Cold store facility records best ever results

THE RUSSIAN language has Willie Venter pondering. The problem is that all instructions on fishing trawlers from that country are written in the home language, and there are few available interpreters in the Walvis Bay region. While a normal Volga boatman would have no problem understanding the instructions, it’s not easy for staff working along the dockside, says Venter, who is branch manager of Commercial Cold Storage in the port. It’s fish from the trawlers that provide the bulk of his work, 60 000 tons having passed through the company’s cold rooms last year with 30 000 tons in storage at any given time. Venter, who moved to Walvis Bay nine years ago and worked in harbour service companies before taking up his present post two years ago, says 2003 provided the best results the facility had recorded. It was quiet after October, but March this year saw the start of what threatens to be an even busier 2004.