MAJOR improvements made at the Port aTanga have enabled it to accommodate large ships and increase cargo flow, making it ready to effectively serve north eastern part of the country and neighbouring Kenya and Uganda via Lake Victoria.

Masoud Mrisha, Tanga Port Manager, unveiled this at the weekend when addressing journalists from different media outlets who visited the port to see the improvements that have been made so far. 

Mrisha said that following the completion of major infrastructure improvements at the port, stakeholders in the shipping industry can now transport various goods domestically and internationally through the northern gateway.

According to him, improvements made at the port include expanding of its entrance and exit channels for ships, increasing the water depth from 3 meters to 13 metres, expanding the draft at the turning basin and expanding two berths to a width of 450 metres. 

He said that the improvements made at the port have cost 429.1bn/-, whereby the first phase of the project which was implemented at 172.3bn/- involved expansion of the entrance channel, increase of the draft at the turning basin and procurement of modern equipment.

“In the second phase of the project it involved construction of new 450-metre-long berths at 256.8bn/-,” he said.

Mrisha said that ships have started coming to the port in large numbers after the major improvements were made, which now allows ships to offload cargo at the berths, instead of offloading offshore.

“So far, Tanga Port has served a total of 19 large ships from different countries around the world, carrying cargo of over 100,000 tonnes,” he said.

He elaborated further that significant improvements made at the port have convinced large and modern ships that previously used competing ports in neighbouring countries to start bringing their ships to the port.

“There is a large ship christened BSL NODIC with a capacity of carrying 4,967 tonnes of cargo and a length of 169.26 metres which is being served at the port. We have planned to service it in five shifts. Previously, this ship would have been served in 10 shifts,” he said. 

Mrisha noted that the port’s efficiency has now increased, including using less time to serve ships and reducing operating costs, which has led to an increase in the number of ships dockiing at the port.

According to him, Tanga Port targets handling 1.2 million tonnes of cargo in the 2023/2024 financial year.

The expansion of the port is geared towards spurring the country’s economic growth.

Tanga Port is one of the three major ports managed by the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) in the Indian Ocean corridor. It is the second largest port in the country. The port started its operation in 1890s under German colonial rule.  

The other ports in the corridor are the Port of  Dar es Salaam which is the main port and Port of Mtwara, which is the third-largest in the country.