Transport

Danish firm Maersk dominates business at port of Mombasa

maersk

Port of Mombasa. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Global shipping line leader Maersk Line remained top of the shipping lines that dominated business at the port of Mombasa for the whole of last year.

A vessel calling report for 2018 by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) indicated that Maersk line topped the list by 35 per cent share of twenty feet equivalent units (teus), surpassing its closest rival, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), by a margin of 19.9 per cent.

According to the report, Maersk brought 185 ships that called at the port trading a total of 457,685 teus for both imports and export.

Out of the 457,685 teus, 212,732 were fully imports, 17,503 being empty imports, 88,235 were fully exports, while 139,215 were empty exports.

The MSC had 131 vessels that called at the port of Mombasa, trading a total of 198,451 teus for both imports and exports, hence controlling 15.2 per cent share of teus. On board, the MSC vessels had 104,305 fully imports, 1,610 empty imports, 37,194 fully exports and 55,342 empty exports.

Evergreen Line brought to the port of Mombasa 30 vessels that traded a total of 157,371 teus in imports and exports, thereby controlling 12.1 per cent teus share. Evergreen ships carried 79,486 fully import teus, 104 empty import teus, 16,745 fully exports and 61,036 empty export teus.

Rais Shipping Services brought to the port of Mombasa 42 vessels to trade a total of 147,197 teus in both imports and exports representing 11.3 per cent of the teus share. The ships carried 74,846 teus in fully imports, 167 empty import teus, 12,525 fully exports and 59,659 empty export teus.

Pacific International Line (PIL) despite having 74 vessels calling at the port of Mombasa than Rais’s 42 and Evergreen’s 30 vessels, it remained number four with 10.7 per cent share of teus.

PIL vessels traded a total 139,543 teus both in imports and exports through the port. The ships carried 63,425 of fully imports, 4,198 of empty import teus, 13,938 fully export teus and 57,982 empty export teus.

CMA CGM shipping line had 59 of its ships calling at the port of Mombasa to trade a total of 98,398 teus, translating to 7.5 per cent share of teus. The CMA CGM vessels carried 50,616 fully import teus and 2,626 empty import teus, 11,462 fully export teus and 33,694 empty export teus.

Messina Line with 35 ships that called at the port of Mombasa traded a total of 39,317 teus in both imports and exports, a figure that represented 3.0 per cent share of teus. The Messina vessels carried 19,475 teus in full imports and 1,646 empty imports, 6,332 fully exports and 11,864 empty exports.

Wilhelmsen Ships Service(WSS) with 14 ships calling at the port of Mombasa traded a total of 23,238 teus in imports and exports. The vessels carried 12,159 fully imports teus, 1684 fully exports and 9395 empty exports. According to the report, that represented 1.8 per cent share of teus.

DSS Shipping had 35 vessels that called at the port of Mombasa that traded a total of 33,505 teus in both imports and exports. The figure represented 2.6 per cent share of teus. In imports, the ships brought 18,984 fully import teus, 354 empty import teus, 2,263 fully export teus and 11,904 empty export teus.

Seven Sea Agency brought to the port six vessels that had in them 1600 fully import teus, 23 full export teus, and 1,739 empty export teus representing 0.3 per cent share of teus.

Other shipping lines according to KPA had 89 vessels docking at the port with 5795 total teus in both import and exports which represented 0.4 per cent share of teus.

The other vessels recorded 2,392 fully import teus, 522 empty imports, 1,708 fully exports and 1,173 empty exports.

According to the KPA report, a total of 700 ships called at the port of Mombasa, trading a total of 1.3 million teus.

“Of the 1.3 million teus, 640,020 were fully imports, 28,730 were empty imports, while 192,109 were fully exports and 443,003 were empty exports, said KPA’s head of corporate communication at KPA Mr Bernard Osoro.

That Maersk was voted as the Best Shipping Line during the East African Maritime Awards last year.