THE Port of Dar es Salaam yesterday received a cargo vessel with length of 294.1 metres and capable of carrying 4,000 containers, describing it as a historic moment for the port after huge investment in its infrastructure.

General Cargo Manager at the port Gallus Abed told reporters that the arrival of the cargo ship MSC ADU -V was a testimony that the investment injected into the port has started to pay off since big vessels now access it easily.

 “The last big cargo vessel we received had the length of 267 metres,” he said. 

According to him, the Port of Dar es Salaam was capable of receiving ships with length of more than 305 metres, thanks to recent expansion works.

 ‘Before expansion, the port’s depth was between 8 and 12.7 metres but now it has been increased to 14.5 metres. This depth allows any vessel with length of  305 to docks,” he said. 

He commended steps being taken by the government to improve the port infrastructure, including the increase of depth. 

He said one of the advantages of receiving big cargo vessels is reduced costs of transporting cargo which gives relief to importers hence making the port competitive.

"Unloading containers form the ship has been improved steadily whereby 800 containers can be handled in 24 hours. We expect the arrived ship will unload cargo and leave our port in only five days,” he said.

Abed said the port is among six ports under TPA whereby 95 percent of cargo passes through it and the remaining five percent is shared by other ports.

"We are now improving infrastructure of   Mtwara and  Tanga ports, including purchase of new and modern equipment  to support the Port of Dar es Salaam.

DP World operates berths 4, 5, 6 and 7. TPA and DP World jointly operate berths 1, 2 and 3. Adani International Ports Holding Limited from India operates berths 8, 9, 10 and 11. It operates berths that were formerly operated by Tanzania International Containers Services (TICTS) whose contract expired.