Wave of piracy stokes fears at Kenya port
NAIROBI (Reuters) - The explosion of piracy off Somalia is a growing concern for officials at Kenya's Mombasa port, who fear it will push up the cost of goods and may deter some importers from bringing cargoes to the region.
"We're very worried. We have a had a lot of inquiries and concerns from the shipping community," James Mulewa, managing director of Mombasa port, said in a telephone interview.
The busy port on the steamy Indian Ocean coast serves east Africa's biggest economy and is a vital gateway to countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Scores of attacks on ships in recent months in waters off neighboring Somalia culminated in the weekend's spectacular capture of a huge Saudi Arabian supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of oil.
That hijacking 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa was way beyond the Somali gangs' usual area of operations and shocked maritime officials around the region.
Mulewa warned that prices of everything from fuel to food were bound to rise if the attacks were not halted, and he said some shipping lines might start avoiding the port altogether.
"All goods will be affected," he told Reuters. "Very few ships will take the risk of bringing goods into this region."
Three months ago, the Kenyan government ordered his staff to start working around the clock, seven days a week, to clear a backlog of containers and end delays that hurt local business.
The port's crucial role for the whole region was underlined during the post-election crisis at the start of the year when Kenya's landlocked neighbors suffered severe shortages of basic supplies because of disruption on the docks.
One alternative for regional importers is Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's commercial capital, 300 km (185 miles) to the south.
But the port there is overwhelmed by 50 percent more cargo than it was designed to handle, and the Tanzanian government is planning to build new ports to deal with the increasing traffic.
(Editing by Michael Roddy)
