MV VOGE TRUST TILTS AT MOMBASA-KENYA

Rapid response by the Kenya Navy and Kenya Ports Authority on Thursday averted an ecological disaster after stabilising an oil tanker that was listing at the Mombasa port.

The 6.30 am sent the Port of Mombasa into a state of panic after the Monrovian flagged vessel started listing at the Mbaraki wharf.

It’s understood that the vessel is carrying 35,000 metric tonnes of diesel.

Fears of ecological disaster has gripped Kenya as an oil tanker listed in the Indian Ocean off the coastal city of Mombasa, news agencies reported. Officials confirmed on Thursday that the Monrovian flagged MV Voge Trust vessel started listing dangerously at the Likoni Channel of the Mombasa port. Eyewitnesses said the vessel which was approaching the port of Mombasa at about 0400 GMT tilted heavily to one side, sparking fears of an ecological disaster.

“The ship was headed for the KOT to deposit oil when it developed technical challenges in the middle of the channel way, but we have managed to contain the situation,” Authorities said.

Eye witnesses say the vessel tilted heavily to one side as it approached the port. They saw smoke coming from the rear of the ship. Crews on the ship immediately dropped anchor to avert further listing.

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MOMBASA PORT PRIVATIZATION "PUT ON HOLD"

The government has put on hold the planned privatisation programme at Mombasa port to seek consensus among stakeholders opposed to the move.

The chairman of the privatisation commission Prof Peter Kimuyu said that although privatisation was crucial in order to make the port competitive in the region it was necessary, also, to develop consensus with stakeholders for the project to succeed.

The ministry of labour has also stepped in with the chief industrial relations officer at the ministry appointed a conciliator on October 19, to arbitrate the trade dispute between the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and Dock Workers Union (DWU).

The privatisation commission was due to select a firm that would develop and implement the privatisation proposal. Four firms have so far submitted tenders for the consultancy job: local audit firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers; CPCS Transcorm Ltd; HPC Hamburg Port Consulting GmbH and; Maritime and Transport Business Solutions.

The DWU are demanding for a new programme to be formulated by the privatisation commission and published subject to discussion and agreement by the DWU and KPA.

NOTE ON RO-RO SHIPMENT TO KENYA AND UGANDA

Three foreign companies have been contracted to inspect vehicles destined for Uganda before shipment, starting this month. By hiring them, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards hopes to curb increasing volumes of substandard used cars in the market.

The agencies that won a five-company international competitive bidding process include the Japan Export Vehicle Inspection Centre, (which will inspect vehicles from Japan, United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore and other countries, apart from the United Arab Emirates. The company has branches in these countries. Other agencies are: Jabal Kilimanjaro Auto Elect Mechanic and Paints Company, which will inspect all vehicles originating from the United Arab Emirates; and East Africa Auto-Mobile Services, which will also inspect vehicles coming from the United Arab Emirates.
The companies will charge varying inspection fees. For instance, vehicles from Japan, Singapore, UK, South Africa and Dubai will attract fees of $145, $180, 125 pounds, R160 and $125, respectively.

Any vehicle imported into Uganda without certification will be subjected to a penalty of 15 per cent of the cost insurance and freight (CIF) value and then sent for inspection. The Bureau of Standards said the companies have already apprised auction houses and relevant authorities in the export countries of the new procedures.
“Any vehicle being shipped from any part of the world must be inspected and a certificate of conformity issued. It does not matter whether the importer is an individual or a company,” said Patrick Sekitoleko, quality assurance manager of the standards bureau.

Most of the vehicles imported into Uganda are from the Middle East, Japan or Europe.

Unfortunately, some are in dangerous mechanical conditions and are imported without following proper procedures. The move is the first of the bureau’s new programme of pre-export verification of conformity (PVoC) to cover all imported goods. The PVoC will detail the condition, accessories, structural, functional and mechanical integrity of used vehicles destined to Uganda.

In Kenya, the age of the vehicle is the parameter used to control importation. Vehicles older than eight years are not allowed into the country. The inspecting companies will be based in the countries of origin.


They will inspect the vehicles and issue certificates of conformity to those that meet the standards.
There will also be an accompanying report attesting to the inspection. The Certificate of Conformity is a mandatory clearance document that all imported vehicles must have. The documents will be tamperproof. The bureau has been carrying out destination inspection where goods are inspected on arrival at the ports of entry. The inspection has been largely successful, despite implementation challenges like delayed clearance of imports at the ports of entry. Most products must be sampled and tested before they are released into the market. With the PVoC, delays at ports of entry are expected to reduce. The PVoC will benefit the importer, the country and the buyers.

For the first time, professional independent assessment of vehicles’ overall conditions prior to export will be done. The move will also curb importation of stolen vehicles into the country. The Bureau of Standards has been battling with importers of substandard products at the ports of entry.
Some importers, fearful of losing business, have resorted to of coercing, intimidating and enticing inspectors to clear their substandard goods.

