Cabotage sailing through a sea of paperwork

Progress is being made

to introduce a regular

cabotage service to

link the main economic

centres of Mozambique via its

ports, but the service continues

to face headwinds mainly from

customs.

FTW’s understanding is

that Mozambican customs has

difficulty in differentiating

between a container that is being

imported and one that is simply

being moved from port to port

within the country, instead of

being transported by road or rail.

German-Mozambican company

Rhenustora tried to overcome the

problem by introducing a purely

local service using 90-metre

coasters.

The service has since been

suspended, although the

company still has offices in

Maputo.

But, says Grant Lendrum,

managing director of UTi

Mozambique, there is “a demand

for an alternative to the EN1

(the national road) along the

coastline”.

UTi offers cabotage services

mainly through CMA-CGM and

Messina, which between them

offer scheduled services to Beira,

Pemba and Nacala from Maputo.

While the physical carriage of

the cargo works well and offers a

number of advantages over road,

“the biggest hindrance is the

paperwork process and customs

process,” he says.

Even though they are bound

for another port in Mozambique,

containers still have to go

through export and import

procedures.

Original bills of lading are

needed in ports such as Pemba

and Nacala to clear the container

– and here the challenge is that

the vessel often arrives with the

containers before the courier with

the documents.

However, Lendrum believes

that solutions will be found.

The Confederation of Business

Associations of Mozambique

(CTA) is working with the

authorities to remove the

bottlenecks.

A cabotage service has

the official support of the

Mozambican government.