The port benefited unexpectedly from the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, with cargo throughput increasing by more than 900%.
Sunny Worldwide LogisticsIt is a logistics company with more than 20 years of transportation experience, focusing on markets such as Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Southeast Asia. It is more of a cargo owner than a cargo owner~
East African ports are reaping an unexpected bonus as shipping restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz continue. Among them, Kenya’s previously little-known Port of Lamu became the biggest winner in this wave of diversions, with cargo throughput soaring by more than 900% year-on-year, demonstrating its potential value as a regional transshipment hub.
Faced with shipping risks in the Middle East Gulf region, many liner companies have successively formulated contingency plans to reroute cargo originally planned to be shipped to core ports such as Jebel Ali and unload it to safer alternative ports. Against this background, the strategic status of some East African ports has rapidly increased. As one of the ports with low utilization rate before, Lamu Port is gradually becoming an important node for diversion of transportation.
Judging from recent ship call data, the activity of Lamu Port has increased significantly. On March 10, the 9,000-space car carrier "Grande Auckland" owned by Italy's Grimaldi Group docked at Lamu Port for the first time and unloaded 469 European cars originally planned to be shipped to Dubai's Jebel Ali Port. A week later, another car carrier of the group, the "Grande Florida Palermo", arrived at the port again and unloaded about 3,800 cars and related spare parts at one time.
The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) revealed that the recent increase in ship calls has once again confirmed the potential of Lamu Port as a transshipment hub in East Africa. William Ruto, head of the Port Authority, said that a car transport ship is expected to arrive at the port next week and plans to unload about 5,000 cars, showing that the port's unloading capacity is gradually being recognized by the market.
Lamu Port was officially opened in 2021, but in the early stages of operation, it was limited by the route layout and regional trade pattern, and the utilization rate has been low in the first three years. Until August 2024, Hapag-Lloyd's "Nagoya Express" called at Lamu Port, becoming the largest container ship ever to call at an East African port - 335 meters in length and 8,604 TEUs in capacity. This event was regarded as a key turning point in the development of the port, marking that large liner companies began to pay attention to this emerging node.
As shipping companies continue to adjust routes, the throughput of Lamu Port has experienced explosive growth. Official data shows that the port's cargo throughput will jump from 74,000 tons in 2024 to 799,000 tons in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 974%, which is close to 5% of the port's design capacity. Since January this year alone, Lamu Port has received and unloaded a total of 74 ships, which is much busier than the same period in previous years.
The Kenya Ports Authority said that as more shipping companies open normalized services, the cargo volume of Lamu Port is expected to continue to maintain growth momentum in the next few years. However, rapid business growth also brings new challenges. Hong Kong is facing pressure to upgrade its infrastructure, including improving the operating capacity of existing terminals and attracting more investment into the Lamu Special Economic Zone. In response to this situation, KPA is actively promoting corporatization reform and plans to transform into a public limited company in accordance with the latest State-owned Enterprise Law to achieve independent financing. At the same time, Hong Kong has launched the bidding and selection process for private operators for berths 1 to 3 to prepare for future capacity expansion and efficiency improvement.
