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Kenya Ports Authority News

22 Mar 2022

Med Marine Delivers New Tug to Kenya Port Authority

(Photo: Robert Allan Ltd.)

Kenya Port Authority's new tug,  Mwokozi II, was delivered to her home port of Mombasa on January 10, 2022.The Mwokozi II is a custom design 42-meter, 120 tonne bollard pull RAstar 4200 salvage and harbor tug developed by Robert Allan Ltd., with particularly outstanding performance in maneuvering, seakeeping, and stability.The Turkish shipbuilder Med Marine was contracted to build the new tugboat at its group owned Eregli Shipyard. The keel was laid on March 23, 2020, and construction…

10 May 2021

Tech File: Schottel SRP 710 for KPA Salvage Tug

Image courtesy Schottel

A pair of Schottel RudderPropellers type SRP 710 have left the German production site in Wismar and are on their way to the Turkish shipyard Med Marine for installation in a new tug. The salvage tug, which has been ordered by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) will be equipped with main and auxiliary propulsion systems from Schottel . By this, the vessel will achieve an expected bollard pull of more than 120 tons. The Robert Allan RAstar 4200 (MED-A42120) design vessel is considered…

13 Aug 2020

Schottel to Equip Kenya's Powerful New Tug

(Image: Med Marine)

German propulsion systems manufacturer Schottel says it has secured a contract with Turkish shipyard Med Marine to provide azimuth thrusters for a powerful new salvage tug ordered by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA). The vessel will be equipped with main and auxiliary propulsion systems from Schottel, achieving a bollard pull of more than 120 tonnes. The Robert Allan RAstar 4200 (MED-A42120) design vessel is considered the largest tugboat on the East African Coast of the Indian Ocean.Recai Hakan Şen…

31 May 2020

Med Marine to Build Tug for Port of Mombasa

(Image: Med Marine)

Turkish tugboat builder, towage and pilotage operator Med Marine said it has signed a deal with Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) to build and deliver a new 42-meter tugboat for the Port of Mombasa.The vessel is scheduled to enter service in East Africa’s largest port in 2021 as part of the KPA’s equipment modernization and maintenance program aiming to enhance efficiency at the port.The vessel design is from the RAstar ASD tug series by Canada’s Robert Allan Ltd. The new RAstar 4200 with a bollard pull of 120 metric tons, ranking it among the most powerful tugs Robert Allan Ltd.

09 Aug 2019

Kenya Boosts Maritime Security

Proper implementation of International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s maritime security measures is essential for trade.Kenya is the latest country to benefit from training on the implementation of SOLAS Chapter XI-2 and the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, informed the UN body.A national workshop in Mombasa, Kenya (5-9 August) brought together Port facility security officers (PFSOs) as well as representatives of all structures involved in maritime and port security, including Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Maritime Authority, Customs, Kenya Coast Guard Service, maritime police, and several other port operators.PFSOs…

15 Feb 2019

Kenya Trains Maritime Security Officials

Maritime law enforcement officials from Kenya are taking part in a two week training course on best practices for visit, board, search and seizure of vessels, in Mombasa, Kenya (11-22 February).The multi-agency course brings together 30 officials to learn skills for effective coordination in combating maritime crimes and procedures used to successfully board and search a vessel of interest.The training is part of International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s support for implementing the Jeddah Amendment to Djibouti Code of Conduct 2017, a regional agreement against maritime crime in the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean area, which…

28 Oct 2018

Mombasa Port Receives Largest Container Vessel

Port of Mombasa of Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) pilots has received Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) container vessel MSC Maxine  master one of largest container vessel to dock at the facility.The port has registered a new performance record of 1450 moves within an eight-hour shift in the container operations, said a press release."The record was set by MSC Maxine in her maiden call at the Port of Mombasa on Wednesday beating the previous record of container carrier Livorno of 1265 moves registered late June this year," it said.MSC Maxine, with a container capacity of 9,411 TEUs, the largest container carrier to dock at the Port, also recorded an average of 181 gross moves per hour to break Liberian registered Livorno's record of 140 gross moves per hour.

20 Aug 2018

New Tug Delivered for Kenya Ports Authority

(Photo: Robert Allan Ltd.)

