The growth in the global economy is evident in the upswing of cargo traffic, according to Hamburgbased DAL, which says that southbound cargoes out of Europe to South Africa are back to pre-economic crisis levels. Representing the family that has owned DAL since it started its service out of Germany to Africa 121 years ago, Heinrich von Rantzau said that northbound cargoes were also recovering and DAL, along with its Saecs partners, was planning to introduce more dry and reefer cargo capacity during the coming peak reefer period. However, he said there was concern that despite the recent investment in SA’s port facilities, there was no clear improvement in productivity largely due to above-average seasonal wind delays on the South African coast. Last year’s TPT strike had a very negative effect on productivity, he said, and the increase in operating s costs had been compounded by a very steep increase in the bunker prices affecting all ship owners and operators. “DAL has restructured its Europe/Indian Ocean Island service through a new partnership with MSC resulting in improved service levels in this trade,” he said.
