Cargo News Asia reported that container volumes handled by Kenya's Mombasa port grew 12% in the first 9 months of 2010 as the world economy recovered.

In addition to Kenya, the port handles cargo to and from Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, south Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia. Zambia, Ethiopia and Malawi are also considering using the Mombasa port as a gateway for some overseas markets.

Mr Gichiri Ndua MD of Kenya Ports Authority said that "With the world economy sluggishly recovering from a two year downturn, many ports have not fully recovered from negative growth. It is therefore a blessing that the Port of Mombasa experienced modest growth and we are upbeat that we shall continue to perform even better."

The facility handled 513,000 TEUs over the period, up from 460,000 in the first nine months of 2009, and much above its designed capacity of 250,000 TEUs a year. In tonnage, the container terminal at the port handled 14 million tonnes in the same period compared with 13.7 million tonnes handled in the first nine months of 2009.

Mr Ndua said that among targets they aimed to hit in 2010-11 was attaining or exceeding a ship turnaround period of three days and a return on investment of 14.7%. He added that "In our continued effort to improve operational efficiency, we have started receiving some of the equipment that we had ordered."

Mr Ndua said that the construction of a second container terminal and dredging of the port's main channel would begin next year. The second terminal, whose first phase should be operational in 2013, is expected to cost an estimated USD 235 million. It will have a 1.2 million TEU capacity.

KPA also hopes to dredge the port to a deeper 15 meters from 13 meters to enable bigger ships to call at the port. The port of Mombasa handled a total of 19.06 million tonnes in 2009, up from 16.41 million in the previous year. The container terminal handled 618,816 TEUs in 2009, up from 615,733 in 2008.

(Sourced from www.cargonewsasia.com)