in 2001, when the company installed an enterprise resource planning system.
Abok said the Kilindini waterfront project kicked off in January 2006.

NYK LINES EYEING "MOMBASA" PORT

Mombasa Port could soon have a new shipping line calling, further signalling the growing importance of the East African region.

The Singapore-based shipping line, the Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) Lines, hopes to start a container service from East Africa, top officials have confirmed.

NYK Lines resident representative in Dubai and managing director in charge of Asia and Africa, Mr Ayumi Tsuboi, and his counterpart in Singapore, Mr Keiji Ushiyama, said they were on a fact-finding mission in terms of viewing facilities to enable the company embark on the move.

They said most of the company's port of Mombasa services have been based on general cargo. The new container service will be an addition to the general cargo, they noted.

The officials, who had come from the Tanzanian port of Dar- es- Salaam, paid a courtesy call at the port to find out how they could venture into the local market, buoyed by the growing economies of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The region has been registering an average growth of 6 per cent in the recent past.

Founded in 1885, NYK is Japan's largest marine transportation company with operations spanning the globe.NYK and its group companies own and operate some 758 vessels that provide a broad range of shipping services that include container, cruise and specialised transport services.

The company also offers logistics services in a highly integrated transportation network.
In recent years, the global flow of goods has dramatically changed along with increasing economic development in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China).Additionally, the volume of cargo movement via container vessels has also been increasing.

The company says that in order to respond to the future demands for container transport, NYK will proceed to build 36 vessels to add to its fleet of 111 container vessels currently in operation.
NYK is making efforts not only to expand its fleet but also to construct the largest service-route network in the world.

The Grand Alliance (GA), an organisation established by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), Hapag-Lloyd Container Line Gmbh (Germany), Malaysia International Shipping Corporation (Malaysia), and Orient Overseas Container Line Ltd. (Hong Kong), currently offers joint-operation services using 125 container vessels.

Further, in October 2005, the organisation reached a business cooperation agreement with the New World Alliance (TNWA).They began their cooperation by exchanging slots in the Asia-Europe and Asia-Mediterranean trade routes, and introducing a new jointly operated Asia-North American East Coast route from March 2006.

Utilising this large-scale transportation network, the NYK Group intends to continue to expand its shipping capacity, number of operation services, and number of ports of call in order to further increase the comprehensive strength of the NYK Group.

During the Mombasa Port visit, the officials were received by Kenya Ports Authority managing director, Mr Abdallah Hemed Mwaruwa.The MD lauded recent upgrading of the cargo handling equipment at Mombasa which he said had caused a steep rise in performance. Mr Mwaruwa cited the port's container terminal which has just been re-equipped with new cargo handling machines while another second container terminal will be built soon with the help of the Japanese government at a cost of Sh16 billion.

He said the construction of the second container terminal will be preceded by dredging of the harbour channel and widening of the turning basin.The dredged material will also be used in the reclamation of a 100 hectares land for the second terminal.The dredging will enable larger vessels, like panamax and post-panamax types call in Mombasa.

Mr Mwaruwa explained that most containers from the port go by road while the rail takes some 7 per cent of the total. He said the Government has promised to give infrastructure improvement top priority to enable the port play its effective role in serving all the regional economies.

The NYK Lines officials were accompanied by the shipping manager of the East African Commercial and Shipping Company (EACS), Mr George Gachanja who are the local representatives.

MV AMIYA DUTCH VESSEL TAKEN BY "PIRATES"

A Panama-flagged cargo ship MV Amiya Scan has been seized off the coast of Aden, near Somalia on sunday, says Mr Andrew Mwangura, the Seafarers Assistance Programme regional coordinator, citing negotiation deal going on with the pirates.

The ship is a 3,480 dead weight tonnage multi-purpose dry cargo vessel, which was sailing from Mombasa port to Constanza, Romania.

A Dutch shipping company owns the ill-fated vessel which was hijacked in international waters in the Gulf of Aden.

The hijacking of the ship comes just days after the pirates released a Jordanian-flagged cargo ship off Somalia, the latest in a series of pirate attacks in the area this year.

The vessel, Victoria, was seized about 40 nautical miles off Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.

The Jordanian vessel, owned by an Emirates company, was carrying 4,200 tonnes of sugar donated by Denmark to the people of war-torn Somalia.

SHIPPING LINES RAISE BUNKER CHARGES

Shipping agents operating from Dubai and Sharjah to East African Ports of Mombasa, Dar Es Salaam & Zanzibar have to cough more money after the main shipping lines, including AFRICAN SHIPPING LINES-DUBAI, raised the bunker surcharge to 54.56 per cent, which is double the rate charged two years ago.

