Guide
Appointing an agent for a call at Mombasa or Lamu takes one message if the message contains the right things. This guide sets out what to send, what happens next and what a well-run appointment looks like, so that owners, charterers and managers nominating an agent in Kenya for the first time know what to expect.
It reflects how Maingate Shipping runs an appointment; other agents follow similar steps, and the guide is useful whoever you appoint.
The vessel's name, flag, IMO number and particulars; the ETA and the port; the cargo, quantity, shipper and receiver or the purpose of the call if it is crew, bunkers or stores only; the principal's full name and the party responsible for the account; the charter party's agency clause if one applies; and any services the vessel needs during the call.
The agent replies with a proforma DA: an itemised estimate of port dues, pilotage, towage, mooring, agency fee and the services requested, based on the port's tariff and the vessel's particulars. The principal approves it and remits the advance; the agent files the pre-arrival notices.
The agent notifies the port, customs, immigration and health, books the berth and the pilot, confirms the receiver's readiness and sends a pre-arrival confirmation. During the call a boarding officer attends, daily reports go out and a statement of facts is kept. After sailing, the final DA with receipts closes the appointment.
This desk is part of Maingate Shipping Limited, the Mombasa ship agency, crewing and brokerage house that has attended vessels at Kenyan ports since 2020 from its office at Express Building, Moi Avenue. Port agency at Mombasa and Lamu is handled by the company's own boarding officers; calls elsewhere in Africa run through the Maingate agency line under one DA format and one reporting style; Kenyan seafarers are recruited and managed from the same office; and the chartering desk fixes the tonnage that brings East Africa its wheat, fertilizer, clinker and fuel.
Principals deal with one desk for the whole voyage, and every service is agreed in writing before it is performed.
The charter party decides. Where the charterer appoints the cargo agent, the owner often appoints a protective agent to look after the vessel's interests.
As soon as the call is fixed. The port's notices run from the vessel's ETA, and early nomination gives the agent time to clear the receiver's paperwork.
Yes. A Mombasa and Lamu itinerary is handled on one appointment with separate DAs per port.
Receipts behind every line, a record behind every stoppage, a desk behind every call.
Related desks on the same instruction line.
Also on maingateshipping.com: Ship agency at Mombasa · Ship agency and charter brokers · Ship brokerage · About Maingate · Contact
Maingate Shipping Limited · Express Building, Moi Avenue, Mombasa, Kenya · ops@maingateshipping.com · +254 784 622 091