Demands of perishable sector underpin schedule re-engineering

THE CONTAINER share of fruit exports is now at a “critical level” with conventional shipping acquiring less capacity, according to Antwerpbased Safmarine CEO Ivan Heesom-Green. “We clearly see this as a partnership with fruit exporters so we are investing even more in that sector,” he told FTW in Cape Town last week. Heesom-Green says Safmarine is adding a seventh vessel to the SA - Europe Container Service (Saecs) schedule this month, after realising the six ships on the service were unable to provide sufficient reliability. He believes the addition will enable Safmarine to load an additional 100 reefer plugs on Saecs sailings. “This month, we are taking delivery of new 2 500 teu ships with a lot of plugs in the Middle East and it is pretty much the same with the Asia trade. “In the US we added an eighth vessel about 18 months ago so we are doing as much as we can.” Heesom-Green says hopes are high for a good fruit season (December to August) as was the case last year. Safmarine chairman Eivind Kolding said the perishable sector was a major revenue contributor for the carrier. “It is a core focus for us and we know the requirements of the industry and do all in our power to manage as well as we can. “We need to be very close to them in order to understand that we have to have the right equipment in place at the right time. Having equipment all over the place would be too expensive for us.”