Port call desk
Nominate Maingate Shipping for Nacala and the call is planned from the port's own facts: a deep natural bay on Mozambique's northern coast that takes the deepest vessels on the coast without dredging, working the container and general cargo port at Nacala and the other berths the cargo needs. Attendance at Nacala is by our partner agent under Maingate's instruction; the Mombasa desk stays with the vessel from nomination to final DA.
Maingate Shipping Limited provides ship agency at Nacala Port, Mozambique, for owners, charterers, managers and traders whose vessels call there for cargo, bunkers, crew or stores. The port's working areas are the container and general cargo port at Nacala, and the coal export terminal at Nacala-a-Velha across the bay, and the desk plans each call around the one the vessel is bound for.
The trade through Nacala is coal and mineral exports, containers, cement, fuel and general cargo. The Nacala Corridor railway to Malawi and the Moatize coal basin in Tete, which is why a call here is as much about documents and receivers inland as it is about the berth.
One thing to know before nominating: the coal terminal and the commercial port sit on opposite sides of the bay with separate procedures, and the town's services are limited compared with Maputo.
Each line is quoted in the proforma DA for Nacala Port, Mozambique and supported by a receipt in the final account.
The nomination is acknowledged promptly, and the desk answers with a proforma DA built on Nacala'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 and general cargo port at Nacala 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.
Working cargo at Nacala means coal and mineral exports, containers, cement, fuel and general cargo moving between ship and quay under the eye of a boarding officer who writes down what happens as it happens. Commencement and completion, shift changes, rain, breakdowns, waiting for trucks or wagons, and the figures reconciled at the end of each day between the ship's tally, the stevedores' count and the receiver's out-turn.
That record becomes the statement of facts, and the statement of facts becomes the laytime account. The desk keeps it accordingly.
Cargo through Nacala does not stop at the gate: the Nacala Corridor railway to Malawi and the Moatize coal basin in Tete. 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.
The airport for Nacala is Nacala Airport, with connections through Nampula and Maputo, and crew changes here are feasible with planning; the desk confirms the immigration position for each nationality when the crew list arrives. Bunkering at Nacala is not available locally, and where it is not, the desk plans the stem at the nearest port on the route.
Spares are cleared in transit and delivered on board, cash to master is delivered against the master's signature, and a doctor is brought to the vessel or the seafarer taken to hospital as the case requires.
The coal terminal and the commercial port sit on opposite sides of the bay with separate procedures, and the town's services are limited compared with Maputo. The desk plans around this rather than discovering it on the day, and tells the principal at nomination what it means for the call's timing and cost.
The partner agent at Nacala 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.
Capesize and panamax bulk carriers, container ships, general cargo ships and tankers, for cargo calls, bunker calls, crew changes and stores.
Our partner agent at Nacala, appointed and instructed by Maingate Shipping, attends the vessel; the Mombasa desk coordinates, reports to the principal and is responsible for the service.
A proforma DA is issued on the port's tariff before the call, the advance is remitted, and the final DA with every receipt reconciles against it within the agreed period.
Crew changes are feasible with planning via Nacala Airport. Nacala is not a bunkering port; the desk arranges bunkers at the nearest port on the vessel's route.
Yes. The Africa agency line covers East Africa and the rest of the continent on one instruction, with a DA per port on one account.
Receipts behind every line, a record behind every stoppage, a desk behind every call.
Related desks for vessels calling Nacala.
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Maingate Shipping Limited · Express Building, Moi Avenue, Mombasa, Kenya · ops@maingateshipping.com · +254 784 622 091