KLD celebrates three years of growth

Walvis Bay-based KLD Ships’ Agency is celebrating “three years of growth” since it was founded thanks to the attractiveness of Walvis Bay to amongst others, the offshore oil and gas industry. “There are new rigs passing by or stopping over regularly – which often means new clients for us – says Katja Glöditzsch, co-founder with Carlos Morgadinho of the company. It actively markets the port of Walvis Bay to its clients and potential clients to use as a stop-over on the way to the offshore oil and gas fields or on the way to shipyards in the Far East and also as a repair hub for various types of ships. “Walvis Bay is deemed to be a safe bay and we can provide a diverse range of services. An efficient land-side infrastructure is in place to support repair services and the provision of bunkers and other supplies, as well as for crew changes,” she says. “Systems are in place to ship spares in “Hot Shot” via Johannesburg and Windhoek by road or air, or to send components to the Reef or the Cape for repairs, she says. There is a large network available and it is our duty to connect the dots.” Services provided by KLD range from ships’ agency to support services for a variety of vessels. It is also geared to provide project management services for oil rigs on repair projects alongside Walvis Bay, at anchorage in Walvis Bay and offshore from Walvis Bay. KLD is still hoping that oil rigs alongside in port will become a reality again. The company’s staff complement has grown to eight, and an ongoing in-house training and mentoring programme ensures that the skills base keeps growing. The KLD team celebrating their third birthday: Back row from the left: Carlos Morgadinho, Morné Schloms, Werner Salpeter, Simon McAlpine, Sven Deetlefs. Front: Brigitte Burger, Katja Glöditzsch, Amanda van Zyl.