20ft Shipping Container
Approx. 33.2 m³
The standard 6.06 m ISO dry container: 33.2 m³ of volume, up to 28 t of payload, and the easiest size to move by road almost anywhere in the world.
Africa
Shipping Containers to Kenya
Supply from European depots to Mombasa, the gateway for Kenya and much of the East African interior.
- New & used
- Single & bulk orders
- Named destination port
- Delivered pricing
Mombasa is the principal East African container gateway, serving not only Kenya but transit traffic towards Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and eastern DRC. That transit role shapes the enquiries: buyers frequently need equipment that will travel inland after discharge, which raises the importance of structural condition over appearance.
Demand covers storage, agricultural and humanitarian use, conversion into shops, clinics and offices, and refrigerated units for cold-chain projects.
Buying for onward inland transit
If the container will move inland from Mombasa by road or rail after discharge, buy for structure rather than for looks. A racked frame or a soft floor becomes a problem on a long inland leg in a way a dented panel never does.
Cargo worthy with a valid CSC plate is the sensible floor for units that will be handled repeatedly. For a unit going straight onto a site and staying there, wind and watertight is sufficient and cheaper.
Cold chain and reefers
East African cold-chain projects are a recurring requirement. Be explicit about whether you need working refrigeration or an insulated shell — a working reefer and a non-operating unit differ enormously in price, and the power supply on site is usually the deciding constraint rather than the container.
How supply and shipment are put together
Overseas supply separates into two questions that are often confused: which container you are buying, and how it reaches the destination you named.
Destination
You name the discharge port or the inland destination, and the specification.
Supply option
Suitable availability is assessed against that destination and against what can actually be booked to it, which is not always the nearest source of stock.
Shipment
Ocean freight on agreed Incoterms, with the responsibilities on each side written down before anything moves.
Quotation
Container, origin handling and freight to the agreed point, with destination charges identified rather than buried.
Buying a container and shipping cargo in it are two different transactions
A container bought as equipment and a container booked as freight are not the same movement, and conflating them is where overseas enquiries usually go wrong. Tell us which one you need. If the unit is to carry your cargo on the same voyage, that changes the condition requirement, the CSC position and the booking — and it is far cheaper to establish before the quotation than after it.
Containers supplied to Kenya
Specialist types
New or used
Both are supplied to every market we quote. The choice is about what the container has to do once it arrives.
New / one trip
- Appearance matters at the destination
- Long-term ownership is intended
- The unit will be converted or modified
- Recent production is preferred
Used
- Storage is the primary purpose
- Budget is the deciding factor
- Cosmetic condition is secondary
- Cargo worthy or wind and watertight meets the requirement
What decides an overseas quotation
Four variables carry most of the cost and nearly all of the risk of a surprise.
Discharge port
The named destination port, which determines the routing, the sailing options and a large part of the freight cost.
Incoterm
Where our responsibility ends and yours begins. This decides who pays destination handling, and it is worth agreeing explicitly.
Destination charges
Terminal handling, documentation and any local charges at discharge. We identify them rather than leaving them to arrive later.
Inland leg
Delivery beyond the port is a separate arrangement in most markets, and is quoted as such where it can be arranged at all.
Destination ports
Ports commonly named on enquiries for this market. Naming the discharge port is the single most useful thing on an overseas enquiry: a quotation to a country is guesswork, a quotation to a terminal is a price.
Port delivery options- Mombasa
What we need in order to quote
Five things. A named destination port is worth more than any other single line on an overseas enquiry.
Container
Quantity
Destination
Terms
Commercial
Frequently asked questions
Can containers be shipped onward from Mombasa to landlocked countries?
Transit routings from Mombasa into the interior are well established, and the inland leg is normally arranged by the buyer or their agent. Tell us the final destination anyway — it affects which condition grade is worth buying.
Do you supply refrigerated containers to Kenya?
Yes, both working reefers and non-operating insulated units. Confirm the site power supply before specifying a working unit; reefer machinery is three-phase.