Analyzing the Impact of Berth Capacity Constraints on Shipping Costs at the Dar es Salaam Container Terminal

This study investigates how berth capacity constraints at the Dar es Salaam Container Terminal drive up shipping costs and proposes targeted interventions to alleviate this bottleneck. A mixed‐methods design combined a structured survey of 90 industry professionals with 18 semi‐structured interviews. Quantitative analysis revealed that average berth occupancy stood at 78.4% (SD 9.2), with mean daily demurrage charges of USD 120.50 (SD 25.4). The berth‐capacity perception scale demonstrated strong reliability (Cronbach’s α = .81). Pearson correlation confirmed a robust association between occupancy and demurrage (r = .68, p < .01), and multiple regression showed berth occupancy as the strongest predictor of demurrage (β = .34, p < .001), explaining 58% of its variance. Qualitative themes excessive vessel queues and manual scheduling inefficiencies corroborated these findings. Building on this evidence, the paper recommends implementing an AI‐driven Port Community System, phased quay expansions, and public–private partnerships to optimize berth utilization, reduce vessel waiting times by up to 20%, and substantially lower demurrage costs.