Lamu Port Welcomes Largest Ship To Dock In East & Central Africa

Lamu Port welcomed the largest ship to ever dock in East and Central Africa.

Operated by Hapag-Llyod, MV Baltimore Express is a 369 m long container ship built in 2014 and spans the length of three football pitches.

It arrived from Oman’s Salalah Port and docked at the Lamu deep-water seaport, which is situated on Kenya’s northern coastline and is developing as a crucial transhipment hub for East and Horn of Africa.

Lamu Port is a major deep-water seaport located on Kenya’s northern coastline. Serving as the anchor project of the broader LAPSSET Corridor, it is rapidly emerging as a vital transhipment hub for the East and Horn of Africa.

Lamu rivals the world’s most modern ports and handles high cargo volumes due to its naturally deep harbour of 17.5 metres, enabling it to accommodate Panamax and Post-Panamax ships with no or minimal dredging.

Other African ports often need to be dredged to deepen the seabed enough to accommodate mega ships and remain competitive.

The vessel handled restows of dangerous cargo by repositioning the DGs aboard the vessel.

KPA’s general manager, Port of Lamu, Captain Abdulaziz Mzee, said, “This call lifts Lamu’s profile on the global maritime map and compares to some of the world’s most developed ports like Singapore, Rotterdam and Hamburg.”

This depth allows Panamax and post-Panamax ships to sail into the channel with minimal or no dredging.

Since the beginning of 2026, Lamu Port has handled more than 120 ships, with more expected to call in the coming days.

The Kenya Ports Authority want to maintain this growth trajectory, and so it is investing in modern port equipment like new automated cranes, tractors, etc., which is set to arrive in 2027.