Kenya: Cargo Ships Switch to Dar es Salaam Due to Delays at Port of Mombasa

Cargo handlers and importers are up in arms over delays to allocate berths and the shortage of loaders at the port of Mombasa.

Shipping agents said vessels were now diverting to Dar es Salaam, causing importers inconveniences and huge losses.

According to one importer, they were supposed to have received their cargo by August 27, but the ship had to skip Mombasa due to the delays.

On Monday, there were 10 ships waiting to dock at the port.

The Kenya Ports Authority, through public relations manager Bernard Osero, dismissed claims that the ongoing dredging of the harbour was responsible for the delays.

Mr Osero said the backlog of waiting ships had been caused by the delivery of three new ship-to-shore cranes after the vessel carrying the equipment occupied one of the berths for 10 days.

The shortage of loaders has been blamed on a labour dispute between KPA and the Dock Workers Union.

The authority and the union have in the past two months been wrangling over the provision of private loaders by shipping lines.

In a letter seen by the Nation, Multiport International complained that shipping lines were incurring huge losses due to the shortage of labour.

“Mv Crux which was carrying 31,015 tonnes of Kenya Tea Development Authority fertiliser was scheduled to offload in 10 days, but took 27 days, incurring demurrage charges of $362,000 (Sh34.3 million),” says the letter dated August 29.

The surcharges incurred by shipping lines are borne by importers, who in turn pass on the costs to consumers resulting in higher commodity prices.

Union members expelled the private loaders (referred to as gangs) warning them of dire consequence if they dared set foot at the port.

A senior KPA manager blamed the union for failing to provide labour after chasing away the private loaders.

But union secretary general Simon Sang said the management should take the responsibility since they had deployed 223 workers at the headquarters yet they were employed to work at the terminal.

By GITONGA MARETE (nation)