Some simply abandon such goods at the ports and change their business names to avoid being blacklisted.

THE FUTURE OF THE MOMBASA PORT AND THE KENYA MARITIME OVERHAUL

International firms have shown interest in the management of Mombasa port even as it emerges that a recently enacted law denies them a stake in the venture. The government has already started the process of privatising the port. A study to determine which sections of the facility should be handed over to private hands is in the offing. The move is expected to increase efficiency at the port, which serves five countries in the region.

Although the firms interested in bidding are expected to have huge capital outlays as port management is a capital intensive affair, the Merchant shipping Act (MSA) bars shipping lines from involvement in any other business in the country’s transport and logistics supply chain, a provision which could lock them out.

“We still don’t understand why the section was inserted at the last minute. One could read mischief in the sense that someone wanted to lock out shipping lines from competition in the port privatisation tendering process,” said a manager of a shipping line who did not want to be named.

The Privatisation Commission of Kenya has already started the process of identifying a consultant who will advise the government on which part of the port should be privatised.

“The firm would advise us on which areas should be privatised because, as you should realise, the government has privatised some of its parastatals yet we don’t get the desired efficiency,” said Transport minister Chirau Mwakwere.

DP World has already indicated that it would like to take over the management of the Mombasa container terminal if it goes up for privatisation.

Mr Anil Singh of DP World reportedly said that the firm was awaiting the completion of a study into the future of the port, by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), which would propose the extent of private sector concessions on offer.

“We would want to be involved sooner rather than later. We have been waiting for an indication,” said Mr Singh.

The debate over whether to transfer control of Mombasa port to a private operator has raged for at least five years. But the government doesn’t seem to have reach an agreement on the issue.However, it remains to be seen whether this will translate into the introduction of the port/landlord model of management. One of the government’s main challenges will be to decide whether it offers concessions for both the existing KPA terminal and the new Kipevu West Container Terminal (KWCT), which is due for completion in 2015.

The option of allowing KPA to retain control over the existing terminal, while acting as the landlord of its main competitor, KWCT, might be unworkable according to some experts.

Maersk-Kenya, a subsidiary of APM Terminals, has in the past also indicated its interest to bid for berths. However, DP World’s interest could result in strong competition for any port privatisation tender.

The Dubai based company already operates port facilities on all sides of the Arabian Peninsula and has recently taken over the Dakar container terminal in Sénégal, West Africa. Mombasa could fit in well with the company’s expansion agenda. Stakeholders in the maritime industry have been asked to support the recently enacted Merchant Shipping Act 2009, to boost trade in the region. Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere said the Act will spur economic growth, given that 95 per cent of international trade is maritime-based.

Speaking during the official opening of a regional stakeholders meeting on the establishment of consultation machinery on maritime transport services in Mombasa, Mr Mwakwere moved to allay fears among a section of shipping lines that the new Act will lock out foreigners.

“It is regrettable that some stakeholders misinterpreted this Act as one enacted to restrict foreign direct investment in the maritime transport sector. This is not so. On the contrary, the government through my ministry, encourages collaboration between local and foreign firms.”

The Act does not prohibit direct foreign investment in any segment of the logistics chain. It addresses the issue of vertical integration of the logistics chain where a few dominate the sector by applying pricing practices that limit the entry of new participants, he added.

The minister said the government had mandated the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) to monitor the efficiency and competitiveness of a transport logistics supply chain required in Kenya’s maritime industry.

AFRICAN SHIPPING CONTAINER LINE

AFRICA CONTAINER SHIPPING LINE ROUTES

Beginning This month, we will have Africa container services to the following ports directly to the following ports.

Mombasa(Which will cover South Sudan Cargo including Juba and Southern Ethiopia), Dar-Es-Salaam(Will cover Rwanda cargo, Burundi Cargo and Eastern Congo(Lubumbashi), Malawi, )Beira, Maputo, Berberra, Djibouti, Assab, Port Sudan, Port Said, Abidjan, Tema, Port Gentil, Cotonou, Dakar, Libreville covering the whole continent of Africa.

Please Visit OFFICIAL AFRICAN SHIPPING LINE 
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Other focal points like Alexandria, Algiers, Massawa, Bamako, Banjul, Bissau, Blantyre, Bobo-Dioulasso, Bulawayo, Cape Town, Casablanca, Conakry, Douala, Durban, East London, Freetown, Gaborone, Harare, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kitwe, Lagos, Las Palmas, Lilongwe, Lobito, Luanda, Lusaka, Mahe, Matadi, Mauritius, Mogadishu, Monrovia, Nairobi, Ndola, Niamey, Nosy Be, Nouadhibou, Nouakchott, Oran, Ouagadougou, Pointe Des Gallets, Pointe Noire, Port Elizabeth, Port Harcourt, Port Louis, Praia, Sfax, Takoradi, Tamatave, Tanga, Tangier, , Tenerife, Tunis are covered through the above nearest ports.