A new tug, Eugene, constructed by Cheoy Lee Shipyards, Hong Kong, has been delivered to its owners Kenya Ports Authority, Mombasa, Kenya.The new tug, a RAstar 3200 designed by Robert Allan Ltd., has the following principal particulars:Length overall: 32 mBeam, molded: 12.8 mDepth, molded (hull): 5.37 mMaximum draft: 5.8 mEugene is classed and built according to the following Lloyd’s Register of Shipping notation: ✠100A1, Escort Tug, ✠LMC, UMS, Fire-Fighting Ship 1 with Water Spray…

03 Feb 2017

Kenya's University to host Africa Maritime Technology Cooperation Centre

International Maritime Organization (IMO) has announced that Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya, has been selected to host the regional Maritime Technology Cooperation Centre (MTCC) for the Africa region, under an ambitious project, funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by IMO, to help mitigate the harmful effects of climate change. Under the Global MTTC Network (GMN) project, JKUAT will host MTCC-Africa in collaboration with Kenya Ports Authority and Kenya Maritime Authority. The selection of JKUAT followed a competitive international tendering process. In December 2016, IMO announced that Shanghai Maritime University in China will host MTCC-Asia, while the University of Trinidad and Tobago will host MTCC-Caribbean.

15 Sep 2016

Kipevu Oil Terminal to Be Relocated

The Kipevu Oil Terminal at Mombasa Port will be relocated early next year, to Dongo Kundu area, as a result of the ongoing capacity expansion program, the Kenya Ports Authority announced. The new oil terminal is expected to have a capacity to accommodate four vessels of up to 200,000 DWT. The project also involves building new cargo handling facilities with both subsea and land based pipelines and four berths capable of loading/discharging crude oil, HFO, DPK-aviation, AGO-Diesel and PMS-Petrol. The other element is the topside, whose initial implementation will be for three berths but layout will recognize the need for implementation of the fourth berth at a later date.

19 Aug 2015

Mombasa Port Shows Growth, Increased Efficiency

Shipping activity at Kenya's port of Mombasa, East Africa's biggest, rose by 11 percent in the first half of 2015 as vessel wait times fell, the national port authority said on Wednesday. Gichiri Ndua, Kenya Ports Authority managing director, said the performance reflected progress in the integration of east African countries to ease the flow of trade. The port, a major trade gateway to east Africa, handles imports such as fuel for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kenya, which faces increasing competition from other countries like Tanzania and Djibouti in the bid to serve land-locked and rapidly-growing neighbours, said increasing port efficiency is central to its infrastructure plan.

04 Jul 2015

Mombasa Port Workers End Strike

Mombasa, Kenya port workers end strike and returned to work on Friday after being warned they could lose their jobs, reports Reuters. However the members of the Trade Union Congress (TUC-K) said protests over changes to their health care costs could resume next week and aims to push the government to revoke the higher deductions for its national health insurance scheme. Sylvan Mghanga, an official at the port's communications department, said workers had returned to work fearing they would lose their jobs. "The management has never made such an announcement before, so it shocked and scared everyone, and that is why they have returned," said Mghanga, referring to a Friday morning deadline for striking workers to resume duty or be fired.

02 Jul 2015

KPA: Striking Mombasa Port Workers Must Return by Friday

The Kenya Ports Authority said on Thursday striking workers at the Mombasa port should resume work by Friday morning or lose their jobs, and that normal activities at East Africa's biggest port will resume July 6. The workers are disputing higher deductions for the government's national health insurance scheme, officials said. "Any employee who will not report or discharge his or her duties will be deemed to have forfeited their appointment," the authority said in a notice to workers announcing the deadline. Reporting by Joseph Akwiri

22 Oct 2014

ISS Manages Heavy-lift Project at Port of Mombasa

Photo courtesy of ISS

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) announced it has completed another complex heavy-lift project in Africa, this time at the Port of Mombasa in Kenya. ISS was appointed as port and discharging agents for the COSCO-owned MV DADE, which arrived at the port in September 2014 with seven RTG cranes on-board. The cranes which were commissioned by the Kenya Ports Authority represent the first stage of the upgrade and expansion plans which will enable the port to develop its cargo processing and logistics activities at the container terminal facilities in the Port of Mombasa.

