Walvis Bay’s growing presence as a preferred port for Namibian imports and exports, including transit cargo on the Copperbelt corridor to Ndola and beyond, was yet again underscored recently when Hamburg bulk-load carrier Uniatlantico visited the port.
According to Irvaan Maharaj, South Africa business development manager for the Walvis Bay Corridor Group, the visit by Uniatlantico was to gauge the efficiencies at the port.
He said the line was “greatly satisfied” by what they saw.
Andreas Bergmann, managing director of Uniatlantico, echoed Maharaj’s sentiments saying the 18-vessel line was excited to have visited the port, twice in one week with two different container ships, the Maria da Paz and the Uniscout.
With the former berthed as backdrop at the quay, Bergman said both vessels “together represent more 10 000 tonnes”.
Interviewed by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation, he said the port represented a great opportunity to load commodities such as salt from Walvis refineries and copper concentrate from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, destined for trans-Atlantic destinations in the Americas and Europe.
Apart from fostering ties with the port, Uniatlantico’s visit was also aimed at linking up with possible partners in view of prospective cooperation, Bergmann said.
Greg Swartz, executive director of Walvis Bay Salt Holdings, described the line’s visit to Walvis Bay as a boon for local economic growth.
In another development for the port and its hinterland linkages, Freight News is in the early stages of putting together a “corridor connect” trip that will involve a visit to key nodes on primary routes linking Walvis Bay with destinations in the region.
These include the Trans-Kalahari Corridor from Gauteng through Botswana to Windhoek and the port itself. The return leg of this fact-finding road trip will involve a large section of the Walvis-Ndola corridor, going from the port to Okahandja, Grootfontein, Rundu, the Caprivi Strip to Kazungula and back to Gauteng via Groblersbrug.
Stakeholders interested in participating in this endeavour are requested to contact Eugene Goddard: eugeneg@nowmedia.co.za
