Anniversary celebration as CT office opens

Non vessel operating
common carrier
(NVOCC) and
freight forwarding
company Afristar opened a
new office in Cape Town last
month – the same month the
company celebrated its third
anniversary.
“With our head office in
Durban being located in
Africa’s busiest port and our
new Cape Town office on the
western side of Africa, the
company is ideally situated
to service sub-Saharan
Africa and beyond,” said MD
Michael Ryan.
Afristar’s import service
offering had seen the most
growth from all main ports
in China, India and its
Singapore and Rotterdam
hubs, said Ryan. The
company’s new service from
Hamburg – a weekly direct
service into the port of
Durban launched in October
last year – had also delivered
dividends on the import
service side, as it included
services from the growing
Scandanavian and Eastern
and Central European
regions, he added.
A direct import service
from the United States by
the end of this year is on the
planning boards. “This trade
route is open to competition
with only a limited number
of players in South Africa and
we believe there is room for a
niche service operator on the
major routes,” Ryan said.
The company has also
seen growth in exports on
the back of the weak rand,
particularly from Afristar’s
Singapore service. “Singapore
as a hub services regions
that include South East Asia,
the Far East, Australasia, as
well as the West Coast of the
United States,” Ryan pointed
out, adding that there had
been increased demand for
SA products from the Asian
markets.
“Our next export offering
will be a service to Rotterdam,
to be launched in the second
quarter of this year,” he said.
CAPTION
The Afristar team from left: MD Michael Ryan; financial director Kevin Deeb; operations director
Seema Ryan; commercial director Michael Eagar; and CT regional director Andreas Barth.