APM Terminals opens new Mombasa dry port
APM Terminals has opened a new 7.3 hectare (18 acre) inland container freight station (CFS) 4 km (two and a half miles) from Kenya’s primary port of Mombasa, according to press release. The new facility is one of East Africa’s largest and most technologically advanced CFS operations, with direct rail links to both the port and inland commercial and population centers of Nairobi and Kampala.
Offices of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) as well as a banking facility for clearing terminal and custom’s charges are all located on-site.
“This new, modern dry port facility will substantially reduce turnaround time for imported and transit cargoes and reduce demurrage costs for importers in Kenya and Uganda” stated APM Terminals Inland Services Regional Manager Jesper Boll.
Mombasa, the busiest container terminal in East Africa with 771,000 TEU throughput in 2011, saw container volume increase by 25% in the first half of 2012, and handled an estimated 840,000 TEUs last year. Road congestion remains a significant obstacle to traffic flows into and out of Mombasa, which is a major trade gateway for interior landlocked African countries such as Uganda and South Sudan.
The facility has two 600 meter railway lines which can accommodate four trains simultaneously. Each train movement will take the place of approximately 40 truck movements, alleviating overburdened Mombasa road networks and offering a more ecofriendly solution.
“Huge traffic jams are experienced every day at the Makupa causeway, the Changamwe roundabout and all the way to Nairobi” said Mr. Boll, noting “Our key location on the Nairobi - Mombasa highway helps the local community by easing traffic congestion and reducing time spent by importers picking up cargo in the port”.
APM Terminals is one of the largest terminal operators in Africa with a network of port operations which includes large transhipment operations at Tanger-Med in Morocco, and the Suez Canal Container Terminal at Port Said East, Egypt, and nine port operations in eight countries in West Africa, including West Africa’s busiest container port at APM Terminals Apapa, Nigeria. APM Terminals also has an extensive Inland Services network in Africa with 26 operations in 15 countries. The new Mombasa dry port will strengthen the East African Inland Services which currently include operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan and Mozambique.
“This project illustrates APM Terminal’s successful African strategy to collaborate with governments and local partners, to continuously invest in upgrading port and transport infrastructure in Eastern Africa, and increase the competitiveness of local transportation services” said APM Terminals Regional Head of Investment, Thomas Hougaard. The new facility is a joint venture with a local Kenyan company, Great Lakes Ports Ltd.
APM Terminals’ Global Terminal Network of ports and inland services provide the infrastructure for the growth of international trade, 90% of which travels by sea.
International commerce is an economic growth engine, creating jobs, lifting economies and improving people’s lives around the world. With world headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, the company’s core expertise is the design, construction, management and operation of ports, terminals and inland services with a Global Terminal Network including interests in 70 port facilities in 40 countries and Inland Services operations in 160 locations in 48 countries.
