In 2020-2021, the average waiting time of ships at the port of Lomé was down five hours

Logistics

Saturday, 30 April 2022 03:59

In 2020-2021, the average waiting time of ships at the port of Lomé was down five hours

(Togo First) - Between 2020 and 2021, the waiting time of ships in port on the Togolese coast, ie, vessels that anchor in territorial waters around the port infrastructure waiting to call or not, has fallen from about 27 hours to 22 hours. This is according to data provided by the Ministry in charge of the maritime economy.

Over the period, container transit time fell from 13.4 to 11.45 days for containers bound for Togo, and from 16.95 to 15.5 days for containers in transit. The improvement was due to "the optimization of traffic management processes and cargo handling procedures," according to the Port of Lome.

While processing time of ships has reduced, there was a slight increase in the number of ships that did not enter the port; it rose from 1,239 in 2020 to 1,329 in 2021, up 7.26% YoY, according to the port authorities.

The same source added that the number of ships called at the autonomous port of Lomé during the same period rose by nearly 11%, from 967 in 2020 to 1,073 in 2021 (with an increase of 0.41% recorded for container ships).

It should be recalled that, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, overall traffic at the port grew by 14.17% annually between 2020 and 2021. Over the period, TEU container traffic grew by 14.72%, while the maritime service increased from 1,510 vessels to 1,629 vessels in 2021, a growth of 7.88%.

In total, 29.6 million tons of cargo were unloaded in 2021, almost 3.5 million tons or 14.18% more than the previous year.

Overall, the improved figures translate the sustaining of trend started five years ago. Indeed, from 2017 to 2021, the turnover of the Autonomous Port of Lomé (PAL) has increased by 34%, from 26 billion FCFA to 35 billion FCFA.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

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