Kenya Ports Authority managing director Daniel Manduku was quoted as telling journalists at the port that the 1.4 million TEU represent a growth of 7.3 per cent over last year's 1.304 million TEU, reported Xinhua.

Mr Manduku said that between January and November, the port has handled 31.479 million tonnes of cargo, up from 28.55 million tonnes over the same period in 2018, in indicating that the port will reach a total cargo volume of 34 million tonnes by the end of 2019.

He added that cargo throughput at the Inland Container Terminal in Nairobi rose by 61.1 per cent from 257,972 TEU as of December 2018 to 415,650 TEU by end December 2019.

He attributed the growth to an increased number of standard gauge railway daily cargo trains between Mombasa and Nairobi where an average of ten trains leave daily for the Inland Container Terminal in Nairobi.

In 2019 the ship waiting time was cut from 0.47 days in 2018 to 0.27 days at present, while ship turnaround time is now 3.4 days for all vessel types.

The port of Mombasa handles cargo for the eastern and central African regions, including Uganda, northern Tanzania, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

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