Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics (ESL) announces its intention to increase the number of ships at the main Ethiopian cargo lifts in order to fill the void created by certain international operators who are downsizing their fleet to the Red Sea.
According to the firm, vessels operating in Djibouti have reduced their activities and, in some cases, completely suspended their operations at the main port for Ethiopian goods due to security concerns in the Red Sea region.
ESL reports that large ship operating firms, who have slot agreements with ESL to carry import cargoes, have scaled back on their trips to Djibouti and some have even ceased operations.
“As a result, the company has increased the number of vessels it operates in ports where Ethiopian cargo is lifted,” ESL said in a statement released on Wednesday.
Regarding the export industry, ESL stated that Ethiopian cargo, especially the transportation of coffee beans, has encountered difficulties due to inadequate ships loading from Djibouti.
Exporters are encouraged to use these routes since “our vessels have a regular fleet to Chinese ports in Tianjin and Shanghai (Taicang), Jebel Ali and Sharjah of the United Arab Emirates, and Mundra and Nhava Sheva ports in India.”
Using its own ships, ESL has sent 401 TEU containers to ports in China, India, and the United Arab Emirates in the first nine months of the current budget year. Equipped with 10 ships, ESL is the sole deep-sea vessel operator in Africa.
Some Ethiopian-based businesses use the Mombasa port in Kenya due to security concerns in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, even though its operating costs are greater than those of Djibouti given its distance from the center in Ethiopia.
Ethiopian coffee, which is the major source of hard currency for the country, exporters assert that it is difficult to deliver their goods on time for their clients due to the most recent problem, which happened in November of last year on a vital waterway in connection with the Houthi attack in Yemen.
They said that the shortage of ships that lift goods from Djibouti was the reason the cargo became trapped there.
It is also claimed that the decrease in vessel arrivals has made it harder to find enough empty containers.
