Ship owners counting losses in dockers strike

As the strike over new medical cover rates by dock workers entered its second day, ship owners are now counting losses.

At least six vessels remain abandoned at the berths waiting to be offloaded while nine others are waiting to enter the harbour and Kenya Ships Agents (KSA) Chief Executive Officer Juma Tellah said each of the stranded vessel is incurring a loss of 25,000 US dollars per day.

In an attempt to mitigate these losses, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director, Gichiri Ndua and a team of 89 managers went to the Port yesterday morning to clear both inbound and outbound cargo.

Mr Ndua told the Press that KPA has so far incurred a loss of between Sh70 million to Sh100 million following the strike.

Not relent

Ndua at the same time ordered all staff on their annual leave to report to their various stations by today or face unspecified consequences.

He warned that KPA will consider workers who went on strike fired when they refuse to report back to the port.

"Our managers are helping to clear the cargo and I have no engagement with the striking port workers," he said.

The MD said the strike has affected imports and neighboring countries who depend on the port for their survival.

Despite Ndua's tough talk, Dockworkers Union, Secretary General Simon Sang said they will not relent from their quest saying "Government is trying to sabotage the country's economy by refusing to stop NHIF deductions".

Sang further accused KPA of trying to denounce the strike then use it to go ahead with the planned sale of the second container terminals.

He reiterated that dockers will not set foot at the port until a round table meeting is called to iron out the differences saying union officials are ready to meet with management over the same.

The union leader also said they are keenly watching to see what is going to happen with the terminal sale saying "the mother of all strikes will take place when KPA moves to sale the second container terminals".

In the meantime, Association of Importers of Kenya chairman Peter Mambembe has said KPA management should be replaced for failure to act on the strike.

In a letter to Head of Public Service, Joseph Kinyua, Mr Mambembe alleged that the strike is taking place due to incompetence on the side of the management.

"Dockworkers Union had issued a strike notice 21 days ago and instead of management negotiating, they sat on the fence until after expiry of the notice. Their inaction has led to inactivity at the port," he said.

He further alleged the strike is engineered by Private Container Freight Stations operators who are beneficiaries as they charge storage on goods now not removed from the Port due to the strike.