Kilindini Harbour is a large, natural deep-water inlet extending inland from

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. It is at its deepest center, although the controlling depth is the outer channel in the port approaches with a dredged depth of . It serves as the harbour for

, with a

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning the 'land behind' a city, a port, or similar. Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated wi ...

extending to

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. Kilindini Harbour is the main part of the Port of Mombasa, the only international seaport in Kenya and the biggest port in

east Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

. It is managed by the

Kenya Ports Authority Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) is a state corporation with the responsibility to "maintain, operate, improve and regulate all scheduled seaports" on the Indian Ocean coastline of Kenya, including principally Kilindini Harbour at Mombasa. Other KPA ...

(KPA). Apart from cargo handling, Mombasa is frequented by

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

s. Kilindini is a Swahili term meaning "deep down" or "in the depths" in reference to the depth of the channel. Kilindini Harbor is an example of a natural geographic phenomenon called a

ria A ria (; , feminine noun derived from ''río'', river) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendriti ...

, formed millions of years ago when the sea level rose and engulfed a river that was flowing from the mainland.

History

Mombasa has a centuries-old history as a harbour city. The Kilindini harbour was inaugurated in 1896 when work started on the construction of the

Uganda Railway The Uganda Railway was a metre-gauge railway system and former British state-owned railway company. The line linked the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya. After a series of mergers and splits, the lin ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, while Kenya was a British colony, Kilindini became the temporary base of the

British Eastern Fleet The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' wa ...

from early 1942 until the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese naval threat to

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, Ceylon (now

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

) had been removed. Nearby, the

Far East Combined Bureau The Far East Combined Bureau, an outstation of the British Government Code and Cypher School, was set up in Hong Kong in March 1935, to monitor Japanese, and also Chinese and Russian (Soviet) intelligence and radio traffic. Later it moved to Sing ...

, an outstation of the British code-breaking operation at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...

, was housed in a requisitioned school (Allidina Visram High School, Mombasa) and had success in breaking

Japanese naval codes The vulnerability of Japanese naval codes and ciphers was crucial to the conduct of World War II, and had an important influence on foreign relations between Japan and the west in the years leading up to the war as well. Every Japanese code was e ...

Expansion

On 29 August 2013, expansion of the port enabled it to handle Panamax Vessels. The project was launched in July 2011 at a cost of $82.15 million by the Kenyan Government and was carried out by China Roads and Bridge Corporation. A new berth, Berth 19, with of stacking yard, has provided additional annual capacity of 200,000 TEU. The project is to increase the port throughput by 33%, consolidating the leading status of Mombasa as well as Kenya in East Africa. This expansion came alongside plans to construct railways better linking the port to Uganda and Rwanda.

Dongo Kundu Freeport

The Kenyan Government has also started facilitating the development of a Free Port on a of land owned by the Authority at Dongo Kundu area through public private partnership arrangements. Also underway is the Road Bypass project to link the project area and Mombasa – Lunga Lunga – Nairobi Highway. Known as the

Dongo Kundu bypass Dongo Kundu Bypass Highway, also Mombasa Southern Bypass Highway , is a road under construction in Kenya. When completed, it will connect Mombasa Mainland West to Mombasa Mainland South, without entering Mombasa Island. Location Dongo Kundu B ...

the projects aim is to ease traffic flow to Kenya's South Coast. Construction is to begin in late 2013. Construction was completed in July 2024 and is now operational.

Lamu Port

A new international seaport, the Lamu Port is under construction in

Lamu Lamu or Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Situated by road northeast of Mombasa that ends at Mokowe Jetty, from where the sea channel has to be crossed to reach Lamu Isla ...

. Lamu Port is to be larger than Kilindini Harbour but the

says that the two ports won't compete but complement each other. The port will have 32 berths and dredged entrance channel done to to enable it to accommodate ships of 120,000 DWT ( Post-Panamax Vessels) The cost for the Short-term Plan for Lamu Port Project, including the first 3 berths, is estimated to be US$664 million. The First Phase is to be completed by 2016.

References

External links