The Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA) has issued a statement clarifying its stance on Multimodal Transport Operators (MTOs). In contrast, the DPFZA defined an MTO as an entity that coordinates door-to-door services across multiple transport modes—sea, air, and land—under a single contract and Multimodal Transport Document. He maintained that, according to this convention, NVOCCs can lease vessel slots and operate within multimodal transport. Yared Shiferaw, a maritime law expert and former head of the Legal Department at Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics (ESL), echoed this perspective. Only those issued by vessel-operating shipping lines acting as Multimodal Transport Operators (MTOs) are legally valid for cargo movement.

Source: Ethiopian News December 28, 2025 03:45 UTC