MT Paloma’s present place as proven by ships monitoring portal Vessel Finder. IMAGE/UGC.
By PATRICK MAYOYO
pmayoyo@eyewitness.africa
The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and its harbour grasp are going through intense scrutiny after it emerged {that a} vessel carrying 60,000 metric tonnes of gasoline on the coronary heart of a rising corruption probe was granted preferential exemptions to dock at Mombasa Port.
This gasoline cargo is a key focus of an investigation by the Directorate of Legal Investigations (DCI) right into a multi-billion-shilling saga involving allegations of the importation of substandard gasoline.
The ship on the centre of the investigation, the MT Paloma, arrived at Mombasa on March 27, 2026, and was permitted to discharge its cargo regardless of not assembly commonplace Worldwide Maritime Organisation (IMO) necessities.
These near the investigation instructed Africa Eco Information, that the MT Paloma was allowed to berth at Kipevu Oil Terminal (KOT) with out first submitting a compulsory cargo manifest, an important requirement for guaranteeing the security and legality of the products being offloaded.
Below regular circumstances, the cargo manifest would element all the products being carried on the vessel, together with their kind, weight, quantity, origin, and vacation spot, together with the identities of the shipper and consignee.
With out this important documentation, authorities at Mombasa Port have been successfully at nighttime about what the MT Paloma was carrying, the place it had come from, and who was liable for the products. This breach in protocol has raised critical issues in regards to the regulatory oversight of transport operations on the port.
“It’s extremely irregular for a vessel to be allowed to berth with out first submitting a cargo manifest. This raises questions on who authorised the exemption and why,” a maritime knowledgeable conversant in the investigation mentioned.
The MT Paloma, whose brokers have been Sturrock Transport Firm, had made a particular request to KPA, asking for permission to berth with out submitting the required cargo manifest.
In accordance with info seen by Africa Eco Information, a senior official at Sturrock Transport defined that the manifest was nonetheless being ready and could be accomplished later that afternoon. The transport firm requested that the vessel be allowed to dock instantly to keep away from any operational delays.
The request from Sturrock Transport, dated March 27, 2026, learn partly: “We kindly request your approval to berth the vessel this afternoon. The manifest preparation is at present in progress and is predicted to be finalised later this afternoon. We’ll be certain that the finished manifest is submitted promptly upon finalisation. In view of the above, we might significantly respect your consideration to permit berthing within the interim to keep away from any operational delays.”
In response to the request, KPA authorised the vessel to dock. A follow-up inner e-mail, acknowledged: “In view of yesterday’s VSM and allowing for that it is a contingency cargo to maintain the nation WET below the present circumstances, your request is authorised. Supervisor PMU Southern Area will observe up to make sure all different procedures are carried out as per the legislation.”
The choice to grant this exemption has turn out to be a key level of rivalry within the ongoing investigations. It seems that KPA, in live performance with Sturrock Transport, allowed the MT Paloma to bypass commonplace security checks and regulatory protocols.
Petroleum Principal Secretary Mohamed Liban, EPRA Director Basic Daniel Kiptoo and KPC Managing Director Joe Sang have resigned amid investigations into the alleged importation of substandard gasoline. PHOTO/UGC.
The omission of the cargo manifest meant that neither KPA nor different related authorities businesses have been capable of set up the place the ship had come from, the importer and the kind of cargo it was carrying creating a possible safety danger.
Along with the problem of the cargo manifest, investigators have additionally turned their consideration to the disappearing information of ships calling at Mombasa Port.
A search on KPA’s 14-day checklist of ships calling at Mombasa port, reveals that the archived information are lacking which usually contains essential particulars about ships that referred to as on the port, the kind and amount of cargo on board. Experiences point out that these has been altered in current months to take away such info.
This alteration has led to fears that senior officers at KPA and the Kenya Income Authority (KRA) could have intentionally hid important info regarding the cargo being offloaded at Mombasa Port.
“It’s a normal process for ports all over the world to take care of an in depth document of the cargo being transported by vessels,” a ship agent who requested anonymity mentioned. “However in Mombasa, that system has been modified. Now, the small print of what ships are carrying should not being disclosed, making it tougher to trace what’s coming into the nation.”
The difficulty of transparency has solely been additional sophisticated by the involvement of high-ranking authorities officers within the saga. In late March, as world oil markets confronted disruptions because of the ongoing US-Israel and Iran battle, then-Petroleum Principal Secretary Mohamed Liban requested non permanent exemptions from the Kenya Bureau of Requirements (KEBS) to bypass sure gasoline high quality management measures.