The increase, which was effected on May 10 by many shipping lines and members of the East African Conference Lines (EACL) trade association in a notice to its member lines, reflects the recent sharp rise of world oil prices.

The notice issued from the EACL London office said: "Having regard to the increase in Bunker prices, the member lines(EACL) have announced that the current bunker surcharge will be revised to 54.56 per cent effective on all shipments south bound by vessels sailing from each port of loading on and after 10th May 2008.

The situation will continue to be closely monitored and the surcharge adjusted accordingly," said the notice that comes barely six months after the last review on December 10.

Bunker surcharge, otherwise referred as fuel cost adjustment factor, is the additional charge levied by shippers to compensate for fluctuations in the price of the ship's fuel.

Bunker prices comprise a major component of the overall costs for operating a vessel.

The surcharge that has been applying since December 10 last year was 46.09 per cent on all shipments south bound by EACL vessels, while the figure of the preceding quarter (September 10 to December 9) was 37.63 per cent.

In 2004, the bunker price averaged $175, which compares dismally with the current $560 to $585 for heavy fuel.

MEMO TO TRADE : AFRICAN PORTS MOMBASA, DAR & DJIBOUTI

ANNOUNCING EXPANSION OF AFRICAN SHIPPING PORTS (EASTERN AFRICA & THE RED SEA PORTS)

RO-RO (Car Carriers) /CONTAINERS/BREAK-BULK SERVICES TO AFRICAN PORTS.

AFRICA SHIPPING LINES-DUBAI would like to announce expansion to cover more African ports especially in the Red Sea sector and Eastern Africa.

AFRICAN SHIPPING LINES-DUBAI currently lialises with various Shipping Line agents & Freight Forwarders that deal in supply chain logistics and cargo distribution across UAE and the world therefore through this mutual co-operation, moves cargo with speed and efficiency across African Continent.

AFRICAN SHIPPING LINES-DUBAI now covers shipping services (RO-RO/CONTAINERS, BREAK-BULK and project cargo) mainly focused on cargo distribution between Dubai-UAE and Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mozambique, Comoros ports in addition to The red sea sector of Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt and Somalia.

As a matter of fact, basically, Companies in African countries prefer trading with U.A.E market mainly because of the availability of a wide variety of their requirements and ready distribution of their goods.

AFRICAN SHIPPING LINES-DUBAI therefore concentrates on speedy arrangement of your cargo movement to and from Dubai or Sharjah Ports.

ASL-DUBAI has the capacity and expertise to move any kind of cargo between UAE ports to the Ports of Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Comoros, Nacala in Eastern African sector adjoing the Indian Ocean the Red Sea sector comprising of Port Djibouti serving Djibouti and Ethiopia, Port Assab for Eritrea&Ethiopia.

Port Sudan& Swakin serve Sudan, Chad and interiors while Port Said/Port Suez serves Egypt and combine their activities with Aqaba Port of Jordan.Port Berberra/Bossaso/Mogadishu serving areas around Horn of Africa.

Other ports are covered by ASL-DUBAI in the process and they include, Mukalla Port, Aden and Jeedah of Saudi Arabia.

Shipping services to Africa from Middle East has never been easy and ASL-DUBAI services has made shipping to Africa easier.Please let us know if you have cargo for the same destinations by sending quotations located on the sidebar of this website,

Please feel free to contact African Shipping Lines-Dubai on the email: africanshippingdubai@gmail.com

KRA AVERTS CONGESTION AT KENYA'S MOMBASA PORT

The Kenyan Government has taken the decision to avert a congestion crisis at the port of Mombasa by allowing Vehicle Importers to freely collect their vehicles from the Mombasa port before obtaining the mandatory number plates from the Registrar of Motor Vehicles.

The vehicles have been piling for nearly a month because number plates, which are made by the Prisons department, have been scarce. The department has however, denied any problems with the output of number plates.

The vehicles which are cleared at the rate of 200 per day have piled up to 10,000 in all the Container Freight Stations (CFSs) used by the port, with 2,000 more cars expected to dock in next week.

On Sunday, the Kenya Revenue Authority communications manager for Coast region, Ms Fatma Yusuf, said the ports authority was calling on importers to collect vehicles from the stations. They can then wait for the number plates which were likely to take sometime while keeping their vehicles outside the port.

KRA last year introduced a rule that vehicles should not leave the port until they are issued with number plates.

“We started allowing vehicles to leave the stations and wait for the plates. But the condition is that the owners must have paid all dues including the plates fees,” she said.

The shortage of number plates is causing concern among shippers and importers because a crisis is looming over storage space.

