The role of container freight stations in decongesting the port of Mombasa in Kenya

Abstract

For the last ten years or so capacity constraints at the port of Mombasa have been a major hurdle in port operations as cargo imports especially cars and containers have always surpassed yard holding capacity against a backdrop of poor cargo off-take to the hinterland.This situation has led to cargo congestion which KPA attributes to lack of space among other reasons, a situation that is not acceptable since the port is a critical nerve centre for commerce in the East African region. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of Container Freight Stations in decongesting the port of Mombasa in Kenya. The study was a descriptive survey design and the population of interest was all the 17 CFSs registered in Kenya. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the information and the respondents were CEOs, General Managers and Operation Managers of the respective CFSs. The Model used for the purpose of the analysis was Porter’s Diamond Analysis model. The findings pointed out that although CFSs are playing a great role in decongesting the port of Mombasa certain challenges among them, a weak regulatory framework and delays in transfers are hindering the efficiencies of the port. Further the, port requires substantial reforms and upgrading to reach international standards and to meet the demands of a growing and increasingly integrated East African community. It is hoped that the results from this research will assist KPA to understand how they can improve on their performance as a result of the yard improvement hence better efficiency and benefits to the maritime sector as a whole.