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.