We have agencies in Inland Container Depots like that of Nairobi ICD and so on. Please check if you some more information on these... Shipping cargo to Africa has never been easy as ABCD....Among the details you will find are Port PDA's, Port particulars, Some Vessel/ Ship particulars and so on.

Our normal Container/RO-RO services include Ports in the Red Sea and Eastern Africa together with the ports in Gulf of Aden. General cargo to South West Africa Including Namibia, Angola(Luanda, lobito) Matadi will also be accelerated.

Africa Shipping Line Containers, RORO(Car shipment)/ Container/ BreakBulk services from China or Dubai ports to Mombasa, Mogadishu, Djibouti, Berbera, Kismayo, Zanzibar, Pemba, Juba (South Sudan) have began in earnest and shipping agents who have RO-RO cargo or any other type of cargo can contact Our Switchboard Directly on +254.726.722226 / +971-56-9538569 or email: asline@africanshippingline.ae or africanshippingdubai@gmail.com placing shipment orders. 

Our rates are always favourable. 

We will also undertake all kind of general cargo with minimal handling.Our Cut off times are strictly as schedule. Shipment of vehicles, cars to Africa has never been such easy.

CONTAINER TRAFFIC IN MOMBASA INCREASES

Container traffic at Mombasa port rose slightly by 5.2 per cent to 615,733 twenty-foot equivalent units (Teus) last year, authorities said. The growth was, however, slower than the 22 per cent expansion the port saw in 2007 when it handled 585,367 Teus, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) said in a statement.

"The slowdown in growth of container traffic was a result of a sluggish economic performance occasioned by the post-election skirmishes experienced early in the year and the current global economic downturn" KPA said.

KPA said total throughput increased to 16.41 million tonnes from 15.96 million in 2007. Although the post-election violence blocked transport routes to neighbouring landlocked countries, transit traffic headed there grew by 10.2 percent to 4.87 million tonnes from 4.4 million in the previous year, the authority said.

Three-quarters of the transit traffic was destined for Uganda, which imported 3.7 million tonnes of merchandise. The Democratic Republic Congo was in second place with 304,400 tonnes. The amount of bulk liquid handled by the port on the Indian Ocean reduced slightly to 5.63 million tonnes, a 0.2 per cent fall from the previous year. Transshipment, or goods destined for an intermediary destination, was also down.

KPA said it awarded Japan Port Consultants a project design and supervision contract for a second container terminal with a 1.2 million Teus capacity.

DISTANCE OF VARIOUS PORTS FROM MOMBASA

Distance In Nautical Miles

Mombasa - Aden 1615
Mombasa - Beira 1139
Mombasa - Berbera 1622
Mombasa - Bombay 2392
Mombasa - Cape Town 2503
Mombasa - Colombo 2496
Mombasa - Dar es salaam 171
Mombasa - Diego Garcia 1969
Mombasa - Djibouti 1729
Mombasa - Durban 1703
Mombasa - East Landon 1956
Mombasa - Kandla 2411
Mombasa - Karachi 2349
Mombasa - Kilifi 30
Mombasa - Kipini 105
Mombasa - Kismayu 301
Mombsaa - Lindi 384
Mombasa - Lamu 130
Mombasa - Madras 3037
Mombasa - Mahe Island 949
Mombasa - Malindi 60
Mombasa - Majunga 790
Mombasa - Maputo 1467
Mombasa - Mtwapa 9
Mombasa - Mauritius ( Port Louis ) 1419
Mombasa - Mogadiscio 499
Mombasa - Mtwara 368
Mombasa - Mukalla 1436
Mombasa - Muscat 2114
Mombasa - Tanga 66
Mombasa - Zanzibar 134

THE FUTURE OF KENYA SHIPPING LINE

Kenya continues to lose out in the lucrative shipping industry as it continues to rely on ships for hire to transport its exports.The hope that one day the country could own its own shipping line continues to remain a mirage despite its neighbour cashing in on the high freight.


The Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL) continues to carve a niche in the world’s shipping industry as Kenya National Shipping Line (KNSL) shows no hope of owning its vessels soon.Maritime experts are now calling on the government to offer incentives to private entities interested to buy ships that could fly the Kenyan flag.“The dream that the country would one day own a ship, which led to the formation of KNSL in 1989, has died,” says Wilfred Kagimbi, Kenya Maritime Authority chief surveyor and receiver of wrecks.


Mr Kagimbi says KNSL dream has been overtaken by time as other African countries which purchased their own vessels have already relinquished management to private hands.



Shipping to Africa and especially to Kenya and adjacent countries is normally done by reliable shipping lines like African Shipping Line based in Dubai and other Major Lines. Freight goods include RO-RO cargo, Break bulk, project and containerized cargo mostly to Kenya and Tanzania ports that leaves for Interior.

For more enquiries, email: asline@africanshippingline.ae