Kenya is considering building a second port on its Indian Ocean coast to complement its existing one in Mombasa, a top port official said on Thursday.
Transporters have long complained about congestion at Mombasa, which also serves Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, eastern Congo, southern Sudan and Ethiopia.
"Today the national debate should really not be talking about the efficiency and improvement of the port of Mombasa," said Brown Ondego, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) managing director.
"We should be talking about where the next port is going to be, not only for Kenya, but for the hinterland countries which Mombasa serves," he told a news conference.
Ondego said KPA would soon look for consultants to update previous studies on a proposed second port done in 1976.
"We have just had a board meeting. Very soon we should be seriously and aggressively talking about the second port," he said.
Container traffic through the Mombasa port increased to 438,597 teus (20-foot equivalent units) from 380,353 teus in 2003, according to the KPA.
Mombasa's current capacity for handling containers is 250,000 teus per year and is expected to reach 1.2 million teus by 2008.
Ondego did not give details of when and where the port would be built.
Recently Ondego said the Mombasa port was losing cargo destined for neighbouring countries to rival Dar Es Salaam port due to inefficiency and outdated equipment.
However, Ondego said KPA was working to improve the port by buying new cranes, tugboats and container handling equipment and expanding its dockyard.