Breakbulk transport specialist gains traction in Africa

Swiss-based international forwarder and logistics house Seagull has identified Africa as its next frontier and three years since its launch the local company is delivering on its mandate. Chief executive officer of Seagull Africa, Mikhail Kramer, believes a niche focus is the way to go in a highly commoditised logistics market, and the company has already gained traction in the mining and minerals sector. “Our initial focus was ocean freight out of Africa, and has evolved into breakbulk transport into and out of Africa – the likes of reagents into the DRC and Zambia, and mineral products out, which gives transporters backloads.” Being agile and more nimble provides the edge, says Kramer. “There’s very little bureaucracy internally so we can make a decision and react very quickly. “The next step for us is East Africa. We are already operating in Kenya and Ethiopia and a next step could be Tanzania to complement our existing interests – where we would look at acquiring a business. You need to have eyes and ears on the ground.” It’s all about finding the solution that most suits the client’s needs in terms of cost and transit time. The company ships out of a range of ports – Walvis Bay, Beira, Maputo, Durban and Dar es Salaam to name a few. “Dar es Salaam is a main port for minerals originating from Central Africa, because the transport rates are generally lower than South Africa, and because ocean freight rates are a lot lower into Asia in most cases. From Dar to China is a cheaper and faster solution. “We’ll sometimes use Durban as a hedging mechanism where you don’t want to keep all your eggs in one basket. At times, for example,  for cargo going to South America Durban is a cheaper option than Dar. On the other hand, if cargo needs to be moved to various ports all over the world you have to look at all options and variables.” Effectively it involves looking at the whole value chain – transport, warehousing, landside charges/port charges, ocean freight rates, transit times – and weighing up the best option for your client, which is where Seagull’s expertise comes into play, says Kramer. And while transport will continue to be the company’s focus, it is eyeing imminent growth within its sea freight department, namely bulk shipping. The next step for us is East Africa. – Mikhail Kramer