MOL sets up international hub in EL

Leonard Neill EAST LONDON harbour enters a new era on September 9 when, for the first time, it will be used as an international transhipment port. Mitsui OSK Lines has scheduled that date for the start of a monthly service in which a vessel carrying vehicles from South America, destined for Australia and New Zealand, will discharge its consignment in East London. The vehicles will then be loaded onto another vessel under the MOL flag for onward transport to their final destinations. The first batch of 240 Mercedes Benz Sprinters, built in the Argentine and loaded at the port of Zarate, will include 145 destined for ÔDown Under', with 95 being left for South African consumption. "The volumes are expected to increase to a figure between 250 and 350 in time," says MOL's East London-based South African motor industry business development executive Lorraine Govender. "As the numbers grow there may well be a need for the frequency to be increased, but right now we are proud to be the first line to bring East London onto the international map in this regard."