The Port of Mombasa has witnessed a record performance by a new ship that made a maiden call at the Second Container Terminal.
Container carrier Mv Cosco Yinkou docked Friday at berth No.21 and is expected to complete discharge and loading operations in record time.
Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) crane operator and the man of the moment George Ominde recorded 362 moves per crane shift, registering the best performance since the beginning of the year.
The vessel worked with three Ship to Shore gantry cranes registering a total of 914 moves during the shift leaving a balance of 978 moves, both in and out.
She was expected to sail later in the day recording fast turnaround time. This is quite remarkable considering that the shipping industry is also grappling with the covid-19 pandemic.
It was a double victory for the container carrier as she also marked her maiden call to the port under the new joint service dubbed Mashariki by two world largest shipping lines.
In this sharing agreement Maersk and COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) ranking the top and third largest shipping companies respectively increased their network for Eastern Africa region.
The two shipping giants will now ensure a dedicated service for both Mombasa and Dar es Salaam ports.
The vessel sharing deal is meant to further improve the service level and port coverage for customers.
The new dedicated ocean service will also see the shipping line increase its network connecting Asia to Eastern Africa.
According to Maersk Shipping Line, Mv Cosco Yinkou is the first vessel to arrive at the port of Mombasa following the launch of the first sailing of the improved service under the sharing agreement on May 21, this year.
With a new direct connection to the port of Shanghai, it will provide customers, who are served via the port of Mombasa, great access to one of the key markets in China.
In addition, the export customers will experience a great enhancement with cargo from Mombasa to Asia moving on average 2 weeks faster. From Mombasa Maersk offers end-to-end transport solutions to many of its company’s customers based in Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan for both dry and refrigerated cargo.
Commenting on the latest record, KPA acting Managing Director (MD) Engineer Rashid Salim congratulated the staff for their dedication and teamwork which he attributed to the splendid ship performance.
Salim described it as a job well done by the operators especially now with the covid-19 pandemic not-withstanding.
He noted that keeping in line with the measures against the corona virus, discharge of the Port operations has continued with reduced staff as some worked from home as well as those with underlying medical conditions.
The acting MD attributed the improved performance to a great coordination amongst the various players in the whole cycle and right attitudes.
By Hussein Abdullahi
Best performance witnessed at the port of Mombasa
