With 259,000 teus (twenty- foot equivalent units) handled in 2004, the Dar es Salaam port is becoming the most productive containerized cargo handler in the eastern African region.

The amount already surpassed the designed capacity of the Dar es Salaam Container Terminal that was supposed to handle 250,000 teus per annum.

The increased handling capacity is attributed to improved handling facilities, containerized cargo handling team and better cooperation between the Tanzania International Container Terminal Services (TICTS) and the Tanzania Ports Authority, Tanzania Revenue Authority, and Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority.

The port, second largest along the East African coast behind Kenya's Mombassa, handled 123,000 teus in 2000 when TICTS took over the management.

TICTS Chief Executive Officer David Cotty was quoted Wednesday by local English newspaper Daily News as saying that the management had originally planned to attain full capacity handling by 2010.

Container crane productivity was increased from eight containers per hour to 22.

Improved handling capacity has boosted the competitiveness of the Dar es Salaam Contain Terminal to attract a number of international shipping companies to use it as a mid-hub for container trans-shipment, according to Cotty.

Arrival cargo increased by 30 percent last year in the Dar es Salaam port while trans-shipment cargo increased by 25 percent.

The TICTS is a joint partnership between Hong Kong's Hutchinson Port Holdings (HPH) and Tanzania's Harbor Investment Ltd..

Source: Xinhua