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| Vessels berthed at Dar Port |
The three countries have both option of
using Dar es Salaam or Mombasa ports but efficient in cargo clearance,
safety and security play a big role on wooing back clients.
On Tuesday it was reported that Rwandese importers and exporters are turning to Dar es Salaam port, due to relative affordability in clearing and forwarding rates compared to Mombasa port in Kenya.
The Minister for Transport, Dr Harrison
Mwakyembe, said recently that in order to cope with the current ports
competitions in the region, Dar es Salaam has to run as there was no
time to waste.
Clients may start looking elsewhere.
"We have to run and increase capacity
ahead of demand as some ports are already ahead from us," Dr Mwakyembe
said, during the European Unions' ambassadors tour of Dar port to
inspect its efficiency.
The minister said that Burundians and
Ugandans have shown a huge interest of using the country's ports,
especially Dar es Salaam port and Mwambani in Tanga. Last week a
Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) delegation toured Kampala on the same
mission.
Rwanda's clearing and forwarding agent,
who is based in Mombasa, Kenya, Mr Robert Kalisa Zimulinda, was quoted
by New Times of Rwanda as saying that many agents have shifted to Dar es
Salaam owing to the numerous bottlenecks at Mombasa.
The agent said that it takes over 1,200
US dollars (about 1.92m/) to clear and transport a small car from
Mombasa to Kigali compared to only 700 US dollars (1.12m/-) that's spent
at the Dar es Salaam port.
"We were many at this port but because
of all these barriers over 80 per cent of Rwanda clearing and forwarding
agents have left for Dar. We don't have jobs here. We remain here
because of the few clients who still have confidence in this port," Mr
Zimulinda said.
He added that apart from the trade
barriers, the port lacks capacity to handle all the imports and exports.
At the port, the container terminal is congested with imported shipping
containers waiting for the owners to clear them.
According to him, the ports authority
provides only nine days to clear the goods after they have landed,
failure of which leads to a fine of 60 US dollars (about 96,000/-) per
day.
Dar port provides 14 days as grace
period to clear a transit consignment. After that period a 20
twenty-foot equivalent units TEUs and 40 TEUs subjected to 32 US dollars
and 72 US dollars respectively.
Other factor that led Rwandese traders
to turn to Dar es Salaam was fear that the coming Kenyan general
elections, slated for March 4, next year, may turn chaotic.
Thirteen port users are demanding more
than 47.5 million US dollars for losses incurred in 2007 following
election violence. The Kenyan Ports Authority was quoted by New Times of
Rwanda as saying that they are experiencing a reduction in volume of
goods handled through Mombasa port.
In the last one year Dar es Salaam port
has registered positive records on efficiency in cargo clearance, safety
and security. The port managed to improve stevedore from 415 tonnes per
gang shift to 446 per gang shift in October, this year.
While onshore handling of cars also
improved per shift from 210 to 497 units during the same period and yard
density at the main container terminal improved from an average of 62
per cent in 2011 to 52 per cent by October, this year, reflecting a no
terminal congestion situation.
Other improvements 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 last October.
Source:The Daily News and Agencies, www.dailynews.co.tz, reported from Dar es Salaam and Mombasa
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