By ANDREW MWANGURA
newshub@eyewitness.africa
Mombasa, East Africa’s busiest and largest port, performs a significant function in dealing with tens of millions of tonnes of cargo every year. It serves as a vital maritime gateway for Kenya and its landlocked neighbours.
Nevertheless, beneath its bustling exercise lies an environmental time bomb—the continued operation of single-hull bunkering vessels.
Single-hull tankers are relics of an outdated and harmful maritime expertise. Not like their safer, double-hull counterparts, these vessels solely have a single layer of metal separating their cargo of oil from the ocean. This design supplies minimal safety within the occasion of a collision, grounding, or structural failure.
Within the crowded circumstances of Mombasa Port, the place bunkering—the refuelling of ships—is an everyday exercise, this danger is magnified. The slightest incident may see hundreds of tons of bunker gas spill into the ocean, devastating Mombasa’s fragile marine ecosystem, which incorporates coral reefs, mangrove forests, and the livelihoods of native communities depending on fishing and tourism.
Worldwide maritime security rules, notably the Worldwide Maritime Group’s (IMO) MARPOL conference, recognise these dangers. In response to disasters such because the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the IMO established a phased ban on single-hull tankers.
By 2010, nearly all of single-hull oil tankers working internationally had been banned. Exceptions had been made for some flag states, however these exceptions have now expired. Thus, the continued operation of those vessels in Mombasa Port stands in direct violation of worldwide security requirements.
The hazards posed by these out of date tankers can’t be overstated. A significant oil spill off the coast of Mombasa may lead to damages operating into billions of {dollars}.
A 2013 UNEP evaluation estimated that the environmental value of a big oil spill may exceed $10 billion, accounting for cleanup, long-term environmental hurt, and losses to the fishing and tourism industries.
Kenya, as a signatory to MARPOL and a member of the IMO, has a authorized and ethical duty to stick to those worldwide requirements. The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA), and the Nationwide Setting Administration Authority (NEMA) should take speedy motion.
First, the operation of single-hull bunkering vessels at Mombasa Port have to be banned outright. Second, a transparent, enforceable timeline must be established for transitioning to double-hull vessels.
Third, complete monitoring and enforcement mechanisms have to be put in place to supervise gas switch operations. Lastly, Kenya should develop detailed contingency plans for oil spill response tailor-made particularly to port operations.
Though transitioning to safer, double-hull vessels will undoubtedly incur substantial prices for operators, these bills are needed for the long-term safety of the setting and the native financial system.
The federal government may help by providing monetary mechanisms to ease the burden on operators, doubtlessly creating new employment alternatives in shipbuilding and marine companies within the course of.
The continued operation of single-hull bunkering vessels at Mombasa Port is a reckless gamble with Kenya’s marine setting and coastal communities.
As world maritime requirements proceed to evolve, Kenya should not fall behind. The IMO has made it abundantly clear: single-hull tankers are a factor of the previous. Kenya should embrace this actuality and produce its port operations in keeping with fashionable security and environmental requirements.
The price of inaction is simply too excessive. Environmental devastation, financial loss, and human struggling are all too actual penalties of sustaining the established order. The time to behave is now—Kenya should ban these floating hazards earlier than the inevitable catastrophe strikes.
The author is a veteran service provider mariner and maritime opinion chief.
