A FIRST call at Durban by the COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) vessel, the Fuyuanshan, marked the start of the SA connection in the line's previous East-West Africa direct service.
Due through next week (July 29), is the line's other 600 TEU vessel, the Amer Beep, serving the new interlinked East-Southern-West Africa service.
Up to now, according to Jay Lalla, line manager at Cosren Shipping in Durban, the main function has been to provide a transhipment service for other COSCO cargoes through the Durban hub. But we have started to market the service to local potential customers, and expect to be able to stimulate local demand as cream-on-top to this base cargo, he said.
This entire southern African operation will be managed by the line's SA staff, and COSCO has already started to strengthen its local presence. The line's Port Elizabeth office has now been opened, and the Cape Town branch is likely to follow within weeks.
While we don't need to look at local cargo as our core activity, said Lalla, we are still going to offer the necessary levels of rates and service to attract local business.
