Maersk pushes 'reliable cost-competitive' gateway

Despite a 50% year-on-year drop

in total import market volumes

through the port of Walvis Bay,

Maersk Line remains committed

to providing regular and reliable

services to the market, according to

Maersk Namibia

managing

director Robert

Maslamoney.

He believes

that there

continues to be

a high degree

of road freight

moving to/from

Namibia and

South Africa

and that many

importers are still

choosing South African ports (mainly

Durban) as a preferred gateway into

Namibia.

“To a similar degree lots of

exporters and importers from

landlocked locations like Zambia

and southern DRC (Katanga region)

choose ports like Beira and Dar es

Salaam over Walvis Bay.

“A big reason for this is the

trucking supplier network in

Namibia that is not sufficiently

developed for

the cross-border

market into

Zambia and

DRC to be able to

offer competitive

transport

costs given the

long distances

travelled,” he says.

Another reason

is the limited

availability of

warehouse and

distribution centres in Walvis Bay,

which adds complexity and cost to

the supply chain.

“All of this results in importers

making use of alternative gateways

in South Africa, Tanzania, and

Mozambique.

“Shipping lines also have a critical

role to play in ensuring we have

inland container facilities to enable

equipment availability at pack

locations.

“Cargo owners need to also ensure

that they are able to triangulate

cargo movement which will help to

reduce transport costs and make the

route even more competitive on cost,”

he adds.

It is a situation that is

changing as companies take

a fresh look at their full

supply chain as well as the

supplier landscape in both

trucking and warehousing,

thereby reducing costs and

improving efficiencies.

“For many companies it would

be more cost-effective to discharge

and distribute from Walvis Bay than

from South Africa.

“It is a safe,

reliable and

cost-competitive

gateway,” he says.

INSERT & CAPTION

For many companies

it would be more costeffective

to discharge and

distribute from Walvis Bay

than from South Africa. “– Robert Maslamoney