04 Mar 2014

Mombasa Traffic up 1.8 percent in 2013

Kenya's main port of Mombasa handled 1.8 percent more cargo in 2013, aided by improved efficiency and capacity, the port's management said. Landlocked neighbors like Uganda and South Sudan rely on the port for the shipment of commodity exports and imports. A report by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) seen by Reuters on Tuesday said a total of 22.3 million tonnes of cargo moved through the port in 2013, up from 21.9 million in the previous year. Container traffic dipped marginally to 900,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2013, down from to 903,443 registered the previous year. The port handled 6.6 million tonnes of transit cargo in 2013 with land locked Uganda remaining the most frequent destination of goods arriving in Mombasa…

18 Jul 2007

Transas Marine to Supply VTMS to the Port of Mombasa

On June 29, Transas Marine UK and Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) signed a contract for the supply, installation and commissioning of a VTMS system for the Port of Mombasa in Kenya. The VTMS system will be installed and officially handed to KPA in February 2008. The main operator control room will be located inside the Port of Mombasa’s brand new 70m high Port Control Tower, and additional equipment will be installed at Ras Serani Station, Likoni Sector Light, and KPA Headquarters. At the time of contract signing, the preliminary scope of supply includes two high performance coastal surveillance radars, CCTV, Automatic Identification System (AIS) Base Stations, VHF & HF Base Stations, and other ancillary equipment.

19 Dec 2006

Fire Consumes Cargo Ship

The MV Basra II, which plies the Indian Ocean waters, was consumed by a fire, said to have started from the kitchen. The cargo ship burnt down at Mombasa's Old Port as it prepared to sail to Kismayo Port in Somali. The Standard reported that the vessel's owner, Hassan Hash, said that the ship's goods compartment was laden with mattresses, tea and coffee destined for Somali. More destruction was, however, averted when a fisherman spotted fire from the burnt ship and pulled the vessel from two other larger ones, MV Ronja- Zanzibar and MV Clanita, that had docked by its side. Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) deployed one of its multipurpose tugboats…

13 Mar 2006

State Urged to Replace Old Ferries

Maritime stakeholders in Mombasa have warned over stalled ferries at Likoni, Mombasa. They urged the government to check the condition of the vessels that dock at the Likoni channel to prevent a disaster. Stakeholders warned of the danger of collision between stalled ferries and ships, which use the Mombasa Port. Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) said it would be difficult for a loaded oil tanker to break or drop anchor to avoid hitting a stalled ferry. The Mtongwe disaster, Kenya’s worst marine accident, where over 200 passengers died, should serve as a warning and jolt the authorities into action to avert similar disasters. Some Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) boats sail at over 40 knots along the Likoni channel and any ferry breaking down midstream posed danger to passengers.

14 Nov 2005

Kenya Enforces Anti-Piracy Measures

The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) in conjunction with the Kenya Navy and the Kenya Police have jointly put up stringent security measures to ensure that all ships, and in particular cruise ships plying the Kenyan coastline waters, are safe, according to a recent Kenya Times report. The move was necessitated following the recent incident in which a tourist ship was attacked on its way to the Kenyan coast by Somali militiamen and had to divert to Seychelles. Among the security measures to be put in place include a radar station operated by the Kenyan Navy on the coastline capable of automatically identifying ships and will be in constant communication with port control stations, says the report.

14 Nov 2005

Piracy Top on Agenda in Maritime Meeting

The Standard has reported that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) secretariat has drafted a resolution to tackle piracy along the Somali coastline. The resolution to fight sea pirates, who pose a threat to shipping in the Indian Ocean will be tabled at the IMO bi-annual council meeting next Monday in London. Kenya will lead a delegation to the meeting where it will submit its concerns over the attacks off the Somali coast, which threaten to mar cruise tourism in the region. In the Kenyan delegation are Transport PS Dr Gerishon Ikiara and Kenya Ports Authority managing director, Brown Ondego. KPA Chief Operations Manager, Captain Twalib Khamis, said the attacks were a major concern to the country.

15 Oct 1999

Major Overhaul Planned For Kenya's Mombasa Port

Kenya's ailing Mombasa port will undergo a radical overhaul to ensure its status as the shipping hub of East Africa, the new managing director of Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) said. Joseph Munene said he was aware that he had been given one of the toughest jobs in the country -- turning around a port almost destroyed by corruption and inefficiency. "My biggest challenge is to make the port profitable and to improve cash flows," he said. The appointment of Munene and new KPA chairman Jonathan Mturi, part of a private sector team drafted in to take over Kenya's parastatals by civil service head Richard Leakey, was welcomed by Kenyan industry.