Vehicles assembled in Pretoria and shipped to Durban in special rail wagons
Ray Smuts
THREE significant car export contracts within the past five months have given MOL’s Dave Giraudeau something to smile broadly about and more could be on the way - contracts and smiles.
Mitsui O.S.K.Lines SA is really in overdrive and it is wheels of all descriptions that are making it happen - on top of important high volume cargo commodities like copper, cotton and paper.
Last October, MOL clinched the contract with DaimlerChrysler South Africa to transport 8 500 C-class Mercedes Benz vehicles a year from East London to Japan, a figure that is set to increase.
More good news followed when the shipping line clinched a deal with BMW South Africa, effective from February this year, to ship an annual 16 000 left-hand drive, 3-series, BMWs to the Eastern United States (Newark, New Jersey), utilising MOL’s new weekly ÔFour Continent’ ro-ro service.
The BMW South Africa tie-up, largest MOL car contract in South Africa to date, is for vehicles assembled in Rosslyn near Pretoria and shipped to Durban in special rail wagons, whereas they had previously been sent in containers.
Major step
ÒThis contract has really created the opportunity for MOL to enter the South African car market in a big way and it is what we have been waiting for as it has given us the base,Ó says Dave Giraudeau, managing director of MOL.
ÒWinning the contract was not plain sailing. It took nine months of hard work and team effort,Ó he says, estimating that about 20% of the line’s ÒeffortÓ in South Africa is now tied up in motor vehicles.
MOL has also secured with BMW Germany a one-year contract to bring in about 2 000 BMW Z3 and BMW X5s from the motor-maker’s plant in Jacksonville, Florida.
The first arrivals are due within a month. More glad tidings for MOL involve a contract with DaimlerChrysler South Africa to deliver to East London 3 000 Mitsubishi Pajeros a year from the plant in Jakarta, Indonesia, utilising the same service as for outgoing C-Class Benzes and large volumes of incoming second-hand Japanese vehicles destined for sale in this country and across border.
MOL’s ÔFour Continent’ service operating between South Africa, Europe, North and South America, is running to high capacity which Giraudeau is intent on increasing further this year.
Bus service
ÒThis service, employing five dedicated ro-ro vessels in the process of being replaced by newer ships, is creating a lot of interest among car makers because it’s like a scheduled bus service going around and around.
ÒIt will pick up Renaults and Volkswagens in Emden, Holland, Caterpillar vehicles and Renaults in Le Havre, France, all destined fror the United States, and then vehicles in Mexico and South America for drop off somewhere else, for example.Ó
Giraudeau says while Durban remains the most significant port for vehicle exports and imports, East London’s Port authority is making a concerted effort to win further business.
