OACL acquisition creates integrated service

The acquisition of the full shareholding in Ocean Africa Container Lines (OACL) falls into line with Grindrod’s strategy of providing an integrated service offering for the movement of containerised, dry-bulk, liquid bulk and wheeled cargoes, according to Captain Dave Rennie, CEO of Grindrod Freight Services. And providing this integrated offering will obviously mean a close link-up of OACL with other parts of the group, added Mahmood Simjee, newly appointed CEO of OACL. “In operating a feeder service to all international mainline carriers, ships domestic and regional cargo, we are providing customers with a complete freight logistics service – including warehousing, distribution and inland transportation,” Simjee told FTW. This will link the line with Grindrod Intermodal, which will provide landside services including trucking and warehousing. At the same time OACL links up with the group’s terminals division when berthing at Maydon Wharf in Durban. Said Simjee: “Here we tie in with Grindrod’s warehousing, depot and terminal facilities. This provides us with the undercover and open areas and equipment for handling and storing dry-bulk cargoes in breakbulk and containerised forms and liquid bulk in tank containers. “It also allows us room for stacking the OACL containers on the Maydon Wharf.” A final link-up for OACL is with the group subsidiary King & Sons, which gives the line access to the company’s full ship’s agency range of products. In the shareholding acquisition deal, Grindrod Holdings purchased Safmarine’s 51% share of OACL for an undisclosed amount. The transaction has since been approved by the Competition Tribunal and the SA Reserve Bank (SARB), and OACL is now a wholly owned subsidiary. CAPTION Dave Rennie ... in line with Grindrod strategy.