Kenya's "White Elephant" Port Begins to Receive Large Boxships at Last

 

The ongoing trade disruptions, most visibly between the U.S. and China, are causing a reorganization in the container shipping sector. This is seen in places such as Africa, where some countries have gained in liner connectivity as others lose out. West Africa for instance has emerged as a beneficiary of these liner shipping changes. In April, MSC became the first shipping line to deploy Ultra Large Container vessels (ULCVs) with a capacity of 24,000 TEU on the African continent. The ULCVs now serve on the African Express service, connecting Southeast Asia to West African countries such as Ghana, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon.

In the East African region, the newly built Lamu port has started to gain value for a project that was initially seen as a white elephant. In the past month, there is a growing list of large container ships docking at the port. Last week, Lamu port made history with the docking of Nagoya Express, which is the longest container ship to ever call at an East African port. The 335-meter-long vessel has a container capacity of 8,604 TEU and is operated by the German shipping line Hapag Lloyd.

In Lamu, Nagoya Express picked up 140 transshipped TEU destined for New York. The containers were discharged two weeks ago by MV Tolten, which is another Hapag Lloyd operated Post-Panamax boxship to call at Lamu port.

“The arrival of MV Nagoya confirms that Lamu’s deep-water berths and wide turning basin were built for ultra-large vessels that cannot be accommodated at Mombasa, where the turning space is limited to 323 meters,” said Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).

Since its commissioning in 2021, Lamu port has been largely under-utilized. By last year, less than 200 vessels had called at the port, with most container lines keeping off. However, the trend has changed this year as shipping companies such as Hapag Lloyd show interest to utilize the port. KPA has also announced that two CMA CGM vessels are expected at the port next week.

But there is still more work remaining to turn Lamu port into a transshipment hub for the East African region. As the anchor project for the Lamu Port-South Sudan- Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET), supporting landside infrastructure such as roads and railway remains incomplete. In addition, the Kenyan government has hinted at leasing the port to a private operator to develop the remaining 20 berths. Currently, Lamu port has three operational berths.