After a delay of more than a month in launching MBG Shipping’s new reefer service between South Africa/Europe/West Africa, the maiden voyage will sail from Cape Town no later than January 20, according to founder and MD Ian Wicks. Alex de Bruyn, Safmarine’s Southern Africa trade executive, tells FTW negotiations about a possible charter of the 1 550 TEU Alioth are ongoing with the owner of the vessel but Wicks claims a valid contract is in place for the same ship, for which he says R1.8 million was paid upfront. MBG, acting on a suggestion by several fruit exporters that it make contact with Saecs via Safmarine, did just that, though talks ultimately proved unsuccessful. De Bruyn says the discussions took place against the background of MSC’s initial cancellation of its “Week 52/53” sailing (end of December/beginning of January) to Europe. On the table was a proposal by MBG to sell slots/plugs to Saecs VSA (vessel-sharing agreement) members in “Week 53”, which Saecs member lines declined to entertain, due to lack of incremental demand in week 53. Responding to questions forwarded by this correspondent, one of those a belief held by Wicks that Safmarine is more intent on securing Alioth than in doing business with MBG, De Bruyn says: “Safmarine was at the time in the market to provide a vessel for the recommencement of Saecs VSA Reefer Express Service in Week 5 (the first in February) and was in contact, via the brokers, with a number of owners, including Alioth’s, in terms of suitable vessels to fill the position on the Week 5 service. This was openly shared with MBG in week 53 discussions and the two activities ie, spot opportunities in week 53 versus supplying a vessel in week 5, are mutually exclusive.” Wicks believes the big shipping players are intent on keeping any new enterprise out, even though he believes there is a place in the market for a small, focused, niche operator. MBG general manager, Pamela Yerushalmy, tells FTW the lines remain “fiercely” protective of what is a lucrative trade between South Africa/Europe and the UK. But the fruit industry continues to grow and fruit needs to be moved at all costs, on top of which the majority of fruit exported is shipped in containers these days. MBG’s dilemma at the outset was its inability to source enough containers (350 FEUs required a week) to maintain a scheduled and viable weekly service, due to the unwillingness of major container leasing companies to supply. One wonders, as suspects Wicks, whether this may not stem from the “Lonrho debacle” (his description), when the pan-African conglomerate, after investing millions of dollars to acquire a majority stake in SA Independent Liner Services (Sails) but unhappy over the line’s performance, applied to the Cape high court for its winding up. This came at a time when Wicks, MD of Sails, had been on suspension for six months and therefore was not in control of the business. According to Wicks, Sanek Trust, the liquidators, immediately cancelled all existing container leases and ship charter agreements, leaving the container companies and shippers in the dark about the whereabouts of their boxes.
