More Mombasa port operations to be automated for efficiency

The government is investing more resources and adopting measures to enhance efficiency at the port of Mombasa and make it more productive and competitive globally. 

The expansion of the port and increasing cargo have prompted the government to automate container handling processes and improve documentation and clearance, said Dr Kevit Desai, principal secretary in the Ministry of East African Community and Regional Development. 

In the past 10 years, he said, the government has invested in projects such as the new Kipevu oil terminal and a second container terminal, which need to be more automated to attain global ship turnaround time.

Speaking at the port after meeting stakeholders in the logistics sector, Dr Desai said the facility plays a critical role in Kenya’s economic development and called for closer collaboration between relevant state agencies and other maritime stakeholders. 

“The Mombasa port has transformed in the past few years with modern facilities and the government will work to ensure more human resources are deployed and automate clearing processes to compete with other ports in the continent,” he said.

The PS said the port has doubled the cargo it handles and the new oil and container terminals will help improve Kenya’s revenues. 

The new oil terminal is the most technologically advanced facility of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. With the capacity to berth four vessels of up to 170,000 dead weight tonnage at once, it will significantly raise oil supply and availability in East and Central Africa. 

The Sh40 billion terminal has enhanced Kenya’s capacity to handle petroleum products. 

It can discharge oil products in a timely and efficient manner, easing the pressure aggravated by increased demand in Kenya and the region. 

The new container terminal added 450,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to the port’s annual capacity, bringing the total to 2.1 million TEUs.

The first phase of the three-phase project was completed in February 2016 and commissioned in September of that year, increasing the port’s annual capacity by 550,000 TEUs. 

The completion of the second container terminal at berth 22 will pave the way for the start of construction for berth 23 to improve port handling capacity, said Kenya Ports Authority acting Managing Director John Mwangemi. 

The expansion is part of the port development programme designed to accommodate larger vessels, giving it a competitive edge over the Dar es Salaam and Djibouti ports, he said. 

The installed capacity is part of efforts to keep up with constantly growing volumes and associated demand for services.

By 2023, the port is expected to handle about 1.732 million containers, up from the current 1.42 million.

It is expected to handle about 47 million tonnes of cargo in the next 10 years, up from the current 30 million, and eventually 111 million by 2047.

[email protected]