Govt to save Sh6.8bn in annual servicing fees as Mombasa shipyard is operationalized

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 17 – Kenya is expected to save Sh6.8 billion per ship every year after President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Kenya Shipyard Limited (KSL) facility in Mombasa.

Experts estimate that Kenya has 17 military ships which were usually taken overseas for maintenance.

“The cost of taking a ship to the Netherlands or Spain for servicing is about Sh4 billion per ship. This means that the country will spend maintenance costs locally, thus creating over 10,000 jobs per year,” read a statement from KSL.

The facility, the largest shipyard in Sub-Saharan Africa, has the capacity for building ships longer than a standard football field.

The government-owned ship building and repair facility has the capacity to handle ships as long as 150 meters, with a tonnage capacity of 4,000 tons.

It was borne out of the need for a maritime facility that can be able to repair, maintain, refit, construct ship and provide other maritime services.

KSL is expected to be the main hub for ship construction for not only the Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies but also for the entire East African region.

Kenya will now be the first country on the East Coast of Africa to establish a foot print in the build, service and maintenance of ships

The global maritime trade value is worth USD 14 trillion with 40 per cent of it, worth USD 5.6 trillion passing through the East Coast of Africa, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

This means that Kenya will for the first time have the chance of accessing USD 5.6 trillion of the trade that plies along the East Coast of Africa.