Kisumu Port facelift enters final phase

Kenya Ports Authority has just announced that Kisumu Port will soon be able to receive larger vessels with the capacity to handle more cargo volumes once the ongoing renovations and dredging works at the port is complete.

Currently the project scope which covers the Kisumu port basin, Kenya Pipeline Company turning basin, Deep Sea approach channel and the Mbita causeway is 70 percent complete.

The channel is being dredged to a depth of minus 7 metres from the current minus 4.5 and minus 2.5m for the Mbita causeway.

The main aim of the project is to construct an 80 meter wide canal, seven meters deep, 63 kilometers long up to Mbita to allow bigger ships to berth because as it stands now big ships cannot dock at Kisumu.

The contractor, Mango Tree Marine Limited is expected to complete the Kisumu dredging project by the end of the third quarter.

According to the officials, the port has already experienced an increase in the cargo volumes handled at the port with the trend expected to continue once the dredging works are complete.