Mombasa plans second container terminal

Kenya Ports Authority is steaming ahead with plans to build a second container terminal that will enable the port to handle more cargo. The port authority announced last month that it was planning to increase capacity by constructing an additional berth and dredging the channel to make provision for bigger vessels. The port’s managing director Gichiri Ndua said they were intent on improving service levels and efficiency. “Plans are at an advanced stage to establish the second container terminal that will cater for more than 1.2 million TEUs on its completion,” he said. Last month, amid excitement over the first call by Evergreen group’s Santo Rosa at the harbour, Ndua said the authority was confident of attracting larger vessels to the port and believed they had the capacity to deal with them. The next Evergreen ship is expected to dock at Mombasa on June 14. A feasibility study for the second sea port in Lamu has already been initiated and it is expected to have a draught of 18 metres. He said the initiatives under way were aimed at making the port of Mombasa more competitive. “It is also in the same spirit that we recently tasked some of our colleagues to visit other world ports and learn from the best operational and managerial practices. We believe that their experience will be relevant in the realisation of our mission which is ‘to facilitate and promote global maritime trade through the provision of competitive port services’,” he said.