Weekly
service
heralds
new era for
citrus exporters
THE ARRIVAL in Durban harbour on April 29 of the first reefer vessel in the recently launched Cool Carriers service to Europe heralds a new era for citrus exporters.
It is the first time that local exporters will have access to a weekly liner-type operation for palletised cargo.
And in South Africa for the sixth time in the last six months for the send-off were Stockholm-based Cool Carriers senior vice president marketing and business development, Mats Enqvist and g.m. for the Atlantic, Ake Lewander.
We've been involved in the carriage of fruit from South Africa for many years, Enqvist told FTW in Johannesburg last week. We believe there is a bright future for the SA fruit exporter based on cost and geographical factors, which was one of the motivators for the service.
The second trigger was the dynamic new deregulated environment in South Africa. It demands a new type of service which includes the inland facility. We are looking at cold storage to cold terminal in Europe, or shipper's vehicle to receiver's vehicle.
Lewander believes that the most cost-efficient method of transporting reefer cargo is by specialised reefers. All vessels on the service are modern pallet tonnage with capacity for 3500 to 4000 pallets, and a speed of 18-20 knots.
This offers a transit time of 15 to 16 days to the first discharge port.
Based on the requirements of the trade, vessels will call Durban, Rotterdam and Tilbury, running from the current peak perishable season to mid September.
Our whole approach has been to announce the service, to listen to the market needs, and to take a decision based on that, says Lewander, who believes that more SA fruit could begin moving to non-EU markets like Russia and the Baltic in future. If there is a need we will extend the service from Rotterdam to St Petersburg, Riga or wherever the market requires.
Cool Carriers was established in Stockholm in 1984, and its involvement in the SA market started a year later, serving the needs of Outspan and Unifruco.
It operates 70-75 vessels worldwide and owns 18. Its main business is bananas from Central America to Japan, USA and Europe. The balance of its services operate from the southern to the northern hemisphere, East Mediterranean to Europe, and California to Japan.
We bring a new flexibility to the SA market, which is of particular benefit to the smaller exporter, says Lewander, who confirmed that the service would operate next year over the same period.
The company will shortly set up a Cool Carriers office in Cape Town, in line with policy in the rest of the world where branch offices have been established in New Zealand, Japan, US, Shanghai and Buenos Aires.
Local agents are Rennies Ships Agency where Trevor Vicary is the line co-ordinator, based in Durban.
