Port call desk
Nominate Maingate Shipping for Algiers and the call is planned from the port's own facts: the bay of Algiers on the Algerian coast, working the container terminal and the other berths the cargo needs. Attendance at Algiers is by our partner agent under Maingate's instruction; the Mombasa desk stays with the vessel from nomination to final DA.
A call at Algiers Port, Algeria begins with the port's geography: the bay of Algiers on the Algerian coast. Vessels work the container terminal, the general cargo quays and the passenger port, with hydrocarbons shipped from Arzew, Skikda and Béjaïa, and which of these the vessel is bound for decides the pilot, the stevedores, the gate and the receiver's arrangements. Maingate Shipping plans the call from that decision outward.
Containers, wheat, steel, vehicles and general cargo inbound, with petroleum products shipped from the specialist ports make up the trade, and Algiers and the north of the country. The desk's job is to keep the vessel's time at the berth spent on cargo, not on the documents that should have been ready before she arrived.
The particularity of Algiers that shapes every call: visa lead times for foreign crew are longer than elsewhere in North Africa, so crew changes are planned weeks ahead.
Each line is quoted in the proforma DA for Algiers Port, Algeria and supported by a receipt in the final account.
The nomination is acknowledged promptly, and the desk answers with a proforma DA built on Algiers's tariff and the vessel's particulars. Notices go to the port, customs, immigration and health; the berth and pilot are booked for the working area the cargo needs, whether that is the container terminal or another part of the port.
Receivers, shippers and their clearing agents are contacted before arrival so that documents, permits and evacuation are ready when the first grab or the first container moves.
At Algiers the cargo is containers, wheat, steel, vehicles and general cargo inbound, with petroleum products shipped from the specialist ports. The boarding officer follows the operation hour by hour: commencement, stoppages with reasons, shift changes, weather, quantities reconciled between ship, stevedores and receiver. Where the charterer or receiver appoints surveyors, the desk coordinates their attendance.
The record is kept to the standard a laytime calculation needs, so that owner and charterer can settle the voyage account on the same facts.
Cargo through Algiers does not stop at the gate: Algiers and the north of the country. The desk works with the receiver's clearing agent on transit bonds, delivery orders and evacuation by road or rail so that the discharge is not throttled by what happens landside.
Bills of lading, mate's receipts and out-turn reports are reconciled before the vessel sails, so that quantity questions are settled while the parties are still at the port.
Husbandry at Algiers: crew movements (feasible with planning, via Houari Boumediene Airport), bunkers (established), fresh water, provisions, garbage, spares, cash and medical cases, each handled with the call and each shown as a line in the DA with its receipt.
Where the charterer's agent holds the cargo call, owners place their husbandry with the desk as protecting agent and receive a separate owner's account.
The thing principals learn about Algiers after their first call, and the thing the desk tells them before it: visa lead times for foreign crew are longer than elsewhere in North Africa, so crew changes are planned weeks ahead. Arrival timing, services and the DA all reflect it.
The partner agent at Algiers lives with the port every day; the Mombasa desk brings the principal's standards, the DA format and the reporting, and stands behind the service.
Our partner agent at Algiers, appointed and instructed by Maingate Shipping, attends the vessel; the Mombasa desk coordinates, reports to the principal and is responsible for the service.
Crew changes are feasible with planning through Houari Boumediene Airport; the desk confirms the immigration requirements for each nationality on the crew list.
Yes, bunkering is established at Algiers and bunker-only calls are handled by the desk.
The vessel's name and particulars, ETA, cargo or purpose of the call, the principal's name and the party responsible for the account, and any services the vessel needs. A proforma DA follows promptly.
Yes. Multi-port itineraries in Algeria and across North Africa and the Red Sea are handled as one appointment with a separate DA per port.
Nominate Maingate Shipping and the answer comes from Mombasa with a proforma DA attached.
The desks below cover the same coast and the same principals as Algiers.
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