Press Center | Freight Shipping Logistics News
Mar 19, 2014
General
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The Kenya Ports Authority has set aside Sh5 billion from its current budgetary allocation to purchase modern cargo handling equipment so as to increase efficiency in service delivery.
The Kenya Ports Authority has set aside Sh5 billion from its current budgetary allocation to purchase modern cargo handling equipment so as to increase efficiency in service delivery.
The chairman Mr Danson Mungatana said it was important for the port to strongly face competition from other ports in Africa and maintain its position as a global facility of choice.
Mr Mungatana told shipping line agents and port employees at the Terminal level on Wednesday that the facility would undertake vigorous marketing of its services in order to attract more clients from the business community in the eastern African Block.
“This port will only be viable if it offers first class services. It has to offer quality services so as to be more competitive,” Mungatana said.
Invest heavily
The chairman reiterated that the port management will invest heavily in the engineering sector.
He said that among the modern equipment the port has targeted to acquire soon include Gantry cranes and Tag boats among other equipment.
This, he said, was part of a bigger programme towards modernizing the port of Mombasa to make sure it becomes competitive.
“Once this equipment is purchased, the port will embark on reducing the turnaround time. I am very optimistic that we can reduce the turnaround time from four to two days once this new equipment are in place” he said.
Initially the turnaround time used to be 9 days but it was reduced to four days following the introduction of the twenty-four hour service program.
Shippers at the meeting applauded the chairman for his bold step of meeting hence offering them a chance to air their views pertaining port operations.
Among the shipping lines that were represented at the ten o’clock operations planning meeting are Maersk, Messina, Mediterranean Sea company and Ever green.
There are over 38 shipping lines that operate within the port of Mombasa. Workers who attended the meeting expressed their dissatisfaction with the workload following the shortage of staff at the port.
Mungatana said the port had a shortage of 247 workers which had resulted from the governments’ ban on employment.
However reliable sources have revealed that the port is pushing parliamentarians to lift the ban.
This would see the white card employees returning to the port once the move goes through.
The chairman Mr Danson Mungatana said it was important for the port to strongly face competition from other ports in Africa and maintain its position as a global facility of choice.
Mr Mungatana told shipping line agents and port employees at the Terminal level on Wednesday that the facility would undertake vigorous marketing of its services in order to attract more clients from the business community in the eastern African Block.
“This port will only be viable if it offers first class services. It has to offer quality services so as to be more competitive,” Mungatana said.
Invest heavily
The chairman reiterated that the port management will invest heavily in the engineering sector.
He said that among the modern equipment the port has targeted to acquire soon include Gantry cranes and Tag boats among other equipment.
This, he said, was part of a bigger programme towards modernizing the port of Mombasa to make sure it becomes competitive.
“Once this equipment is purchased, the port will embark on reducing the turnaround time. I am very optimistic that we can reduce the turnaround time from four to two days once this new equipment are in place” he said.
Initially the turnaround time used to be 9 days but it was reduced to four days following the introduction of the twenty-four hour service program.
Shippers at the meeting applauded the chairman for his bold step of meeting hence offering them a chance to air their views pertaining port operations.
Among the shipping lines that were represented at the ten o’clock operations planning meeting are Maersk, Messina, Mediterranean Sea company and Ever green.
There are over 38 shipping lines that operate within the port of Mombasa. Workers who attended the meeting expressed their dissatisfaction with the workload following the shortage of staff at the port.
Mungatana said the port had a shortage of 247 workers which had resulted from the governments’ ban on employment.
However reliable sources have revealed that the port is pushing parliamentarians to lift the ban.
This would see the white card employees returning to the port once the move goes through.
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