Macharia: Mombasa Port second container terminal Phase Two 33pc done
Construction of Phase Two of the second container terminal at the port of Mombasa is 33 per cent complete, Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia disclosed yesterday.
Macharia said that upon delivery of the phase, the port’s annual capacity will increase by 550,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).
“This therefore means by 2022, the port will have enhanced its total annual capacity to over two million TEUs,” he said.
Second phase of the project forms part of a broader Mombasa Port upgrade and modernisation programme, estimated to cost $900 million (Sh93.4 billion).
It is aimed at transforming the port into a modern facility capable of serving Kenya and its vast hinterland.
Construction started in September 2018. The new terminal will provide an additional 900 metres of quay length and three berths of 300 metres each. The quay length is critical as it indicates the ability to accommodate modern large ships.
Macharia spoke yesterday during a Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) annual stakeholders luncheon. Also present were KPA Managing Director Daniel Manduku and Chairman Joseph Kibwana.
The CS said that cargo duration time for imports has reduced to seven days from 11 and four days from 11 for export.
Manduku said there was an 11.2 per cent growth in transit traffic from 8.64 million tonnes in 2017 to 9.60 million in 2018, with Uganda’s dominating the market at 82 per cent of transit throughput, followed by South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi respectively.
