By Allan Olingo

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At least 33 shipping companies are expected to tour the Lamu port in the coming month, as Kenya prepares to commission the operations of its first berth in October.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to officially launch the port’s operations later in October when the first ship is anticipated to make call at the port.

Kenya is said to be in talks with possible operators, including South African logistics giant Transnet SOC.

“The first berth of the port is complete. We are now in the process of acquiring land for a 500-metre-wide corridor that will enable construction of the crude oil pipeline and standard gauge railway. We want to secure the entire corridor for business,” said Lapsset corporate affairs manager Benson Thuita.

COMPETITION

The tour by the shipping lines is part of a Kenya Ports Authority-driven charm offensive to market and position the port as competitive among its regional peers, Djibouti and Port Sudan.

Already the construction of the second and third berths is underway and both are expected to be operational by October 2020, with the three berths will cost more than Ksh48 billion ($46.3 million).

KPA has already deployed dozens of workers to the port, with the number expected to rise to 1,000 when the first berth becomes fully operational. It can handle a capacity of 400,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

The port agency is offering promotional discounts for vessels and cargo that will choose the port, including 30-day storage-free period for transhipments and transit cargo, and a two-week similar offer for domestic cargo. KPA will also offer up to 40 per cent discount for the cost of discharging cargo from the ships that will dock at the port, and also on the cargo handling fees.

Lamu port, which is part of the $25 billion Lapsset transport corridor projects, has 32 berths. The government is expected to spend more than Ksh2 trillion ($20 billion) to complete all the berths.

SHIPMENT

The corridor linking Kenya with other countries will also open up construction of the Standard Gauge Railway and a road network that will be used to transport cargo towards the hinterland.

KPA is banking on cargo transhipments to make Lamu port viable even as it eagerly awaits the docking of its first the super post-Panamax vessel in two months.

The expected docking of the first mother ship with 14,000 20-foot TEUs in November will beat the current record held by Panama-flagged Mediterranean Shipping Company’s Maxine, with a capacity of 9,411 TEUs, the largest container carrier to dock at the Mombasa port last November.

The super post-Panmax ship will discharge the cargo, which will then be loaded into other smaller vessels for onward transfer to the rest of the continent’s ports.