Containers at the Port of Mombasa, on March 3, 2025. [Omondi Onyango, Standard]
Transports have decried delays in the evacuation of cargo from the Port of Mombasa, warning that the problem could spiral to a total gridlock at the facility.
Local Transporters Association (LTA) Chairperson Paul Moiben said the delay is being caused by the scanners that are taking too long to release images of the goods in the containers.
“We have a problem at Toyo, Kipevu, Kapenguria and the G section scanning points in the port. It’s taking more than three hours to scan the truck instead of 15 minutes,” said Moiben.
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He said trucks are forced to wait for three hours before they receive images captured from the containers by scanners stationed at the gates by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
LTA Chairperson observed that, unlike Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), which operates three shifts, KRA has two shifts, leading to delays in the cargo evacuation from the port.
Mr Moiben said the problem started this year. However, he said that KRA has addressed the scanning process in Nairobi, where the machines release the images within seconds.
“All containers transported from Mombasa port by SGR train to the Container Terminal in Nairobi are scanned while the train is moving. We want KRA to fix the issue of scanning at the port,” he said.
Kenya International Freight Warehouse Association (KIFWA) Secretary General Clement Ngala admitted that the port was experiencing an upsurge in volume of business, but it was not congested.
“Yes, it is true we have been having the problem with scanners, but it is not a big issue. There are a few isolated delays,” said Ngala.
Ngala regretted that ships were also taking a long time to get space at the berths to dock.
“The ships are not docking in time. They have to wait, and when they berth, they always complete offloading after the period they had anticipated when starting their voyage,” he said.
He said many empty containers were waiting to be loaded to their port of origin, and that is what was causing congestion in the port.
Mombasa is expected to handle more than 50 ships in the next 14 days, according to a report released by the KPA.
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Containers at the Port of Mombasa, on March 3, 2025.
[Omondi Onyango, Standard]
Transports have decried delays in the evacuation of cargo from the Port of Mombasa, warning that the problem could spiral to a total gridlock at the facility.
Local Transporters Association (LTA) Chairperson Paul Moiben said the delay is being caused by the scanners that are taking too long to release images of the goods in the containers.
“We have a problem at Toyo, Kipevu, Kapenguria and the G section scanning points in the port. It’s taking more than three hours to scan the truck instead of 15 minutes,” said Moiben.
Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp
He said trucks are forced to wait for three hours before they receive images captured from the containers by scanners stationed at the gates by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
LTA Chairperson observed that, unlike Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), which operates three shifts, KRA has two shifts, leading to delays in the cargo evacuation from the port.
Mr Moiben said the problem started this year. However, he said that KRA has addressed the scanning process in Nairobi, where the
machines release the images
within seconds.
“All containers transported from Mombasa port by SGR train to the Container Terminal in Nairobi are scanned while the train is moving. We want KRA to fix the issue of scanning at the port,” he said.
Kenya International Freight Warehouse Association (KIFWA) Secretary General Clement Ngala admitted that the port was experiencing an upsurge in volume of business, but it was not congested.
“Yes, it is true we have been having the problem with scanners, but it is not a big issue. There are a few isolated delays,” said Ngala.
Ngala regretted that ships were also taking a long time to get space at the berths to dock.
“The ships are not docking in time. They have to wait, and when they berth, they always complete offloading after the period they had anticipated when starting their voyage,” he said.
He said many
empty containers were waiting to be loaded
to their port of origin, and that is what was causing congestion in the port.
Mombasa is expected to handle more than 50 ships in the next 14 days, according to a report released by the KPA.
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By Willis Oketch