The government is now asking shippers to collect their cargo at the Embakasi Internal Container Depot.
Kenya Ports Authority MD Catherine Muturi on Friday said about 1,700 containers are lying at the Embakasi ICD.
Muturi said the containers have been cleared but owners are yet to collect them.
She said owners should collect the cargo to free space to handle more.
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The MD said the deport initially had a capacity of holding 180,000 containers but has been redesigned to handle 450,000 twenty foot equivalent units.
This she said will hold 70 per cent of the imports that dorks at the Mombasa Port.
According to her, KPA has acquired four new rail-mounted gantry cranes, eight rubber try gantry cranes, seven reachstackers, 19 terminal tractors, five empty container handlers and 16 forklifts between 3-5 ton capacity to enhance stripping and stuffing of containers.
Due to public demand, the MD says the number of daily cargo trains has been increased to 4 carrying 108 containers each, ferrying 432 container units daily.
She said plans are under way to increase the number to 12 trains by end of the year.
Cargo owners who fail to collect their containers within four days after arrival at the depot will be forced to dig deeper into their pockets to vacate their cargo.
KPA on Friday said it has resolved to reduce the number of free storage days for import containers from 11 to 4 days.
Muturi said the move similar to the one at Mombasa deport will encourage importers to hasten collection of their cargo.
Muturi said the storage period for exports and empty containers will, however, remain at seven days at the Inland Container Deport at Nairobi.
She said cargo owners will be charged once the free storage period
“In order to promote the use of the Inland Container Depot Nairobi by Nairobi and Transit clients, who wish to nominate the ICDN as their point of cargo delivery, Kenya Ports Authority has given a rebate reducing the handling charges for SGR cargo by 30 percent,” she said.
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Muturi said the handling charges for local import containers for SGR cargo is USD 80 per twenty-foot equivalent units down from USD 103, and USD 120 for forty foot equivalent units down from USD157.
She said for transit containers handling charges are USD60 per twenty-foot unit and USD90 for forty foot unit.
“I wish to clarify that for ICD containers, the counting for free storage period starts when the containers land at the ICD and not in Mombasa and the shipping lines have been advised accordingly for purposes of charging container demurrage,” she said.
In order to reduce time spent on cargo verification by KRA and custom officials, Muturi said KPA has introduced verification appointments where cargo earmarked for verification is identified and transferred to the verification area in advance.
Muturi also said all the issues that were crippling the services in terms of transportation of the containers from Mombasa to Nairobi have been sorted as directed by Transport CS James Macharia.