New clearing system fails to reduce congestion at Mombasa
Dec 23, 2008
The cost of imported goods is likely to go up as delays at Mombasa Port continue leading to congestion and penalties on overstayed cargo in the already overcrowded port.
By Mikaili Sseppuya
The cost of imported goods is likely to go up as delays at Mombasa Port continue leading to congestion and penalties on overstayed cargo in the already overcrowded port.
Sources say this is due to failure to utilise the recently introduced 24-hour service system thus the slow pace of clearing goods.
According to sources, the port is releasing about 600 of the 1,200 supposed to be released daily because of failure to adopt the 24-hour port service system.
As a result of this importers have to pay extra storage charges because their cargo stays beyond the seven and 14 days given for storage for local and transit cargo respectively.
Kilindini Waterfront System (Kwatos), which went into operation mid-August, was supposed to link all the automated government services concerned with cargo clearance to ensure a seamless flow of cargo.
Industry sources also blamed Rift Valley Railways’ (RVR) poor performance for the congestion at Mombasa because it has failed to pick rail-bound containers.
They said over 2020 rail-bound containers had overstayed at the port.
Mulewa James, the Kenya Ports Authority managing director, said cargo owners must immediately collect their containers or pay a surcharge.
The charges are to be enforced effective March 1.
The situation has been made dramatic with clearing agents and importers accusing each other of failure to adjust to the new cargo clearance system.
However, all decried the the snail-pace rate at which cargo is being cleared out of Mombasa, especially after the introduction of weight limits in October.
They also blamed delays at Malaba and Busia borders for transit cargo, saying it was making trucks turn around too long.
Congestion restricts off-loading of incoming cargo and attracts penalties known as demurrage from ship owners.
The waiting period charge could also be recovered through a vessel delay surcharge of $300 (about 600,000) per twenty-foot-equivalent (TEU).
Last week, six ships were still queuing to berth ten days after arrival with over 15,000 teus over the 13,000 capacity of the container terminal capacity, which could soon attract penalties.
It costs over $15,000 (about sh3m) to operate a cargo ship for a single day. This cost is later transferred to local importers and the final consumers. The situation has been made worse by piracy off the Gulf of Aden, which makes ships to take long routes.
The cost of imported goods is likely to go up as delays at Mombasa Port continue leading to congestion and penalties on overstayed cargo in the already overcrowded port.
Sources say this is due to failure to utilise the recently introduced 24-hour service system thus the slow pace of clearing goods.
According to sources, the port is releasing about 600 of the 1,200 supposed to be released daily because of failure to adopt the 24-hour port service system.
As a result of this importers have to pay extra storage charges because their cargo stays beyond the seven and 14 days given for storage for local and transit cargo respectively.
Kilindini Waterfront System (Kwatos), which went into operation mid-August, was supposed to link all the automated government services concerned with cargo clearance to ensure a seamless flow of cargo.
Industry sources also blamed Rift Valley Railways’ (RVR) poor performance for the congestion at Mombasa because it has failed to pick rail-bound containers.
They said over 2020 rail-bound containers had overstayed at the port.
Mulewa James, the Kenya Ports Authority managing director, said cargo owners must immediately collect their containers or pay a surcharge.
The charges are to be enforced effective March 1.
The situation has been made dramatic with clearing agents and importers accusing each other of failure to adjust to the new cargo clearance system.
However, all decried the the snail-pace rate at which cargo is being cleared out of Mombasa, especially after the introduction of weight limits in October.
They also blamed delays at Malaba and Busia borders for transit cargo, saying it was making trucks turn around too long.
Congestion restricts off-loading of incoming cargo and attracts penalties known as demurrage from ship owners.
The waiting period charge could also be recovered through a vessel delay surcharge of $300 (about 600,000) per twenty-foot-equivalent (TEU).
Last week, six ships were still queuing to berth ten days after arrival with over 15,000 teus over the 13,000 capacity of the container terminal capacity, which could soon attract penalties.
It costs over $15,000 (about sh3m) to operate a cargo ship for a single day. This cost is later transferred to local importers and the final consumers. The situation has been made worse by piracy off the Gulf of Aden, which makes ships to take long routes.