The Port of Mombasa has received four new eco-hoppers supplied by a UK-based company, Samson Materials Handling.
"They were procured by Trademark East Africa (TMEA) on behalf of KPA at a total cost of US dollars 6,206,024," Kenya Ports Authority(KPA) said in a communication.
Speaking while witnessing the offloading of the eco-hoppers at Berth No. 5, KPA General Manager Operations and Harbour Master Captain William Ruto, said the acquisition of the equipment means cargo discharge rate at the Port would improve from the current 3,000 tonnes per day per ship to 10,000 tonnes.
The successful delivery and discharge of the eco-hoppers completes in part the implementation of the Green Port Policy developed and adopted in 2014/15.
The use of eco-hoppers in handling dirty import cargo such as clinker, coal and gypsum is chief among KPA's initiatives in furtherance to its stated core values including care for staff and communities while being sensitive to the environment.
"The state-of-the-art eco-hoppers are mobile power-driven units with crabbing functionality to enable specific positioning of the hoppers alongside the ship. On top of the 6m x 6m eco hopper inlet grill is a 2m high shroud which creates a mouth of 8.2 x 8.2m for grab discharge thus mitigating the effects of high winds," KPA said over the weekend.
Each eco-hopper sits on a frame adding up the total height to 15.7m permitting a comfortable truck drive-through clearance of 4.2m.