Africa-Press – Tanzania. Exporters and importers in Kilimanjaro Region have been counselled to take advantage of the Tanga port that has gone through major upgrades for improved efficiency.
Tanga Port Tanga, the second largest port in Tanzania, is the longest serving port in East Africa which is strategically located to serve the northern Regions of Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Manyara, the lake zone and neighbouring countries of Rwanda, Burundi and the northern part of Uganda.
The call was made by the Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner Mr Stephen Kagaigai during the Kilimanjaro region’s second forum between Tanga port management and investors in the region held in Moshi, Kilimanjaro region, recently.
“The information is clear that the port of Tanga has been renovated to such an extent that it is one of the best ports in the East African region so it is better to start utilizing it”, he said.
The improvement at Tanga Port has turned it to be highly competitive terminal, capable of serving customers in the country, the East African region and the Great Lakes region. For his part, Tanga Port Manager, Mr Donald Ngaile, said TPA had embarked on programmes that led to the improvements of the Tanga port.
“The improvements engaged two projects; the first one was the dredging to increase the depth of water from 3 meters to 14 meters”, he said.
He added, “The project has been completed and currently, vessels are anchoring 100 meters away from the berth compared before the dredging when vessels anchored 1.7 kilometres away from the berth”. Mr Ngaile named the second project as that of modernising two existing berths at the Tanga port which he said was expected to be completed by March 2022.
“The completion of the project will make Tanga port a new developed and efficient port that will have the capacity of handling 2 million metric tons of cargo”, he noted.
In the long run, plans will also involve the construction of a passenger terminal and a modern Single Mooring Point (SPM) for oil cargo.
The improvement of the Tanga Port has reduced the cost of operation and attracted investors. With the expansion, now the Tanga Port can receive ships of between 35,000 to 65,000 tonnes.
The installation of modern equipment would make the Tanga Port a country’s main harbour in the northern zone that is capable of serving all northern regions and neighbouring countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
So far the government had invested in flow meters, which are used to measure the volume of fuel to be dispatched to clients, which have helped timely delivery of fuel, as well as addressing the scarcity of fuel as was the case in the past.
He continued to say that Tanga port was now ready to serve its potential clients because it had reliable equipment and reliable storage facilities which he said included large conventional goods shed with the coverage of 24,000 square meters and 34,689 square meters open yards for stocking a large number of goods at a time.
Commenting on the plans of the Tanga port management, Mr Ngaile said it included that of constructing a third berth at the port.
“The plans are to construct a third berth in the year 2027 which would be used to handle container and this will be considered after checking the trend of the business at the port”, he said. He added, “As additional plans, we are currently, conducting a feasibility study which will give way for construction of a modern oil berth which will handle oil vessels; this increases the income of the port and that of the nation because it will enable us to capture markets from the neighbouring countries”.
There are big expectations among port stakeholders in Tanga since the region will also be the main point to handle oil from Hoima in Uganda after the completion of the East African Crude Oil pipeline project.
The importance of Tanzania’s maritime investments appears all the more important when examined alongside the similar upgrades that are currently being carried out in regional countries that also cater to similar neighbouring markets.
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