COA desk
Importers who bring in a cargo every month and exporters who ship a mine's output every few weeks do not want to fix each voyage from scratch. A contract of affreightment fixes the freight, the vessel type, the laycan pattern and the terms for a series of shipments, and lets the shipper plan the year. Maingate Shipping brokers these contracts from Mombasa for the repeat cargoes of East Africa.
The desk has arranged contracts for fertilizer, clinker, wheat, coal and mineral concentrates, matching the shipper's programme with owners and operators who commit tonnage to the region.
The number of shipments, the cargo range per lift, the laycan intervals, the load and discharge ports, the freight basis and the escalation clauses are set out so that both sides know their exposure. Nominations, substitutions and cancellations are dealt with in the terms, not left for the first dispute.
For each lift the owner nominates a vessel within the agreed particulars, the desk checks her against the port's draft and the shipper's readiness, and the charterer accepts. Where the port has changed since the contract was signed, the nomination is checked against the current position, not the contract's assumptions.
Each voyage runs with its own notices, statements of facts and laytime accounts, and the desk keeps a running reconciliation across the contract so that demurrage and despatch are settled per voyage rather than piling up at the end.
Maingate Shipping Limited, Mombasa: ship agents at Kenyan ports since 2020, crew managers and recruiters of Kenyan seafarers, ship brokers for the East African trades, and the coordinating desk for port calls across Africa. The office at Express Building on Moi Avenue is a short drive from Kilindini Harbour and Moi International Airport, which is why crew, spares and cash reach vessels at Mombasa without a wasted hour.
The company works for owners, charterers, managers, traders, lines, clubs and fleets, and puts its terms, its DAs and its reports in writing.
Three or more similar shipments in a year usually make a contract worthwhile; the desk advises on the cross-over point for the cargo and route.
Yes. Contracts for East Africa often name Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and Djibouti as options with a differential.
The charter party decides; where the charterer appoints, Maingate Shipping's agency desk handles the calls at Kenyan ports and coordinates the others.
One instruction, one account, one contact for the master and one for the principal.
Related desks on the same instruction line.
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Maingate Shipping Limited · Express Building, Moi Avenue, Mombasa, Kenya · ops@maingateshipping.com · +254 784 622 091