The management of Tanzania International Container Terminal Services Ltd (TICTS) has commended the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) for ongoing massive improvement at the Dar es Salaam port.
Talking during his welcoming remarks to mark the arrival of the longest vessel ever to be handled at the Dar es Salaam port, TICTS Chief Executive Officer, Mr Paul Wallace, called the event as extremely important.
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We see strong operational improvements in productivity and performance at the port, which provides the confidence for Maersk Line to commit this scale of vessel to the East African trade,” he said over the weekend.
He explained that the coming of the vessel was testimony to the cooperation of all port stakeholders to push the boundaries and demonstrate that the Dar es Salaam port was well and truly open for business.
The vessel with 255(LOA) meters long arrived in Tanzania on Wednesday and berthed at the Container Terminal operated by TICTS on the following day.
The ship named Clemens Schulte has a capacity to carry 5,466 containers and is operated by Maersk Line. The Dar es Salaam port is undergoing massive transformation to improve its physical infrastructural capacity and enhance operational efficiency.
Among the improvements going on at Dar es Salaam port is the implementation of Integrated Electronic Payment System (IePS) for all port dues and the Integrated Security System (ISS) to enhance security and installation of CCTV. The port in collaboration with other stakeholders is now operating 24/7.
“We are proud of our port, we are now efficient and ready to expand our footprint at this port,” he said. He noted that TICTS plans to buy new bigger cranes next year with a further financial commitment of TZS 46bn that will enable to handle vessels even larger than Clemens Schulte, to keep Dar port competitive in a fast changing world.
The TPA Acting Communications Manager, Mrs Janeth Ruzangi, said the arrival of the vessel from Laem Chabang port in Thailand was a testimony of the growing confidence of international shipping lines to the port.
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This shows that their confidence on us is growing day by day due to increased efficiency in port services,” she said.
The TICTS Corporate Developments Director, Mr Donald Talawa, said the coming of the vessel was a result of a well functioning of Public Private Partnership worth to be emulated by other industries. The last longest vessel to call at the terminal was MSC Martina with 242 meters long in February 2014.
Clemens Schulte discharged 250 containers and load 1,300 containers during this maiden call.
It is expected that Dar es Salaam port’s throughput will be increased to 18 million tons by 2016/2017 and 22 million tonnes by 2020. The port serves seven landlocked countries including DRC, Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
Source: All Africa
