Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg: Congestion at Tanzania's main port of Dar es Salaam has inflated costs and cut profit for carriers including Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), the world's second-biggest container line.
The company is suffering losses because its ships have to wait as much as 25 days for a berth at the facility, John Nyaronga, managing director of MSC's Tanzanian unit, said in an interview.
The delays have forced the company to reduce its stops at the port to five per month since December, from the usual 12, he said.
"The ship owners are making big losses,'' Nyarongo said. "The impact is that if they are not able to recover their losses, they will abandon the port."
Dar es Salaam handles more than three quarters of Tanzania's trade, according to the website of Hutchison Port Holdings, which operates the port.
It has rail and road links to six land-locked African countries including Zambia, Africa's biggest copper producer, Malawi, the continent's biggest burley tobacco producer, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has a third of the world's cobalt reserves.
Congestion at the port will probably raise consumer prices and restrict business in Africa's third-biggest gold producer and exporter of coffee, tea and cotton, said Aloys Mwamanga, president Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture.
Capacity
The Tanzanian facility, which has the capacity to process 250,000 standard-sized 20-foot units, or TEUs, is currently operating at 34 per cent above capacity, Port Manager Jason Rugaihuruza said in an interview.
The Tanzania Ports Authority is building six inland container terminals to help Tanzania International Container Terminal Services, the local unit of Hutchison Port Holdings, ease the backlog, he said.
Last year, shipping lines proposed a $200 per TEU "vessel delay surcharge" to offset some of the costs generated by long waits, Otieno Igogo, president of Tanzania Freight Forwarders Association, said in an interview in Dar es Salaam.
"Time is money and no one is going to operate at a loss," Igogo said.
"If the companies are not making money they are going to head to another port."
A.P. Moeller-Maersk, the world's largest container line, yesterday said it will continue sending shipments to Dar es Salaam, denying a report in This Day newspaper that it was avoiding the east African port because of congestion.
Pacific International Lines Ltd, Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, Global Container Line and American President Lines are among the other carriers that use the Tanzanian facility, according to a Tanzania Ports Authority briefing document dated June 2007.
Tanzania's Surface and Marine Transport Authority, the industry regulator, will hold talks with four shipping agents in Dar es Salaam, while Igogo held an emergency meeting on Saturday in the city to make plans to decongest the port's container terminal and inland depots.
David Mziray, public affairs manager for the authority, didn't answer his mobile phone when called for comment.
The impact is that if they are not able to recover their losses, they will abandon the port." John Nyaronga Managing director of MSC's Tanzanian unit
Dar es Salaam: A.P. Moeller-Maersk said its Tanzanian unit halted new orders for deliveries at the East African country's main port of Dar es Salaam due to congestion.
Nyota Tanzania Ltd. stopped taking orders from yesterday until the end of April to allow the port to clear its backlog, according to an e-mailed statement from the company.
"Due to the current port congestion levels and delayed berthing, cargo destined for Tanzania has accumulated," it said.
Dar es Salaam handles more than three quarters of Tanzania's trade, according to the Web site of Hutchison Port Holdings, which operates the port. It has rail and road links to six land-locked African countries including Zambia, Africa's biggest copper producer, Malawi, the continent's biggest burley tobacco producer, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has a third of the world's cobalt reserves.
Congestion at the facility has inflated costs and cut profit for carriers including Mediterranean Shipping Co., the world's second-biggest container line.
The company is suffering losses because its ships have to wait as much as 25 days for a berth at Dar es Salaam.
AP
