Kenya Ports Authority is back to the drawing board after President William Ruto directed that construction work at the Shimoni Port project be cut by one year.

Development of the industrial fishing port at Shimoni in Kwale county commenced in April, with Southern Engineering Company (SECO) as the main contractor.

SECO, which constructed the Kisumu Oil Jetty had agreed  with KPA on a two-year timeframe, meaning the port would be be ready in the first quarter of 2025.

The Mombasa-based engineering company specialising in marine and offshore engineering had in 2020 conducted offshore geotechnical investigations at Shimoni.

The scope of work included drilling of offshore and onshore boreholes to study the geological conditions of the area for the upcoming port facilities.

Phase one of the project which commenced in April includes construction of a Sh2.6 modern fishing harbour with a multi-purpose berth.

This is part of the wider Sh20 billion Shimoni Fishing Port, which will also incorporate fish and conventional cargo handling, cold storage facilities, reefer stations and processing plants for value addition.

According to KPA managing director, Captain William Ruto, the industrial fishing port with a capacity of 50,000 metric tonnes is expected to be completed and ready for use within the next two years.

“ The project is expected to contribute to the development of the rural communities enhancing fishing and its associated industry within and beyond Kwale,” Captain Ruto said.

The President however wants the project completed by June next year, exerting pressure on KPA, as he seeks to deliver to the South Coast residents on his blue economy promise.

"I want the KPA chairman Benjamin Tayari to make sure the fish port is completed by June 2024 and I will come here to open it," the President said during his tour of Kwale at the weekend.

Engineers familiar with the works involved are doubtful of the new timeline being met noting that marine structures are subject to dynamic and complex conditions.

The project is part of government plans to maximise benefits from the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Indian Ocean, which is still hugely untapped.

Shimoni will be the first port facility dedicated to processing fish exports and value addition.

The President’s directive comes as the government moves to implement excise duty on imported fish at Sh100,000 per metric tonne, or 10 per cent of the custom value.

The move is to protect local fishermen, according to National Treasury CS Njuguna Ndungú, where imports from China have in recent years increased.

Kenya has 370 kilometers from the shore into the Indian Ocean , 600 kilometers of coastal length and about 10,700 square kilometers of navigable inland waters.

Shimoni is expected to help tap into the vast fishing industry with the EEZ said to have an annual potential of 350,000 metric tonnes of fish.

It is currently yielding a paltry 9,134 metric tonnes worth about Sh2.4billion.

Overall, Kenya produces 180,000 tonnes per year, agriculture ministry data shows, including from its inland water sources, against a consumption demand of about 500,000 tonnes.

This has seen the country import fish to supplement the deficit.

Kenya is tapping fishing technology from Iceland to improve earnings from the sector with artisanal fishermen at the centre of the corporation, Mining and Blue Economy CS Salim Mvurya said.

“The potential in the Indian Ocean is beyond what we are doing now. Currently, the country is catching a paltry eight per cent of the potential fish stocks. We want to change this,” Mvuria noted.

He said the government has started implementing about Sh10 billion blue economy projects in the five coastal counties, to boost earnings from the sector.