Ideal for vegetables like
potatoes and onions
Terry Hutson
NECESSITY IS the mother of all invention, so the expression goes, and so it is with Unitainer's latest innovation for the southern African trade Ð the open sided container.
The necessity part came about from Quadrant Container Line's ever-increasing trade links between South Africa, Namibia and Angola, and in particular a growing need for a box to handle perishable cargo such as potatoes, onions and other vegetables.
Who else to turn to but the Grindrod Group's own in-house container sales, rental, conversion and transport specialist, Unitainer for the answer, with an initial order placed for 30 open sided 6m containers.
Quadrant operates a dedicated weekly service between Durban, Cape Town, Walvis Bay and Luanda and a fortnightly call at Lobito, utilising three multi purpose container ships, Umfolozi, Range and Sofala.
According to Mike Fry, national container logistics manager for Unitainer, their existing fleet of TEUs is also in the midst of a total upgrade programme and will be doubled over the next twelve months.
Prior to entering service all refurbished and new boxes are inspected and certificated for Cargo Safety Control by Bureau Veritas and these will be identified under the KWMU prefix for international trade. The refurbishing is an ongoing programme being carried out at three of the group's depots in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town.
