TANZANIAN DAR PORT SET TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS

The Dar-es-Salaam port is working on a major upgrade that could get rid of congestion, attract new business and position itself as “the harbour of choice” in the region.This could see the Mombasa Port, also battling with congestion made worse by the post-election violence, face increased competition for business in the region.

A senior Tanzania Port Authority (TPA) manager, Mr Jason Rugaihuruza, says they have embarked on new strategies that would lead to increased container terminal capacity and the use of inland depots, optimimum use of the terminal capacity within the port and active participation of various stakeholders in the programmes to reduce dwell-time of cargo at the port.Key long-term measures by the TPA include construction of multi-storey car park to leave space for container handling. This plan, according to Mr Rugaihuruza, is expected to be ready by the end of 2010.

The port managers are also planning the construction of a new container terminal at Bagamoyo and two berths.

GHANA CONTRACT WITH MERIDIEN PORT SERVICES STILL INTACT

Ghana's Ministry of Harbours and Railways on Thursday denied media reports that it has suspended the contract between the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and Meridian Port Services (MPS) to shorehandle containers in Tema Port.

A statement signed by Mr Ahmed Ayuba, Special Assistant to the sector Minster, Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, said no directive had been issued regarding the suspension of the contract.The statement said following increased agitation by indigenous stevedoring companies on stevedore operations, Prof Ameyaw-Akumfi invited the Ghana Association of Stevedoring Companies (GASCO) where he reaffirmed that the implementation of rights under the concession agreement between GPHA and MPS with respect to shorehandling of containers in the Tema Port had been suspended.

“The Minister assured GASCO that a meeting among GPHA, GASCO and the Ministry will be held to identify and resolve challenges facing stevedore companies in the Tema Port.”

Early last week, the Times newspaper reported that the GPHA had suspended the implementation of a license agreement under which MPS was expected to handle all vessels carrying more than 50 containers to the port. In the said report, Kwadwo Adansi Bonna, General Manager of GPHA, explained that though the implementation was based on the license agreement, it had not been approved by the GPHA. This was after another media reports on the mounting tension at the port over the decision by GPHA to implement the contract with MPS.

Eight indigenous stevedoring companies had complained that the implementation of the contract would collapse their businesses and make about 3,000 workers jobless. Under the contract, MPS would handle vessels with 50 and more containers. The company has the technological advantage for quick turn around time for ships.

INCREASED CONTAINER TRAFFIC CONGESTS MOMBASA

Shippers in Africa have been told to prepare to absorb extra costs caused by congestion in the regional ports following increased global container traffic, which have also stretched global port capacities.

Experts say this perennial problem dogging most ports in Africa could take up to 15 years of infrastructural and other logistics enhancement to be solved. This is in contrast to other parts of the world where it would take a far much shorter period. This is as a result of African governments’ bureaucracy.Global ports are currently recording increased container traffic, leading to congestion at even reputable ports like Liverpool, Southampton in England, Colombia, Kochi, Mumbai and Karachi in India and Sydney in Australia.

Others, according to a World Bank report, are Santos and Buenos in South America while those in North America are Los Angeles and Oakland. In Africa, they include the ports of Mombasa, Dar-es-Salaam, Durban and Abidjan, among other smaller ports. Kenya has embarked on improving it's ports and harbours and is putting stringent measures to improve and maintain efficiency to be among the most valued ports.

DUBAI WORLD KEEN ON MOMBASA PORT

Dubai World, a UAE government investment with a plan on four strategic growth including Transport & Logistics, Drydocks & Maritime, Urban Development and Investment & Financial Services is set to take up the Kenya's Mombasa port any time soon.

Analyst say, If that happens, massive equipment investment would be in the works and ship turnaround cut to just three hours like they did in Dakar, Senegal, and Djibouti which they control.They are also partners and managers in Sokhna port of Egypt, Aden and Jeddah. Their entry would appreciably change the politics of the port which is simmering to inefficiencies.

DP World operates several ports in the world after it became economical to separate ownership and operation globally and it's noteworthy that the 10-year-old DP manages more than the Djibouti Port — including container, oil terminals and berths and marine services, Djibouti Airport and a free trade zone. The port has now become a byword for efficiency, especially in handling massive cargo from Ethiopia after a fallout with Eritrea, who almost exclusively handled their exports before.

DP spokesman Anil Singh said the group has been waiting for the port to complete a feasibility study, a process that would pave the way for private players. “We would want to be involved sooner than later. We have been waiting for an indication,” Mr Singh said.

Mombasa Port has lately contributed to the brisk economic growth in Kenya and the whole of East African region business relies mainly on it, Factors that saw port cargo grow by 10.7 per cent last year. In 2003, it was handling cargo estimated at 12 million tonnes annually. This has shot up to slightly under 16 million, only exacerbating the administrative chaos that have become a permanent feature of the deep-sea port. In terms of twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), the growth has been faster at 22 per cent with a total of nearly 600,000 containers handled.

DP World says the port needs major rehabilitation and new equipment. The spokesman said they would be happy to make a difference.

“The process of making the initial changes takes between three and six months,” Mr Singh said.

Meanwhile, DP World is set to open a new container terminal in Djibouti this December and have already cut waiting time in Dakar from seven days to three hours. Mombasa certainly can do with that efficiency. Given the kind of politics surrounding the port, it is unlikely we can easily reach that efficiency level shortly though, they say.

Certainly, if Kenya wants a manager, DP World, who famously failed to secure contract for running US ports due to clearly xenophobic lobbying, would have to contend with other aspirants, including the famous Singapore PSA.