The port of Mombasa has continued to attract larger shipping lines as it targets growing volumes.
On Thursday, the port received MV KMTC Hochmihn, the first-ever vessel to an African continent from the Korea Marine Transport Container shipping line.
The vessel arrived with 1,000 containers for the local and transit markets, affirming the strategic position of the port as a shipping and maritime hub and a preferred port of call for shipping lines.
KPA managing director Captain William Ruto said that the port will strive to improve efficiency to attract more business and increase volumes at the port.
“This is a new business to us, and we appreciate the shipping line for bringing us this. We promise to give them the best services because for any shipping line to come they must have done due diligence, like how much time they take to offload.
“And as you can see, the vessel just arrived today, and we are offloading,” Ruto said.
Ruto said this was a good sign for business for the port, adding that KMTC had given them confidence that the vessel would be a regular caller going forward.
KMTC general manager Mayur Udyawar said the shipping line chose Kenya as the gateway to Africa as it looks to expand its operations and business on the continent.
The call, he said, signals the growth of the region and the country as traffic and cargo volumes increase.
"We opted for the port of Mombasa because of its productivity and efficiency since we started operations in 2021,” Mayur said.
Since the shipping line entered the market years ago, it has been collaborating with other shipping lines to move cargo for its customers to the region, with MV KMTC Hochimihn becoming the first vessel under the line to ply the Southeast Asia-East Africa route.
“We are happy with the growth, and with the deployment of this vessel, we are positive we will handle more cargo,” Mayur said.
With the acquisition of modern equipment coupled with expanded capacity through berth number 22, which was opened for business recently, the port of Mombasa has witnessed an increase in shipping lines operations, with the introduction of new vessels and service lines to operate in the East Africa region.
KPA board chairman Benjamin Tayari said when shipping lines come, it means traffic is growing and the port has enough resources to serve the growing demand.
“The port is now very efficient and we will continue to do more to attract more shipping lines. This is clear Kenya is making strides in the maritime and shipping industry,” Tayari said.
“KPA is doing everything, and anyone who wants to bring a ship here is assured that we have very fast turnaround.”
Last year, the port recorded a 12 per cent increase in cargo volumes handling 1.6 million TEUs.
Tayari said with investments made and plans to increase efficiency, they were targeting to have an increase of between four to 15 per cent this year.
“As the KPA management, we have greed we will add more equipment to improve efficiency.
“We are also eyeing the transshipment business using the Lamu port. We shall be complementing our neighbours Dar es Salaam port as we assist each other in this business,” Tayari said.
On Sunday, the port of Mombasa is also expected to receive another cruise vessel with 2,000 tourists.