The recent warders’ strike made the situation worse because no production took place during the strike, and even after the strike, production of the plates has been slow. Now there are fears that if the congestion goes unchecked, vessels calling at Mombasa port with vehicles may impose punitive charges to recover losses over waiting period which is expected to increase due to lack of space in the CFSs.

Currently the CFSs mandated by KRA as custom bonded warehouses and contracted by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) to handle vehicles are saturated with cars.

A source at a freight station yesterday said if the problem is not addressed urgently, the situation might lead to congestion at the port because the freight terminals will lack space to store the vehicles.

“The situation is serious because soon we will run out of space, meaning that we shall not be able to take more from the port,” the source said.

Boss Freight Terminal general manager Giancarlo Bonanno said the terminal was currently holding 1,300 vehicles.“We are expecting another consignment of 2,000 cars and we do not know where we shall keep them,” he said. There are close to 10 CFSs that handle vehicles and most of them are full to capacity.

And now, clearing and forwarding agents want KRA to rescind the decision, saying it did not make sense to detain vehicles whereas all duties and taxes, including registration fees, had been paid in full.

Kenya International Freight & Warehousing Association Mombasa branch chairman Peter Otieno said once a vehicle had been cleared with all duties paid, including registration fees, it should immediately be released.

On Saturday, Mr Otieno said agents were losing millions of shillings by paying storage charges accruing as a result of vehicles overstaying at freight stations.

JAPAN GIVES US$241M FOR KENYA'S MOMBASA PORT EXPANSION

The Government of Japan has pledged Sh15 billion grant towards the development of the Mombasa Port.

The new Japanese envoy to Kenya, Mr Shigeo Iwatani, said on Wednesday that an exchange note to that effect would be signed between the two governments mid this month.

Iwatani said his Government is impressed by the economic development that Kenya has achieved and promised more donor funding to finance the country’s infrastructure.

"The Japanese Government is impressed by Kenya’s economic growth and development and is keen to assist the country further. We have a number of projects in the pipeline and will begin with the signing of the exchange note towards the development of the Mombasa Port," said Iwatani.

He was speaking in Nairobi during a meeting with Planning and National Development minister, Mr Henry Obwocha. Iwatani said discussions were ongoing with the Kenyan authorities on a five-year development plan.

SMALL DUBAI TO BE SET IN MOMBASA PORT

Boss Freight Terminal Ltd, an exclusive vehicle handling facility at Mbaraki in Mombasa is embarking on an ambitious multi-billion shilling project to convert the facility into a duty-free motor mart or ‘small Dubai’, its deputy GM, says,

Boss Freight terminal operates like any other CFS and is charged with the responsibility of creating a storage yard for imports. They have managed to make facilitation of an integrated clearing, billing, verification and security screening for all vehicles through working relationship with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officers, Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and port police.

They are planning to construct a multi-storey parking facility which will accommodate a total of 20,000 units as well as house car dealers and agents. We intend to become a bonded facility enabling dealers to import and sell ‘on site’.

MOMBASA PORT TO UNDERGO MODERNIZATION AND EXPANSION

Kenya's Transport Minister, Ali Mwakwere has confirmed to the press that Over US$ 330 Million Dollars will be used to dredge and build the second container terminal to allow bigger vessels to call at the port of Mombasa.

The Minister said out of that, a KSh16 billion will be used to build and equip the second container terminal while KSh4 billion will go to dredging of the harbour channel and widening of the turning basin to allow bigger vessels to berth with ease.

The construction of the second container terminal is being funded with assistance from The Government of Japan in co-operation with Kenya Government which will undertake the dredging.

Both projects are set to be complete by 2011.

UGANDA PROPERTY HOLDING CAUSING RIPPLES IN MOMBASA

A row is brewing between clearing agents in the port of Mombasa and a Ugandan property holdings company under construction at the port.

The Kenya & Uganda Shipping association officials claim that the Ugandan company is denying their members business from Uganda alleging that the company is handling all the goods entering and leaving Uganda.

The company in Question is Uganda Property Holdings limited which begun construction mid last year and now it is nearing completion and has advertised for a shipping company from Uganda to handle the clearing and forwarding services.

The presence of this company however is causing ripples among the clearing agents in the city and shipping association officials now say allowing the company to have a monopoly in clearing and forwarding of all the motor vehicles entering and leaving Uganda will set a bad precedent for other East African countries.

They are now calling on the Kenyan government to intervene.

KENYA'S MOMBASA PORT: 24 HOUR DUTY ROSTER

Mombasa Port has started clearing transit cargo around the clock to decongest the facility, managing director Abdalla Mwaruwa has said.

