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Vehicle shipment to dock at Tanga port for the first time
Tanga Port. Photo | Courtesy
What you need to know:
- The milestone follows the completion of substantial improvements to the port, including the enhancement of its depth from three to 13 metres, enabling it to handle two ships simultaneously
Tanga. The Tanga Port is poised to make history as it anticipates the arrival this month of a shipment of vehicles for the first time since its establishment.
The milestone follows the completion of substantial improvements to the port, including the enhancement of its depth from three to 13 metres, enabling it to handle two ships simultaneously.
Tanga Port Manager, Masoud Mrisha, told The Citizen recently that the culmination of these improvements sets the stage for significant development as the port is now ready to welcome diverse cargo.
“We have successfully concluded discussions with Bin Sun Shipping Line Company, paving the way for the commencement of car deliveries scheduled for this month,” he said.
According to Mr Mrisha, the vehicles that will be shipped through Tanga will be destined for the northern regions and the neighbouring countries of Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Uganda.
“The plan is to reduce congestion at the Port of Dar es Salaam. If two out of four ships waiting to offload at the Dar Port had been diverted to here, then there would be no queues at the outer anchorage waiting to enter the Dar es Salaam port sea channel,” said Mr Mrisha.
He said the improvements at the port will likely increase employment opportunities for Tanzanians from 7,500 to 13,500.
Already, the port’s improvements have enabled it to receive 19 ships with a length starting from 200 metres onwards. Speaking about that, the Economics Lecturer at the Open University of Tanzania (OUT), Dr Timoth Lyanga, said port improvements are compatible with service efficiency.
“When the port’s revenues increase, it helps the government finance development projects and improve social services such as hospitals, schools, and water projects,” said Dr Lyanga.
“On the other hand, we can see Tanga and neighbouring regions opening up economically because of improved cargo shipment,” he said. The port’s head of Marketing and Business, Ms Rose Tandiko, said they have started to take some steps to bring back northern regions’ customers who had shifted to Mombasa port.
A port stakeholder, Mr Joel Mwainyekule, explained the reason why he and fellow businessmen were using the Mombasa port, saying it was because of the delayed offloading of cargo at the port and the high charges imposed by the Tanga port agents.
“The major thing that hinders us at our ports is a lack of urgency and high fees charged by agents. Sometimes you may wait for up to four weeks while your cargo is urgently needed,” said Mr Mwainyekule.
Vasso flower farm investor Fons Nijenhuis in Kilimanjaro Region said despite improvements made at the port, the management should ensure cargo is cleared within three days.
“How come someone spends more than a week waiting for their cargo to be cleared at the port? We don’t want to go to Mombasa, but the management needs to ensure cargo is cleared within three days; they don’t have to get it delayed,” Mr Nijenhuis suggested.
