Transport

SGR set to handle conventional cargo after connecting 10 berths

cargo

The Standard Gauge Railway is set to be extended to the Port of Mombasa. FILE photo | nmg

The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) will soon start handling conventional cargo after the extension of the rail line to cover 10 berths at the Port of Mombasa.

SGR Project Manager Engineer Maxwell Mengich said completion of the extension line will make it possible for cargo discharged from a ship loaded directly into the SGR.The line will be completed by August according to the Kenya Railways officials.

Its completion will enable SGR to handle non-containerised (conventional) cargo such as clinker, fertiliser, grains, and steels.The extension of the Sh327 billion Mombasa-Nairobi SGR which will cover 10 berths at the Port of Mombasa will be complete by August.

Kenya Railways Managing Director Atanas Maina said the construction work is more than 50 per cent complete.

The project is expected to be completed in four months.

“The bridge is intended to connect SGR to berth number one to 10, which largely handles bulk and other conventional cargo,” Mr Maina said.He said the SGR line is currently connected to berths number 11 to 21, which mostly handle containerised cargo discharged at the port by a ship.

“We are also targeting conventional cargo since we have wagons that can handle this too. On the Nairobi side, such cargo will be handled at the Nairobi Freight Terminal (NFT), which is next to the terminus,” Mr Maina told Business Daily during an interview. 

He said the reason for linking all berths to the SGR line is to ensure efficiency at the port and utilise effectiveness of the facility to generate  revenue.

“The focus is to ensure SGR can lift any type of cargo from the port in order to optimise on its capacity and efficiency. With the additional capacity at Port Reitz Yard, it will be possible to handle many trains in up and down direction,” Mr Maina said.

SGR Project Manager Engineer Mengich said the completion will see huge percentage of cargo transported via SGR.

“This includes the conventional ones transported through the SGR. Conventional cargo discharged at the Port of Mombasa will be transported through the SGR after the 10 berths have been linked to SGR line,” he said.

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The completion of the extension will make Kenya Railways a major player in transporting all the cargo within the port, a move that is likely to create uproar among industry players including truck transporters who have been relying on ferrying goods from the port to other countries including Sudan, Uganda and Congo.

Trucks are currently used to transport offloaded containers from the ship to SGR line where they are loaded into the SGR cargo trains.

A month ago, owners of 15 Container Freight Stations at the Coast said they were reeling from government’s move that had forced importers to use the SGR.

The government directed all un-nominated containers to be transported on the SGR to the Inland Container Depot in Embakasi, Nairobi for final clearance.

More than 10 clearing agents have so far relocated from Mombasa to Nairobi due to the move, resulting in job and business losses at the port city.

Mombasa senator Mohamed Faki and a section of the business community have raised concerns over the matter.

“The effects of the move are being felt by clearing agents and transporters in Mombasa,” Mr Faki said  when he hosted players in the sector during a breakfast meeting.

CFS operator Hezron Awiti said forcing cargo to be transported through SGR is against the World Trade Organisation laws.

Charges for handling of transit containers stand at Sh6,000 ($60) for 20-foot container unit and Sh9,000 ($90) for a 40-foot container unit down from Sh12,000 ($125), according to the Kenya Ports Authority management.

Mombasa governor Hassan Joho has also protested transportation of cargo through SGR saying it would render Mombasa residents jobless.

“The extension of the SGR line deeper covers its berths is expected to improve efficiency at the port,” Mr Mengich said.

Other conventional cargo to be transported by SGR upon completion of the extension line include wheat, maize and sugar.