Dar es Salam port closed as Tanzania violence spreads

A helicopter displays a banner featuring Tanzania's ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) presidential candidate and incumbent President Samia Suluhu Hassan during the party's closing campaign rally in Mwanza on October 28, 2025.[AFP]

Civil unrest that has engulfed neighbouring Tanzania has led to the closure of its main seaport in the commercial capital of Dar es Salaam.

Multiple sources in the shipping industry in the region confirmed the closure to both inbound and outbound vessels.

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) said in a statement on 29 October that the government had placed the country under an indefinite curfew and that there was a nationwide internet blackout.

Dar es Salaam Port closed at midnight with no activity taking place, and ISS said that communication with terminal management confirmed the port was not functional.

Mombasa-based former general secretary of the Seafarers Union of Kenya, Mr Andrew Mwangura, said it was true that operations at the Dar Port were disrupted.

"We are in touch with port operators and industry players there. However, there are no confirmed vessel diversions either to Tanga, Mtwara or Mombasa Ports," Mwangura said.

A protested general election in Tanzania has seen violent protests take place, leading to the shutdown of some key economic activities.

Authorities in this East Africa's largest nation by land mass have imposed a curfew in the commercial city even as protests spread in hinterland towns.

Tanzania is in lockdown with a communications blackout, with violent chaos and unconfirmed reports of many dead following a general election on 29 October.

Dar es Salaam is the country's largest port, and last year Adani International Ports Holdings (AIPH) signed a 30-year concession agreement to operate Container Terminal 2 (CT2).

The four-berth CT2 has an annual cargo handling capacity of 1 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) and handled 820,000 TEUs in 2023, estimated to be 83 percent of Tanzania's total container volumes.

ISS said it did not have updates from Mtwara and Tanga ports in the country. The Tanzania Ports Authority website was down by the time of submitting this story.

Several other shipping agents confirmed that operations had been greatly affected, with no operations as internet remained blocked.

Unconfirmed reports indicated that a regular cruise liner that calls at East African ports of Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar had shelved plans to call at the two Tanzanian ports.

Regional shipping operator Spears Shipping Company, headquartered in Mombasa and Zanzibar, through its chairman, Mr Mohamed Yusuf, said that the unfolding civil strife was an unfortunate happening.

"We were anticipating good business this year and beyond after partnering with a local Zanzibari firm to do transhipment between the Port of Mombasa, Zanzibar and even Dar es Salaam respectively," the chairman said.