Better handling for goods transhipped through Kribi to the Port of Douala.

The Port Authority of Douala (PAD) and the Port Authority of Kribi (PAK), the two most important port authorities in Cameroon, signed an agreement in 2020 on the relay of goods by small boats. Discussions meant to encourage international vessels take up this new channel of transport using feeder ships are currently underway.

This is called "feedering", a PAK source explains. “Goods coming from China for instance on board a large ship that cannot dock at the Douala sea port, due to less advantageous hydrological conditions, will be unloaded at the port of Kribi and a small ship, called a Feeder ship (hence the expression Feedering), will pick up these goods at Kribi to deposit them at the Port of Douala “.

The difference between feedering and ordinary cabotage lies in the origin of the goods or passengers transported over the short distance. While cabotage has to do more with local transport: loading and unloading in Kribi for Douala and vice versa, feedering on the other hand is the completion of a maritime transport process, generally transcontinental. Moreover, feedering offers the opportunity to reduce the burden on the roads linking the cities of Douala and Kribi since fewer goods unloaded at Kribi shall be transported to Douala by road.