Zijin’s Reported Bulker Order Expands Plans for the DRC–Tanzania Mineral Route

Thursday 29th October 2026

By inAfrika Newsroom

Zijin Mining has ordered two larger bulk carriers for its Lake Tanganyika mineral-transport operation, according to shipping-industry reports published on 27 and 28 October 2026. The planned vessels would support a route linking the Democratic Republic of the Congo with Tanzania’s Kigoma port.

Splash reported that Shandong Xinneng Shipbuilding will build two 3,000-deadweight-tonne vessels, following four earlier 2,000-dwt ships. The new pair represents 6,000 dwt of combined capacity, with each vessel’s stated deadweight 50 percent above that of the earlier design.

Deadweight describes the weight a ship can carry, including cargo, fuel and other loads. It is not a measure of annual mineral shipments, which depend on utilisation, voyage frequency and the wider transport chain.

The reports do not disclose the contract value or delivery dates. The order should therefore be distinguished from vessels already delivered and operating on the lake.

The route has an established company-reported background: Zijin announced the launch of an earlier freight ship in November 2025. Its description linked the inland-waterway service to cross-border logistics between the DRC and Tanzania.

Kigoma’s role is as a transfer point between lake transport and Tanzania’s onward export network. Increasing vessel size can expand carrying capacity on one leg, but it does not automatically remove constraints at berths, storage yards or connecting transport services.

The practical question for logistics firms is whether cargo can move reliably across those handovers. Vessel availability, loading equipment, documentation and onward dispatch need to work together before additional capacity becomes faster delivery.

The next milestones are construction and delivery information, followed by evidence of operations and actual cargo volumes. The story complements InAfrika’s Zambia–Lobito railway update, another case where new corridor capacity must be tracked through successive delivery stages.