Kenya Ports Authority has revealed plans for a massive upgrade of its facilities in 2025 in anticipation of a rise in operations at the facility.
In a statement, KPA Managing Director Captain William Ruto disclosed that currently the Terminal Operating System (TOS) is already being upgraded.
He said the process is set to start in January 2025 with the aim of increasing the capacity at the Port of Mombasa.
Currently, the total container capacity for both container terminals one and two at the port of Mombasa stands at 2.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units [TEUs] per annum, according to data released in the third quarter of 2024.
“The Authority has awarded a tender for the construction of Berth 19B, which has a design length of 240 metres and 300,000 TEU capacity,” said Ruto.
The port’s boss added that the authority has already started engaging the Japan International Development Agency (JICA) for the third phase of the implementation of the Mombasa Port Development Project (MPDP), the construction of Berth 23.
The infrastructural improvement under the MPDP initiative has seen the construction of a Sh500 million modern tug jetty at the marine dockyard, which is crucial for port operations.
Mombasa port is the gateway for landlocked countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan and has lately witnessed major improvement through multi-billion infrastructural, technology and modern equipment investment.
Among the multibillion-shilling projects that seek to reinforce the country’s economic development are the Sh32 billion Phase Two of the second container terminal, the Sh40 billion Kipevu Oil Terminal (KOT) and the Sh1 billion Cruise Ship Terminal.
Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has also constructed a Sh2 billion, 1.2-kilometre, six-lane concrete Kipevu road to facilitate the speedy evacuation of sea cargo from the port facility.
Early last year the facility procured gantry cranes to the tune of $31,493,808 (Sh4.1 billion) as the state corporation committed to managing the premier ports.
According to Ruto, the new upgrade has been necessitated by the rise in operations, for instance, in May 2024, the facility broke a record by handling more than 176,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).
The KPA boss explained they are engaging JICA for the third phase of implementation of the Mombasa Port Development Project (MPDP) construction of Berth 23, which will have a design length of 300 metres and a 500,000 TEUs yard capacity.
Captain Ruto said during the festive season, for a period of 14 days, the port of Mombasa is scheduled to handle a total of 41 vessels before the end of the festive season, with the number expected to rise.
He added that the vessel calls are attributed to the major shipping lines adding six feeder vessels to link regional ports with global shipping networks.
KPA maintained that the recent mega infrastructure projects by the government aim to transform the Port of Mombasa into the most efficient and modern port in the region.
The new port infrastructure developments are coming at a time when
the Kenyan port is facing increasing
competition from the port of Dar-EsSalaam.
KPA is, however, confident that the
project will firmly consolidate the new
era of the port as a critical transport
and logistics hub in the region.
