Port of Lamu has scripted maritime history after receiving the MV Baltimore Express – a colossal 368-metre Hapag-Lloyd container vessel flying the Liberian flag.

The Baltimore Express is now the largest vessel ever to berth at any port along the East African coast, surpassing the 335-metre MV Nagoya Express, which itself had only recently set the record when it made its inaugural call at Lamu in August 2025.

The arrival of the Baltimore Express is the latest in a series of milestones that signal Lamu’s accelerating emergence as a world-class maritime facility.

Lamu Port Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) General Manager Captain Abdulaziz Mzee confirmed that the port has received 120 vessel calls so far this year, a figure that reflects a dramatic and sustained spike in traffic.

Among those calls have been multiple inaugural visits from major global carriers, a trend Captain Abdulaziz described as a vote of confidence from the international shipping community.

“We have been receiving inaugural calls consistently this year with the Baltimore Express being the latest and certainly the most significant to date, further underscoring that Lamu is now firmly on the global shipping map,” Captain Abdulaziz noted.

He revealed that MV Baltimore Express made the port of call at the Lamu Port to be able to rearrange dangerous and corrosive cargo well following safety concerns by the ship pointing out that the Port of Lamu is increasingly being trusted as a safety and efficient port in Eastern Africa.

The port has recorded a sharp uptick in vessel categories, particularly car carriers and container ships that are driving volumes and reinforcing Lamu’s trans-shipment credentials.

Captain Abdulaziz said Lamu’s deep-water berths, expansive turning basin and modern handling infrastructure give it a decisive edge in accommodating the new generation of mega-vessels that increasingly dominate global trade routes.

“Vessels of this size face serious manoeuvring constraints at Mombasa Port,” he said, further emphasising that “Lamu’s configuration allows us to safely receive and turn ships that other regional ports simply cannot handle.”

This natural and engineered advantage is backed by significant capital investment. KPA has poured resources into Lamu’s infrastructure, including the installation of high-capacity ship-to-shore gantry cranes; the kind of equipment that signals to global shipping lines that a port is serious about competing at the highest level.

The port recorded a total cargo throughput of 799,161 metric tonnes last year, a staggering leap from the 74,380 metric tonnes posted in 2024.

The growth, driven primarily by containerised cargo, represents an increase of more than 974 per cent in a single year, a rate of expansion that is unprecedented in the region’s port history.

Speaking separately over the arrival of the MV Baltimore Express Kenya National Chamber of Commerce Lamu Branch Chairman Mohammed Skanda stated that the arrival of such vessels carries implications that stretch well beyond the port itself.

He reiterated that Lamu’s growing stature as a trans-shipment hub will soon start attracting supporting industries such as logistics firms, freight forwarders, ship chandlers, bunkering operations and maritime services, that will then generate employment and economic activity for Lamu County and the broader coastal region.

• A Tell Media / By Amenya Ochieng