The already completed berth number one of Lamu port in Kenya that is
expected to be commissioned in October in this picture taken on August
27, 2019. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
At least 33 shipping companies are expected to tour the Lamu
port in the coming month, as Kenya prepares to commission the operations
of its first berth in October.
President
Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to officially launch the port’s operations
later in October when the first ship is anticipated to make call at the
port.
Kenya is said to be in talks with possible operators, including South African logistics giant Transnet SOC.
“The
first berth of the port is complete. We are now in the process of
acquiring land for a 500-metre-wide corridor that will enable
construction of the crude oil pipeline and standard gauge railway. We
want to secure the entire corridor for business,” said Lapsset corporate
affairs manager Benson Thuita.
COMPETITION
The
tour by the shipping lines is part of a Kenya Ports Authority-driven
charm offensive to market and position the port as competitive among its
regional peers, Djibouti and Port Sudan.
Already the construction of the second and
third berths is underway and both are expected to be operational by
October 2020, with the three berths will cost more than Ksh48 billion
($46.3 million).
KPA has already
deployed dozens of workers to the port, with the number expected to rise
to 1,000 when the first berth becomes fully operational. It can handle a
capacity of 400,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).
The
port agency is offering promotional discounts for vessels and cargo
that will choose the port, including 30-day storage-free period for
transhipments and transit cargo, and a two-week similar offer for
domestic cargo. KPA will also offer up to 40 per cent discount for the
cost of discharging cargo from the ships that will dock at the port, and
also on the cargo handling fees.
Lamu
port, which is part of the $25 billion Lapsset transport corridor
projects, has 32 berths. The government is expected to spend more than
Ksh2 trillion ($20 billion) to complete all the berths.
SHIPMENT
The
corridor linking Kenya with other countries will also open up
construction of the Standard Gauge Railway and a road network that will
be used to transport cargo towards the hinterland.
KPA
is banking on cargo transhipments to make Lamu port viable even as it
eagerly awaits the docking of its first the super post-Panamax vessel in
two months.
The expected docking of
the first mother ship with 14,000 20-foot TEUs in November will beat the
current record held by Panama-flagged Mediterranean Shipping Company’s
Maxine, with a capacity of 9,411 TEUs, the largest container carrier to
dock at the Mombasa port last November.
The super
post-Panmax ship will discharge the cargo, which will then be loaded
into other smaller vessels for onward transfer to the rest of the
continent’s ports.
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