Mozambique’s Port of Beira has been cleared of congestion following capacity issues that were experienced around the rollout of a new in-transit sealing system for cargo.
According to a bulk carrier of fuel into the Copperbelt area of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, most of the transporters have managed to load and leave the port.
This was accomplished after congestion at Beira reached intolerable levels, with as many 2000 trucks stuck inside the port precinct early last week.
According to Mike Fitzmaurice, chief executive at the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), efforts to improve throughput at Beira only succeeded through the public-private sector participation of clearing agents and officials from the Mozambique Electronic Cargo Tracking Service.
Speeded-up efforts to unblock Beira unfortunately resulted in traffic issues on the port’s corridor as spurts of heavy-haul traffic started arriving at Zimbabwe’s Chirundu border with Zambia.
Fitzmaurice however said that at the rate the congestion was being addressed, the Beira backlog would be cleared by the weekend – a prediction that held true.
However, the bulk haulier, whose name is known to Freight News, said it remained to be seen whether current efficiencies could be sustained
Although Beira is consistently touted as an alternate port to Durban whose reputation has been damaged over the past few years because of capacity problems, reports of corruption, and truck-related violence on the N3, the haulier has said on numerous occasions that Beira is a fickle port, prone to be disrupted by the slightest bump in the road.
