Mediterranean Shipping Company has recorded growth of 10-12% on the East Africa trade lane over the past year, and southern African national commercial director Glenn Delve is expecting more of the same for the year ahead.
The line’s cargo manifests reflect the diverse range of products moving on the route – from general cargo and foodstuffs to timber, chemicals and paper products.
Four 35 000-ton vessels operate to Mozambique, Dar es Salaam and Mombasa on a weekly basis.
“This is unlikely to change,” said Delve, “but our services are demand-driven and we’ll bring on extra capacity based on the needs of the market.”
He said port productivity was generally up to par, with several port expansion projects in the pipeline.
Last month the Port of Mombasa took delivery of a new Ship to Shore (STS) gantry crane and eight Rubber Tyred Gantries (RTG) to boost efficiency and productivity, however there is still a 4 to 5-day berthing delay, according to Delve.
This was the first of a consignment of four STS cranes and 12 RTGs ordered by the Authority from Japan.
Dar es Salaam, meanwhile, was last year granted a $345-million loan by the World Bank for expansion in line with its strategy to turn the port into a regional gateway. “However currently there is a three-day berthing delay,” said Delve.
The Port of Maputo last year recorded growth of 22%, with 18.2 million tonnes of cargo handled against 14.9 million tonnes in 2016.
“This result was positively affected by the dredging of the access channel to the Port of Maputo, completed in January 2017,” a spokesman said.
