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Business picking up at the Naivasha Dry Port

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Business is steadily picking up at the newly opened Naivasha Inland Container Depot.                                                                      
The Naivasha Inland Container Depot has a total ground slot capacity of  5000 TEUs and has adequate equipment including Reach Stackers and Terminal Tractors.

Currently the ICD receives one full container train of 108teus every week from Mombasa for the transit market. It is envisaged that the facility will be receiving two trains per day once at its full operation. 

Transit countries are now taking advantage of this new facility to collect their cargo at the depot saving the time and distance to Mombasa or Nairobi. This also helps to reduce congestion on our roads.

Shipping Lines and Freight Forwarders have expressed their interest to establish themselves at the strategic depot to handle transit cargo with some lines having began bringing containers on a Through Bill  of Lading(TBL) to Naivasha.

Mr. Paul Mwakisha, National Manager, Overland & Customs Brokerage, Kuenhe +Nagel, expressed his satisfaction with the operations at the dry port. He noted that the ICD presents a great opportunity for better handling of transit cargo on TBL.

According to KPA, Kuenhe + Nagel who are the largest cargo movers in the world are seeking to open a branch in Naivasha to serve their transit clients as well as planning export for dry cargo through the depot where it will be consolidated and railed to Mombasa for shipping.

Meanwhile, the Kenya Ports Authority is now making plans to create more facilities for smooth operations. Plans are underway to construct a proper administration block that will house the one-stop center and provide office accommodation for cargo interveners, expand the yard to create more capacity and also construct a trucks holding yard.

On May 7th 2020, Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development and Public Works Cabinet Secretary Mr. James Macharia conducted an inspection tour of the facility to assess its readiness for business.

The CS who was accompanied by Transport Principal Secretary Mr. Solomon Kitungu, Chief Administrative Secretary Dr Rashid Aman and heads of partner agencies witnessed the arrival of the first SGR cargo train with 200 TEUs destined to Uganda.

The new facility’s major role is to facilitate direct shipment of goods from the Port of Mombasa to Naivasha via SGR thus shortening the distance to the transit markets.

Naivasha ICD also comes in handy to minimize transit trucks entering Nairobi which is most affected at the time the country is battling COVID-19.

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