The expansion and improvements of the country's port facilities has continued paying off, after the Dar es Salaam Port yesterday recorded yet another milestone, receiving a ship with the largest consignment of 38,400 tonnes of in-transit sulphur chemical. The MV Serene Theodore docked at Tanzania's largest port with a record cargo of Granular Sulphur from Doha, in Qatar, destined for Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) specifically for mining activities.
The port has never hosted the ship with such the biggest consignment of sulphur, In June this year, the port hosted the vessel with 15,000 tonnes of the same product. The Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) Director General, Eric Hamissi said that the new development was a continuation of the recent outcomes of the massive expansion and improvements of facilities of the ports. Mr. Hamissi also attributed the impressive cargo flow via the port to enhanced relationships with port stakeholders, particularly the private sector.
"We have managed to create mutual understanding with stakeholders, who help to bring in more businesses," Mr. Hamissi stated. This has been in line with improved services, whereby the Dar es Salaam Port operates around the clock. The TPA boss noted that the docked MV Serene Theodore would be offloaded for 11 days. In the past such an amount of cargo could be offloaded for 18 days.
According to Managing Director of Epic Cargo Ltd, Mr. Tony Swai, the logistics company which facilitated the arrival of the consignment, the arrival of the consignment would bring in the country a direct revenue amounting to 2,2 million US Dollars (about 5,1bn/-). Mr. Swai also said the logistics company would also benefit from transporting the consignment to the neighbouring countries, noting that about 1,660 trucks would be used to transport the sulphur.
He also attributed the new development in attracting more cargo to expansion of the port and strengthened Public-Private Partnership (PPP), which has been emphasized by the sixth-phase government under President Samia Suluhu Hassan. President Samia has been advocating for more involvement of the private sector and creating a friendly environment for the private players.
Mr. Swai said the handling of the sulphur chemical would be under supervision of the responsible government agencies such as Government Chemist Laboratory Authority (GCLA), National Environment Management Council (NEMC) and others. Executive Director of the Dar es Salaam Corridor Group (DCG), a company responsible for receiving and storing the sulphur consignment, Ms. Sada Shaban, said her company would continue encouraging businesspeople using the port after several improvements.
Last month, the Dar es Salaam Port hosted a huge vessel carrying a total of 3,743 vehicles, the Tranquil ACE Panama from Japan, a move which also sent a key message over significant expansion of the port and improved efficiency. The country has never hosted such a big vessel in the history of the port. The previous record was the arrival of a ship with a capacity of carrying 2,600 cars.
This success story follows massive upgrades of the Dar es Salaam port, which involved strengthening and deepening seven of the facility's berths and the construction of a terminal.