SGR injects life in Nairobi depot as cargo handling grows 61 per cent
By People Reporter, January 2, 2020The increased number of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) daily freight trains on the Mombasa and Nairobi has propelled cargo throughput at the Nairobi Inland Container Depot (NICD) to a record 61.1 per cent growth.
Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) latest data shows that an average of 10 cargo trains leave daily from Mombasa port to the ICD, boosting the cargo handling from a 257.972 record in 2018 to 415,650 twenty-foot equivalent units,(TEUs) by end of last Month.
The growth has also seen Port of Mombasa hit a new performance record handling capacity of 1.4 million TEUs, beating its last year’s record of 1.3 million TEUs
KPA Managing director Daniel Manduku (pictured) said improved cargo handling time is important as it frees up container yard space in the port thereby reducing congestion and increasing port’s productivity and profitability.
Operations planning
“Quick evacuation of cargo by SGR to our Inland Container Depot in Nairobi has a helped to eradicate yard congestion allowing better operations planning,” he added.
The latest data released by Manduku indicates that by December 28, 2019, the port had surpassed a set a target of handling 1.35 TEUs for 2019, translating to over 50,000 containers.
Speaking during a press conference at the Port of Mombasa on Monday, the KPA boss said the 1.4 millionth containers was handled at 1500 hours on December 26, 2019, attributing the success to teamwork efficiency and improved managerial systems.
“I am pleased to inform you that the port has this year recorded 1.4 million TEUs which is the best performance ever, surpassing a target of 1.35 million TEUs that had been set at the beginning of the year by 50,000 TEUs or 3.7 per cent,” said Manduku.
He said the attainment of 1.4 million TEUs represents a growth of 7.3 per cent over last year’s 1.304 million TEUs, an increase of 97,000 TEUs. “Our target for next year will be 1.5 million TEUs and we are hopeful to beat that record,” he added, noting that this year’s performance was also boosted by unprecedented growth in both transit and transshipment business.
– Harrison Kivisu