The 24-hour rule also allows cargo to be transported to the KPA’s inland container depots in Nairobi, Kisumu and Eldoret for collection.

Mr Mwaruwa said all cases of cargo delayed due to post-election violence had been considered for a waiver of storage charges. All other pending cases, he added, would be reviewed on a case by case basis.

He assured Ugandan importers that all efforts were being made to ensure that their cargo moved smoothly.

MOMBASA PORT: 500 SECOND HAND CARS FAIL TO MEET YEAR 2000 REGULATIONS

The Kenyan Government has impounded more than 500 vehicles at the Mombasa port which Customs and port authorities claim have failed to meet second-hand motor vehicles’ import regulations, due to the post-election crisis which engulfed Kenya.

The affected vehicles were those manufactured in 2000, and which arrived in the country after the end of December last year.

“There is a restriction on the importation of vehicles to Kenya, which are more than eight years old, and as a result vehicles arriving in the country after December 2007 attract a penalty,”

The government has banned the importation of vehicles which are more than eight years old and those who go against this provision are charged a penalty of between Sh20,000 and Sh30,000.

The penalty is meant to discourage car dealers from bringing into the country old vehicles.

MOMBASA PORT: MV CHOPOL DISCHARGES 220,000 TONS SUGAR

The 220,000 tonnes of duty-free sugar expected from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) region has started arriving in the country.

A Kenya Ports Authority advisory shows that the first consignment of 14,000 tonnes arrived at the Mombasa port aboard mv Chopol 2 on Saturday.

It has been imported by a local firm, Mat International, the advisory adds.

MOMBASA IS NOW CONGESTION FREE

The Mombasa Port management has lifted a ban on trans-shipment of cargo meant for Tanzania after clearing excess cargo. Ships planning to offload cargo meant for Dar es Salaam port can now use the port of Mombasa, management says.

This comes after the container terminal’s cargo figures were reduced from a high of 19,000 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) recorded at the peak of the post-election violence to 13,000 (TEUs).

The port was declared congestion-free by Mr Haji Masemo, the public relations officer and personal assistant to KPA managing director Abdalla Mwaruwa.

Mombasa port had for a while refused to accept Tanzanian cargo due to congestion at the Dar es Salaam port of Tanzania which is also facing severe congestion that has so far led to the imposition of the punitive vessel delay surcharge (VDS).

Even with the surcharge in force, there has been no improvement in cargo offtake from the port with ships having to wait an average of 10 days before clearance.

This situation forces vessels to seek alternative ports to offload cargo that can be transferred to the intended port and with Mombasa not able to cope, the ships had to wait in Tanzania.

The port’s efforts to clear the congestion included the use of privately-operated container freight stations that accommodated excessive containers.

The resumption of services by the Kenya's Rift Valley Railways has also helped.

The declaration comes in the backdrop of reports that there are thousands of containers meant for Mombasa being held overseas until the port was clear.

Mr Masemo confirmed the reports but said they would not cause a crisis.

International banks are said to be cautious about issuing clearance documents (L/C)
especially for vehicle consignments due to the volatile situation, thus there are several consignments meant for Mombasa being held, specifically in Japan.

PORT OF MOMBASA: Now full of Activities

As Violence has subsided in Kenya, The port of Mombasa which is the main gateway to East and Central Africa has been facing a severe "Crisis".

Although flow of goods to the interior countries of Eastern Africa, particularly Congo, Rwanda and Uganda is now Improving, as recently as last week, The Uganda Manufacturers Association claim to be loosing about Sh2.5 billion in delayed goods deliveries to and from the port of Mombasa.

Merchandise burnt en route and drops in productivity due to lack of raw materials are some of the factors for the loss, they claim.

According to the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) head of corporate affairs, Mr Harry Abok, operations at the port have come under increasing pressure in recent years as the regional economies continued to post successive years of impressive economic growth.

Read more here...

500 CONTAINERS BOUND FOR UGANDA HELD UP

More than 500 containers with goods bound for Uganda are still held up in the country due to the election-linked violence, Kenya's Transport Permanent Secretary Gerishon Ikiara said Wednesday.

Violence that erupted in Kenya after last year’s disputed election had nearly brought the transport network in the country and the region to a standstill. The violence, which has seen rowdy youths erecting illegal roadblocks and vandalising the Kenya-Uganda railway, has caused transport delays.

TRANSIT POINT:

In turn, several cargo and fuel trucks bound for the neighbouring countries have been stuck in Kenya, which is a transit point for several countries including Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
Mr Ikiara also said the repairs on the railway had commenced, and that the Nairobi-Kisumu route through Nakuru was now operational.



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