CMA targets massive growth at Walvis

With the combined might of the fleets of CMA CGM and Delmas Shipping in play, the shipping group is focusing on major development of its Southern African market, according to Rhett van Zyl, MD of the CMACGM Shipping Agency in SA. And the Port of Walvis Bay in Namibia is one distinct area of this focus – with the two lines’ ASAF, Midas, WAX and West African feeder services all to call at the port at a frequency of about two-to-three services a week. The shipping group stands to shortly become the port’s biggest operator. “We have made Walvis a major transhipment hub for the two lines,” said Van Zyl, “and are targeting 80 000-100 000 transhipment boxes a year from next year.” He is also currently busy opening up the market on the Walvis Bay corridors linking Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the port and their regional and overseas trading partners. And the lines offer their own connections to these foreign shores, with links to Europe, the Far East and the Middle East, and all its usual transhipment options in all these regions. CMA-CGM and Delmas also have development plans for a number of other specific countries in the continent. “We have two services through Mozambique,” said Van Zyl, “and have just opened an office in Maputo and have subagents in both Beira and Nacala – the two other main ports on the country’s eastern seaboard. “We are also looking at opening offices in Zambia, Botswana and the DRC.” And Van Zyl is fairly confident about market conditions in the SA shipping industry.