Liban’s request, which was made in a letter dated March 26, 2026, to KEBS Managing Director Esther Ngari, sought waivers for 3 key high quality assurance procedures governing the importation of gasoline into Kenya.
Liban justified the request by citing worldwide provide chain disruptions attributable to the continuing instability within the Gulf area, significantly the Strait of Hormuz, which had led to the rerouting of vessels and ship-to-ship transfers at sea. This, he argued, had disrupted the same old processes for verifying the standard and supply of the gasoline.
Liban’s letter proposed that gasoline inspection, which is usually executed on the port of origin, ought to as an alternative be carried out on the port of discharge in Mombasa. This successfully moved the duty for high quality verification from the supply to the vacation spot, elevating issues in regards to the effectiveness of high quality management as soon as the gasoline had already reached Kenya.
Below regular circumstances, importers of substandard gasoline face monetary penalties of as much as 5% of the cargo’s CIF (price, insurance coverage, and freight) worth, or a most of USD 3,500. Liban’s request sought to droop these penalties, successfully eradicating a key deterrent towards the importation of substandard gasoline.
The letter additionally sought to grant KEBS discretionary authority to waive particular high quality parameters on a case-by-case foundation. This might have launched important flexibility into the gasoline high quality assurance system, permitting for exceptions to be made relying on the circumstances.
Whereas Liban’s request was framed as a crucial response to the worldwide provide chain disruptions, critics argue that the waivers created an setting wherein substandard gasoline may extra simply be imported into Kenya.
The absence of pre-export verification meant that shipments may now bypass commonplace checks that set up the place the products originated, and the monetary penalties and discretionary high quality waivers additional diminished the incentives for importers to make sure compliance with gasoline high quality requirements.
MT Paloma. PHOTO/STAN LAUNDON/Vessel Finder.
The implications of those selections started to unfold at Mombasa Port, the place shipments of gasoline that will have beforehand been rejected have been now allowed to discharge.
With out obligatory pre-export verification, it was unattainable to know whether or not the gasoline got here from and if it met the required high quality requirements till it had already arrived in Kenya. Testing on the port may determine non-compliance, however by then, the gasoline had already entered the availability chain, limiting the choices for rejection or re-export.
Concurrently, the suspension of monetary penalties meant that importers confronted a diminished financial danger for bringing in substandard gasoline. This, mixed with the discretionary powers granted to KEBS, created a system the place gasoline high quality requirements have been not inflexible, however negotiable.
On the port, discharge operations continued with little obvious disruption. Tankers docked, gasoline was offloaded, and storage tanks stuffed, all seemingly routine. But beneath the floor, the regulatory framework governing gasoline imports had been quietly altered, with probably disastrous penalties for the nation’s gasoline provide chain.
The implications of those modifications turned clearer as issues started to floor in regards to the high quality of gasoline being distributed throughout Kenya. Experiences of poor gasoline high quality, engine efficiency points, and rising shopper complaints all pointed to the chance that substandard gasoline had entered the market because of these weakened safeguards.
Because the investigation continues, authorities are specializing in how these non permanent exemptions have been granted and whether or not they have been a part of a wider effort to facilitate the importation of low-quality gasoline. Investigators are additionally trying into the roles performed by senior officers at KPA, KEBS, and KRA, in addition to the potential of collusion amongst prime authorities officers.
The MT Paloma, a Marshall Islands-flagged petroleum tanker, left Mombasa on March 30, 2026, and is now at Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Marine monitoring information reveals the vessel is at present transiting the Mozambique Channel, with an anticipated arrival at its South African vacation spot on April 7, 2026. Earlier than its arrival in Mombasa, the ship had been en path to Angola however was diverted below unclear circumstances.
Whereas the MT Paloma, is not in Kenyan waters, the investigation is much from over. Authorities are intently monitoring the vessel’s actions, and additional revelations are anticipated within the coming weeks.
Within the meantime, Kenya’s gasoline provide chain stays within the highlight, with questions in regards to the high quality of the gasoline being imported and whether or not the safeguards in place to guard customers have been fatally weakened.
Because the probe unfolds, it appears seemingly that extra particulars will emerge, exposing how regulatory techniques have been bypassed and elevating questions in regards to the integrity of the gasoline provide chain in Kenya.
