President Uhuru Kenyatta will today (Thursday) commission the Lamu Port when he leads a delegation to receive the first Maersk vessel at the first berth.
Above the competitive edge, the Lamu port is poised to be the biggest competitor to Salalah port in Oman and Durban in South Africa in the transshipment business.
With all three costing Sh40 billion, two more berths are nearing completion. The Kenya Shippers Council encouraged private investors, including oil companies, to construct the remaining 29 berths.
According to the Kenya Ports Authority, Lamu port with its 32 berths will handle transshipment cargo for smaller ports on the Indian Ocean. Lamu is poised to become Africa’s busiest trading hub after the completion of the entire Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transit (Lapsset) corridor.
Kenya Shippers Council CEO Gilbert Langat while speaking during an interview said Salalah in the northern Indian Ocean and Durban have been handling most transshipment cargo meant for Africa.
“If the government gets everything right, Lamu will be the biggest competition for the ports of Durban and Salalah. It has the biggest potential to be one of Africa’s busiest ports,” he said on Tuesday.
Ranked fifth in Africa after Durban, Egypt’s Port Said, Tanger-Med in Morocco and Alexandria in Egypt, the Port of Mombasa has also been handling transhipment cargo, but on a smaller scale. Mombasa Port has 21 berths, Tanzania’s Port of Dar es Salaam has 16 berths.
It is sometimes considered Mombasa’s biggest competitor. Mombasa handles more than 1.4 million containers annually, Dar es Salaam handles fewer than 800,000 containers.
Mombasa port transshipment traffic recorded 69,658 total equivalent units (TEU), or 20-foot containers in the first quarter of this year.
The Port of Salalah in Oman, which is centrally located at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, serves East Africa, the Red Sea, the Indian Subcontinent and the Arabian/Persian Gulf as indicated by global maritime statistic.
Handling more than 31.4 million tonnes of cargo annually, the Port of Durban, which is the largest and busiest in Sub-Saharan Africa. If everything goes as planned, Langat said Lamu port will be handling more than 24 million tonnes of cargo annually by 2030.
It will be handling transshipment cargo destined for ports in Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, Tanzania and other countries along the Indian Ocean as well as Mombasa Port.
Langat of the Kenya Shippers Council said Lamu is naturally deep with sheltered harbours and therefore requires minimal dredging to accommodate post-Panamax vessels.
Post Panamax vessels have a capacity to handle as many as 110,000 tonnes of cargo and carry more than 10,000 TEUs. The vessels measure 230 metres to 270 metres in length with a draft of 17 metres.
With an 18-metre draft, Berths at Lamu port are 400 metres long. So far, berth one is 100 per cent complete. Berths two and three are 95 and 75 per cent complete, respectively.
To construct the remaining 29 berths, private companies can partner with the Kenyan government as stated by Langat.
“Mega oil companies can invest in one or two berths in Lamu. If that happens, they can then sell petroleum products to other companies and KPA will benefit from the port charges for all docking vessels.”
Several shipping companies have expressed interest in operating from Lamu. They include Maersk an, Express Shipping & Logistics East Africa Company. The first vessel to dock in Lamu is operated by Maersk Shipping Company.
