Seven tankers carrying some 210,000 tons of petroleum products have been stranded outside the Dar es Salaam Port due to its slow discharging process, according to local press reports on Monday.

These seven oil tankers arrived in Dar es Salaam in the third week of last month.

English newspaper Daily News quoted Tanzanian Energy Minister Nazir Karumagi as attributing the increased numbers of tankers to increased demand for petroleum products in Tanzania and its neighboring countries.

But flow meters, installed at the port to curb tax evasion, are discharging oil from tankers at a rate of 500 tons per hour instead of 750 tons per hour.

Local oil importers are fearing that retail prices of petrol and diesel might go up due to accumulated demurrage charges at the port.

Earlier last month, car importers in Tanzania also complained about the handling capability of the Dar es Salaam Port that delayed the unloading of more than 1,000 motor vehicles from a roll-on/roll-off car carrier.

A senior official from the Tanzania Port Authority told the newspaper that the port authorities were considering rehabilitating the ageing mooring facility so as to handle tankers carrying up to 100,000 tons of petroleum products.

Source: Xinhua