TPA receives three ship-to-shore gantry cranes

THE Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) has received three Ship-to-Shore Gantry Cranes (SSG) intended to boost efficiency.

The newly purchased port machinery is part of a five-year (2021/22 to 2025/26) TPA strategic plan to upgrade all ports in the country in line with the government’s vision to make Tanzania a business hub in the region.

TPA Deputy Director General, Engineer Juma Kijavara told journalists on Thursday in Dar es Salaam that the new equipment will be used to load and unload containers aboard ships.

“At the Dar es Salaam Port, we will install two machines, and the other will be installed at Mtwara Port, where assembly has begun; we expect them to be installed for a period of no more than three months,” he said.

He said that the new cranes can unload 30 containers per hour, whereas the old cranes could only unload 20 containers per hour.

“Previously, the crane unloaded 150-160 containers in an eight-hour shift, but once this new equipment is installed, we will be able to unload up to 240 containers in an eight-hour shift,” he explained.

Eng Kijavara made the revelations after a tour of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) delegation to the port led by the Minister of State in charge of Infrastructure and Public Works, Alexis Gisaro.

Mr Gisaro and his delegation were in the country for among other things, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to begin the execution of roads, railway and ports infrastructure projects in the Central Corridor by early next year.

Tanzania and DRC agreed to improve the Kalemie Port by expanding its berths and depths at a cost of 22 million US dollars (about 50bn/-).

The improvement will help to boost business between the two countries, whereby Eastern Congo depends on the Dar es Salaam Port by 100 per cent, but due to several challenges, it was forcing some traders to opt for ports in other corridors.

“Tanzania and DR Congo have a long history in numerous fields, but infrastructure issues are impeding effective economic operations between the two countries… However, with the ongoing improvements, businesspeople in the Democratic Republic of the Congo would save time and money,” said Prof Makame Mbarawa, Minister for Works and Transport.

TPA oversees operations in some 86 official ports in the country, with 23 being along the Indian Ocean, 29 on the shores of Lake Victoria, 22 on Lake Tanganyika and 12 others on Lake Nyasa.

Car cargo handled at the Dar es Salaam Port in the period between July last year and July 2022 was 203,932, equivalent to an increase of 38 per cent from 147,566 in the previous year.

On the other hand, cargo on transit to neighbouring countries through Dar es Salaam Port reached 7.801 million tonnes between the period of July last year to July 2022, representing an increase of 39.9 per cent from 5,580 million tonnes of transit cargo handled by the port from July 2020 to July 2021.

Dar es Salaam Port serves neighbouring countries of DR-Congo, Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, the Comoro and South Sudan.