The state owned Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE) is to buy two more vessels to fill the growing demand for dry bulk cargo.
At the beginning of second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II) the multimodal monopoly that stated as the only African state owned commercial vessels operator has been targeted buying 15 new vessels including four Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo) vessels at the cost of USD 80 million meanwhile the period will be ended in June 2020 without action.
It has been also stated that the procurement of the two RoRo vessels, which designed to carry automobiles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers and railroad cars that are driven on and off the ship on the wheels, was on the process.
Roba Megersa, CEO of ESLSE, told Capital that the enterprise has suspended the procurement of RoRo, while focusing to fill the growing demand for mid size vessels for dry bulk cargo.
“We are considering securing two 53000 DWT vessels to improve our operation on the dry cargo,” he said. DWT or Deadweight tonnage is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry.
He assured that the procurement will be held in the coming budget year. If ESLSE secured the purchase it will be the biggest vessel the country will own.
Currently most of vehicles are transported to Djibouti ports by slot carriers, and some vehicles are transported by Ethiopian vessels.
During the five years of the first GTP, ESLSE bought nine brand new vessels, including two oil tankers which were the first oil carrier ships owned by Ethiopia.
The purchase of the Chinese-made oil and multi-purpose cargo vessels, worth USD 293.5 million, was facilitated by the Export-Import Bank of China, which agreed to lend 80 percent of the cost.
The seven 28,000 ton duty multi-purpose vessels cost 32.5 million USD each while the two oil tankers cost USD 37 million each.
About 12 years prior, the enterprise also bought two multi-purpose vessels from China, ‘Shebelle’ and ‘Gibe,’ named after two rivers in Ethiopia. Meanwhile, the enterprise sold off two of its older vessels, ‘Abay Wonz’ and ‘Abyot,’ to the Metals and Engineering Corporation.
Currently ESLSE has 11 vessels overall, and the two oil tankers are leased to other shipping companies.
The enterprise travels to 327 seaports throughout the world.