Magellan Logistics: a subsidiary of Volta Container Liner based in the UAE introduces a new service line at the Port of Mombasa. The Vessel Onyx called the Port of Mombasa for the first time this week. The container line started a new service to cover the sub-continent of India and East Africa.
The new service line will operate within the ports of Mundra in Gujarat, which is a major economic gateway that caters to the northern hinterland of India, Nhava Sheva port in India, Jebel Ali in UAE, Port of Mombasa, and finally Dar-es-Salaam port.
This comes against a background of a record performance at the port of Mombasa last month. The Port registered 150,639 TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units) in May 2023 to post a record container traffic performance ever in a single month. This is a growth of 26.84% against the May 2022 performance of 118,765 TEUs.
“There has been a positive trajectory in container traffic performance for the last three months with March and April 2023 recording 132,119 TEUs and 138,373 TEUs, respectively. This compares favorably well with the performances of 112,245 TEUs and 121,249 TEUs handled in a corresponding period of last year, 2022, KPA announced in a statement to the media.
During the period between January and May 2023, the port recorded 652,592 TEUs compared to 595,319 TEUs recorded in the corresponding period in 2022; an increase of 57,273 TEUs or 9.62%.
This performance has surpassed the 620,719 TEUs set target by 31,873 TEUs or 5.1%, implying that the Port of Mombasa is likely to realize annual container traffic of 1.48 million TEUs by the close of the year.
On the other hand, in the last three months, the average container dwell time has improved to 3.5 days down from 4.0 days. The berth working time improved from an average of 2.6 days to 1.7 days while the average gross moves per ship per hour increased to 36 from 34.
The KPA Managing Director, Capt. William Ruto has also noted that the Authority is expecting to receive five new Harbour Mobile Cranes.
“Three of them will be deployed at the Port of Lamu while two will be used in Mombasa to enhance operations,” Capt. Ruto noted., adding that four Ship to Shore Gantry cranes are expected in July this year to replace the old ones that are being scrapped.
The arrival of the 4 new Ship to Shore Gantry Cranes in July will ensure the Port has more reliable equipment to enhance ship operations and further reduce ship turnaround time.
According to Dr. Sudi Mwasinago, the General Manager of Cargo Operations, the deployment of new yard equipment has tremendously improved ship operations at the Container terminals.
KPA acquired 12 Reach Stackers and nine Empty container handlers in December 2022 and were commissioned to operations in January this year boosting the yard and ship operations.
The completion of the second phase of the Second Container Terminal has also increased the Port of Mombasa’s capacity by an additional 450,000 TEUs, giving room for better ship and yard planning to enhance efficiency.
The Port of Mombasa currently can handle 2.1 million TEUs and so far, it has been able to handle slightly less than 1.5 million TEUs annually. Capt. Ruto was appointed as the KPA Managing Director on 10th March 2023.
In his inaugural speech to the KPA staff amidst cheers and jubilations, the new Managing Director urged staff to embrace customer care, dedication to hard work, and discipline as the key to improved port performance.
This article was published by an editorial consultant and can be reached via githua.kihara@gmail.com
