History as Largest Vessel Ever in East and Central Africa Docks at Lamu Port

The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has announced the arrival of the largest vessel ever to dock at any port in East and Central Africa.

In a statement on Monday, May 11, the authority said the MV Baltimore Express berthed at the Port of Lamu on Sunday, May 10.

The vessel, operated by Hapag-Lloyd, arrived from Salalah Port in Oman and marked a major milestone for the Lamu Port.

"In a historic feat, the Port of Lamu on Sunday evening welcomed the largest vessel ever to dock at any Port in East and Central Africa. The MV Baltimore Express, a colossal, measuring 369 meters in length overall, arrived from Oman’s Salalah Port," the statement read.

KPA explained that the ship’s massive size underscored the growing capacity of the Port of Lamu to handle ultra-large vessels that many regional ports would struggle to accommodate.

"To put that size into perspective, the ship spans nearly the length of three football pitches with 69 meters to spare. Many regional ports would struggle to accommodate such a giant, but Lamu stood up to the challenge," the statement added.

KPA further noted that the vessel docked successfully at the port without any operational challenges due to the port’s infrastructure capacity.

"With the port’s quay length of 400 meters per berth, MV Baltimore Express docked smoothly without any incident," the statement further read.

During its stay at the port, the vessel handled restows of dangerous cargo through the repositioning of DGs aboard the ship in compliance with the regulations of the International Maritime Organization.

According to KPA, the latest call follows an earlier record set by sister vessel MV Nagoya Express, a 335-meter container ship that docked at the Port of Lamu in August 2025.

KPA General Manager for the Port of Lamu Capt. Abdulaziz Mzee welcomed the vessel and said the successful docking had elevated Lamu’s standing among major global ports.

"This call lifts Lamu’s profile on the global maritime map, and compares to some of the world’s most developed ports like Singapore, Rotterdam and Hamburg," he said.

According to KPA, the Port of Lamu has handled more than 120 vessels since the beginning of the year, with more ship calls expected in the coming days as traffic at the facility continues to grow.

To support the increasing activity, the authority is investing in modern cargo handling equipment including new cranes, terminal tractors and other machinery expected later this year.

Abdulaziz also confirmed that 90 motor vehicles out of the 5,000 units discharged at the port in March had already been evacuated from the facility.

This comes a month after KPA issued a clarification on how petroleum imports are handled at the Port of Mombasa, as scrutiny intensifies over the Ksh4.8 billion fuel import scandal.

In a letter to the Senate Energy Committee, KPA Managing Director William Ruto said the tanker, MT Paloma, reached the port’s outer anchorage on March 27 at 2:30 a.m., transporting 60,200.813 metric tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). 

The cargo details had been formally declared in the manifest submitted by Sturrock Shipping (Kenya) Limited.

KPA noted that its responsibility ends once a vessel is securely docked, noting that cargo discharge operations are handled by the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC).

The authority distanced itself from any downstream handling or decisions involving petroleum products.

"Upon berthing of tanker vessels at KOT II, cargo discharge and all associated operations are undertaken by KPC. Accordingly, after berthing of vessels, KPA is not privy to all subsequent operations or actions that may be taken by the relevant Government Agencies," the authority explained.

KPA confirmed that offloading of the cargo was finalized on March 30 at 12:12 p.m., after which the vessel cleared all port dues and departed later that evening at 7:20 p.m.