Port call desk
Vessels bound for Sfax, Tunisia, get one instruction, one proforma DA and one desk to call: bulk carriers, chemical tankers, general cargo ships and fishing vessels are attended by our partner agent at Sfax under Maingate's instruction, with the Mombasa desk planning, reporting and closing the account.
Maingate Shipping Limited provides ship agency at Sfax Port, Tunisia, for owners, charterers, managers and traders whose vessels call there for cargo, bunkers, crew or stores. The port's working areas are the commercial quays, the phosphate and chemical berths, the fishing harbour and the oil jetty, and the desk plans each call around the one the vessel is bound for.
The trade through Sfax is phosphate products, olive oil, salt and general cargo outbound, with grain, fuel and containers inbound. The Sfax industrial region and the phosphate basin, 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 shallow gulf limits draft, and phosphate and chemical loadings follow the producers' programmes.
Every service is confirmed in writing before the vessel arrives at Sfax Port, Tunisia, and charged at cost with the receipt in the final account.
Before the vessel is off Sfax, the desk has filed the port's pre-arrival notification, the customs and immigration declarations and the health clearance, applied for the berth at the commercial quays or wherever the cargo directs, and confirmed the pilot. The proforma DA has gone to the principal and the advance has been remitted.
The receiver's readiness is checked as carefully as the berth's: trucks, silo space, delivery orders, permits and the clearing agent's file. A vessel held at anchor because a receiver was not ready is a cost nobody should pay.
The cargoes worked at Sfax are phosphate products, olive oil, salt and general cargo outbound, with grain, fuel and containers inbound, and each has its own rhythm of gangs, gear and receivers. The desk agrees the discharge or loading plan with the master and the stevedores, keeps the daily figures and records every stoppage with its reason and its duration.
Surveyors appointed by cargo or vessel interests are given access and information; the desk does not act for them, but it makes sure they are there when the operation needs them.
The Sfax industrial region and the phosphate basin. Transit documents, delivery orders, customs release and the receiver's transport are coordinated so that cargo leaves the quay as it lands and the vessel is not held by a document.
For vessels calling more than one port in Tunisia or the region, the desk plans the sequence and keeps quantities and documents consistent between calls.
Husbandry at Sfax: crew movements (feasible with planning, via Sfax-Thyna International Airport), bunkers (arranged with notice), 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 Sfax after their first call, and the thing the desk tells them before it: the shallow gulf limits draft, and phosphate and chemical loadings follow the producers' programmes. Arrival timing, services and the DA all reflect it.
The partner agent at Sfax 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.
The same working day, with a proforma DA and the list of documents the port and the receiver will want before arrival.
Our partner agent at Sfax, appointed and instructed by Maingate Shipping, attends the vessel; the Mombasa desk coordinates, reports to the principal and is responsible for the service.
The desk revises the berth and pilot bookings, informs the receiver and the authorities, and tells the principal what the change means for waiting time and cost.
Feasible with planning, through Sfax-Thyna International Airport. The desk files the immigration formalities before the crew travels.
Bunkers can be arranged at Sfax with notice; where quantities or grades are not available, the desk advises the nearest port where they are.
One instruction, one account, one contact for the master and one for the principal.
The desks below cover the same coast and the same principals as Sfax.
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Maingate Shipping Limited · Express Building, Moi Avenue, Mombasa, Kenya · ops@maingateshipping.com · +254 784 622 091