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| DAR PORT |
The Dar es Salaam Port has registered positive records on efficiency in
cargo clearance, safety and security.
These positive achievements are in the areas of synchronising Tanzania
Port Authority, Tanzania Revenue Authority, Tanzania International Container
Terminal Services (TICTS) and other stakeholders to enable the port to operate
24 hours.
While on shore-handling, cars productivity also improved per shift from
210 units to 497 units during the same period.
TPA’s acting Deputy Director
General Clemence Kiloyavaha said the improvement were made possible after
acquiring cargo handling equipment for stevedoring and shore-handling.
“TPA acquired three mobile harbour cranes, three reach stackers, four
empty handlers, six highway tractors, four terminal tractors, 12 highway
trailers, six terminal trailers and one x-ray luggage scanner,” Mr Kiloyavaha
said.
He added: “Yard density at the main container terminal improved from an
average of 62 per cent in 2011 to 52 per cent by October 2012 reflecting a no
terminal congestion situation.”
Other improvement in the last one year include overall ships’
turnaround time that has been reduced from an average of 7.3 days last year to
6.4 days per ship by October, in land and transit containers dwell time from
11.5 days to 9.7 day and 17.1 days to 14.4 days respectively.
The improvement touched hearts of European Union’s Ambassadors to
Tanzania. The EU delegation toured the port last week to get first-hand
information of the port’s efficiency. The delegation last year proposed six
areas of improving Dar Port efficiency of which most have been met by the
Tanzania Port Authority (TPA).
The areas include inefficiency in cargo clearance, stevedoring and
shore-handling operations, cargo and passenger safety and security and
involving EU in port advisory bodies.
The EU Head of Delegation to Tanzania,
Ambassador Filiberto Ceriani Sebregondi said that they commended measures taken
to achieve the goals in the last one year since last visit. However, the
delegation saw the need of further improvement.
Mr Sebregondi said the country need a low cost means of transport to
ease inflationary pressure on goods and services which was a good pre-condition
for the development.
“Despite good efficiency figures given by the port
authority, still shipping cost (to Dar) is 25 per cent higher than the rest of
Sub Sahara Africa,” the ambassador said attributing his remark to a recent
study by the World Bank which is yet to be made official.
He said if Dar port is compared to the rest of world shipping cost
stands at 150 per cent, a rate he said need to look at since traffic to
Dar es Salaam is expected to increase by
240 per cent in the next 15 years.
The Minister for Transport Dr Harrison
Mwakyembe said the ministry welcomes all challenges because that was a way of
improving the country’s ports operations. “But the report Mr (EU) Ambassador
refers is based on the happening up to April (this year).
Many of the items have been overtaken by the in-between measures we
have implemented,” Dr Mwakyembe said.
There are shortfalls too.
Maersk Line
Country Sales Manager Tony Makani said they are facing a number of challenges
including waiting for berthing that runs for 14 days which is enough time to
sail from Middle East to East Africa. “It’s no longer possible to operate
efficiently due to delays.
We would like to know the government’s stance on the construction of berth
13 and 14 that has been on plans in the last three years,” Mr Makani asked the
minister.
The minister assured them that coming next month the government would
have a clear position regarding the issues. On maximising the utilisation of
the port land, the port created additional areas for cargo handling by
converted ex-Nasaco yard at Kurasini to handle container stuffing and
de-stuffing outside the port.
Also ex-TISCAN and ex-AMI yards were transformed to keep 100 and
1220TEUs containers respectively.
The Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries and Azam Marine
General Manager, Mr Hussein Said passengers must show any form of identification to be
issued a ticket.
“In the beginning, (due to low awareness) it was a challenge,
as some came from as far as Mwanza to be told to produce an ID, which he/she
don’t have it was a nightmare,” Mr Said said.
To solve this problem they told those without Ids to get a certified
note from the court which was just across the road. But today according to him,
only about one per cent of non-ID possessing passengers are reporting at their
terminal. Azam transports about 2,000 passengers a day.
Sumatra wants passengers ticketing system to be computerised and
ferries companies have given timeframe to implement the same. Azam Marine has
full computerised system that is ticketing according to manifest and accepts no
more entries.
“In short, the port luggage room entering process (boarding to
Zanzibar area) is similar to those of Julius Nyerere International Airport,” Dr
Mwakyembe said. The EU delegates also witness this.
Source: The Daily News, www.dailynews.co.tz, reported by Abduel Elinaza in Dar es Salaam
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