The terminal will expand container handling capacity at the port of Mombasa and will match future trends, stay competitive in cargo handling and facilitate economic development in the Eastern and Central Africa region, according to the Ports Authority.
The new container terminal west of the current Container Terminal is being constructed on 100 hectares of reclaimed land and will have three berths each with a length of 230m, 320m and 350m. Dredging is being carried out to various depths – a depth of -15m for the main quay length of 670m, -12m for the quay length of 230m, -11m for 210m and -4.5m for a quay of 83m. The first phase involves the construction of two berths for Post-Panama vessels of 60,000 DWT and Panama container ships of 20,000 DWT as well as a smaller berth. The 1.2 million TEU container terminal will increase the current overall port capacity by 15 million tonnes.
In 2012, the port of Mombasa handled a total of 21.92 million tonnes up from 19.95 million tonnes in 2011, a growth of 9.9%. Container traffic rose to 903,463 TEU from 770,804 TEU handled in 2011, an increase of 17.2%. In the same period, transit traffic realised a growth of 18.4%, registering 6.63 million tonnes from 5.60 million tonnes in 2011.
The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) management is upbeat and anticipates an upward growth especially now that the country has been through its National elections. It is projected that close to a million TEU will be handled at the end of 2013 and a total throughput of about 22 million tonnes. The Authority projects to handle approximately 27 million tonnes total throughput and 1.3 million TEU by 2016.