KENYA: Dredging begins to deepen Mombasa port

Record ID: 362589

  • Title: KENYA: Dredging begins to deepen Mombasa port
  • Date: 29th September 2011
  • Summary: MOMBASA, KENYA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MOMBASA PORT VARIOUS OF CONSTRUCTION WORKERS WORKING ON PORT MORE OF THE PORT SHIP DOCKED AT PORT VARIOUS OF NURU BWANAKOMBO, CIVIL ENGINEER, KENYA PORTS AUTHORITY IN OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) NURU BWANAKOMBO, CIVIL ENGINEER, KENYA PORTS AUTHORITY SAYING "Kenya Ports Authority is implementing major projects in anticipa
  • Embargoed: 14th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya, Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Business,General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4QBW3CYMMZZVZQR8ROHHBMCSX
  • Story Text: Dredging has begun off the coast of Kenya around Mombasa to deepen the channel used by ships docking at the country's biggest port.
    The dredging which will last up to 18 months will see tonnes of mud and silt scooped up from the sea bed to make the port deep enough to accommodate much larger ships.
    Kenya has long lost out on large shipping consignments to neighbouring Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, which has the capacity to deal with much larger boats and their cargo.
    Kenya's ports authority hopes the newly dredged port will bring more business to Mombassa, turning it into a gateway for goods to be bought in and out of East Africa and beyond.
    "Kenya Ports Authority is implementing major projects in anticipation of the gradual growth of port trade and also vision 2030," said Nuru Bwanakombo, a civil engineer for Kenya Ports Authority.
    Construction of a new cargo berth has been started simultaneously. The existing berth is designed to accommodate ships 180 metres long but most of the ships now calling at the port are around 230 metres.
    Big ships are currently required to dock at sea and offload on to smaller boats that carry the cargo to shore.
    Government estimates put the overall cost of the two projects at 5.2 billion Kenyan Shillings (50 million US dollars).
    The port's new depth will be 15 metres, allowing container berths as big as 12.5 metres to dock at Mombassa.
    Carrying out the dredging is the dutch maritime management company Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors. Speaking from the dredging boat as it sifted through silt and mud, project manager Simon Londervan told Reuters its going to take a some time to complete.
    "We have done at the moment 4.5 million cubic metres only soft material. We have in total to do more than 7 million cubic metres. Most of it soft, by soft I mean it is clay, soft sediments and silt. Material you cannot use for reclamation and for building. So that material we will bring outside to the dumping area. Part of the 7 million cubic metres is sand and coral that is coming from the entrance of the channel and we will take that to the new container terminal which is inside the port of Mombasa," he said,
    "To finish the project we need another dredger which will come from Europe. Its what we call a cutter dredger and that is a dredger which is crushing the coral which is inside the entrance channel." added Londervan.
    Kenya's port expansion is part of a wider project to improve infrastructure and transport connections from the nation's coastline to the rest of East Africa.
    Plans are also underway to build a port off Lamu island further up the coast to cater for goods imported and exported from the country's north.
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