Transit cargo passing through the Tema Port increased to 627,773 tonnes in 2002 compared 261,254 tonnes in 2001, Mr. Gorden Anim, Director of the Port told the Ghana News Agency on Friday.

He attributed the increase to the political turmoil in Cote D'Ivoire that had made the Abidjan port unsafe for port users thus forcing the landlocked countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to divert their cargo through Tema.

For the last quarter of 2002, which was October to December, the Port handled 255,080 tonnes of transit cargo. Cargo that passed through the Tema Port included rice; sugar; flour and containerised cargo.

Containerised cargo was 32 per cent, flour 13.5 per cent and steel/plates for constructional works was two per cent. Mr. Anim told the GNA that in 2000 the tonnage of transit cargo was 144,973 tonnes. ''The Port does not have vessels waiting at the anchorage to take their turns as it used to be in October last year when the political turmoil started in Cote D'Ivoire.''

He said this was because apart from increased efficiency in the operations at the Port to reduce turn around time, fewer numbers of ships are coming in with large tonnages instead of the many that came in with smaller quantities at the initial stages.