Shift evident from southern ports to Dar

In Zambia, everyone is talking about a shift in freight patterns away from southern ports to Dar es Salaam – and figures released by the Tanzania International Container Terminal Services (TICTS) show to what extent this is happening. TICTS says it plans to move 373 000 TEUs this year – 10% more than the 337 547 in 2010. This, in turn, was higher than the 325 557 TEUs handled in 2009. TICTS chief executive officer Neville Bisset reportedly told government officials earlier this year that the company would be investing in additional cargo handling equipment and installing a new operating system in order to cope with congestion. Dar es Salaam port has the capacity to handle 3.1 million tons of general cargo, in addition to containers. In March, Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete vetoed plans by TICTS to build a multi-storey car park to store imported second-hand vehicles. According to the Daily News, Kikwete said scarce port space should be used for containers and other dry cargo. “Any cargo that can be stored out of the port, should go out. We should avoid a situation in which a port is turned into a bonded warehouse,” he is reported as saying.