English
FrançaisComplaint
- Complaint number
- NTB-001-299
- NTB Type
- Other type: Congested Empty container Depots
- Complaint
-
The Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) reports a critical and ongoing operational barrier at the Port of Mombasa: the systemic failure of shipping lines to repatriate empty containers, leading to severe congestion at their nominated Empty Container Depots (ECDs). As the legal owners of these containers, shipping lines are responsible for ensuring their designated depots can receive them. However, these facilities are now operating beyond capacity and are routinely turning away trucks, creating a landside bottleneck that paralyzes the logistics chain and nullifies the port's efficiency.
This failure has triggered a devastating cascade of consequences. Transporters' trucks and drivers are physically immobilized for days, unable to offload containers and redeploy for new cargo. This directly results in massive financial losses from lost revenue, skyrocketing operational costs (fuel, wages, parking), and the unjust threat of demurrage charges from the very shipping lines causing the delays. The immobilization of a significant portion of the trucking fleet disrupts national supply chains, harms the environment through unnecessary pollution from idling vehicles, and threatens the viability of transport businesses.
KTA places the responsibility for this crisis unequivocally on the shipping lines. Their failure stems from a fundamental neglect of their asset management and logistical duties, including the inadequate evacuation of containers and the poor management of their contracted depot infrastructure. This operational failure is now being unfairly transferred to transporters in the form of financial losses and penalties, a cost-shifting practice that is unacceptable and must be rectified immediately by the responsible parties. - Progress update note
- Policy or regulatory NTB
- No
- Location
- Kenya: Mombasa sea port (Seaport)
- Reporting Country or Region
- EAC
- Country specific trade issue
- No
- Date of incident
- 2025-09-01
- Status
- New
- Product Description
-
Empty containers
- Total value
- 300.00
- Date reported
- 2025-11-26 11:11
- Modified
- 2025-11-26 11:11
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