Ships anchor in Dar es Salaam to avoid piracy

SEVERAL ships are now anchored in Tanzania waters hedging against escalating piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden, while waiting to complete transaction at high seas.

Most of the ships at the outer anchorage of Dar es Salaam Port are oil tankers, which normally conduct business while on high seas to minimize delivery time at the next port of call.

According to a Tanzania Port Authority (TPA) senior director, who preferred anonymity, out of the 13 ships that were at outer anchorage by Saturday, 10 vessels were oil tankers, the majority of which anchored for fear of an attack by Somali pirates.

"All those ships are not waiting to offload their consignments at the Dar es Salaam port. Some anchored for safety reasons," the senior director told the 'Sunday News'.

He added: "After all, Dar es Salaam is a Heaven of Peace." He said that only three vessels are container lines that await offloading containerized cargo.

However, he said, there is also slowness on discharging oil related cargo at Kurasini Oil Jetty (KOJ) and will only end after the government implements the strategy to procure fuel in bulk.

When reached for comment Saturday, TPA's Corporate Communications Manager, Mr Franklyn Mziray, agreed that some of the vessels anchored there were not calling Dar es Salaam Port.


No wonder I have seen many ships in Dar lately...Will try to a photo too.