Large tonnage ships from aroyund the world have begun docking at the port of Dar es Salaam following the construction of modern roll-on-roll (ro-ro) terminal in the ongoing upgrade of the facility.
Touring the port yesterday, Works, Transport and Communication minister Isack Kamwelwe said this brings to an end the tedious process where large ships with cargo destined to Tanzania had to dock at the port of Mombasa for freight to be reloaded onto smaller vessels for Dar es Salaam port.
“We are going to save a lot of money by stopping transshipment. We have already received large ships from Europe and Asia,” the elated minister noted.
The ro-ro terminal allows the docking of large tonnage ships carrying vehicles, which can be driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using a platform vehicle. This is a shift from the port’s lift off- lift on (lo-lo) model, which mostly used cranes thereby limiting its capacity and efficiency.
Kamwelwe said that works to deepen the port’s berths from eight metres to 15 was going on well, affirming that when completed, the port of Dar es Salaam will serve as a strategic facility for regional trading blocs.
“When the ongoing expansion works are completed, our vehicle storage capacity at a go will increase from the current 170,000 units to 300, 000,” he stated.
Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) Director General Deusdedit Kakonko said the number of vessels docking at the port per month has increased from 180 at the end of last year to 250.
In his 2017/18 budget proposals, Finance and Planning Minister Philip Mpango scrapped value added tax on transit goods. The move was intended to win back importers from landlocked countries who saw this tax as an additional cost to their business.
Under the port upgrade contract, which is funded by a World Bank loan, the construction of the ro-ro terminal will come along with the ongoing deepening of Dar es Salaam port’s seven berths in order to accommodate larger container ships.
