Port Authorities Waive Charges Following Turmoil

Port authorities have waived storage charges for cargo owners whose goods have overstayed at its Mombasa-based yard beyond the seven days grace period following the recent outbreak of post-election violence.

The waiver will however apply only to shippers who make arrangements to remove their containers from the port within the next 10 days.The waiver had been necessitated by the prolonged holiday period at the end of last month and the post election disruptions, said Mr Twahib Khamis, the chief operations officer at KPA .

Officials said space was becoming scarce in the independent warehouses- the Container Freight Stations (CFSs) - making quick removal of containers critical to a return to normalcy at the port. The effects of the disruption are expected to last over the next four to six weeks, signalling that the congestion crisis may persist till the end of February.

Over the past two weeks, berthing delays have doubled to between three and four days. Container population at the port stood at 13,463 at the close of business last Friday exceeding the holding capacity by 4 000 containers. Twenty five per cent of these is for transit countries.

"The situation has led to a cargo pile up in the port which is now battling with severe congestion crisis," said Mr Khamis.

The number of ships waiting had, however, dropped from nine to seven delivery by road improved from 36 to 216 20-ft containers.

This capacity remains below the average of 500 handled on a normal business day. In the next nine days, about 8,636 containers are expected.

In the next 14 days about 30 ships are expected to call at the port, three of which are oil tankers. PA offers a seven-day grace period for locally bound cargo and 14 days for transit after which is slaps a $20 fine every 20-feet container and $30 for every 40-ft container.

Source:RamblerNews