Partners rise to jumbo challenge

The arrival of a 53-foot container in the Port of Durban recently was all in a day’s work for key players in the carefully orchestrated production. It was a partnership between the shipper, Unitrans Freight Forwarding and Clearing and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) that facilitated the import of the jumbo containers, custom-designed in China to accommodate a specific exporter’s products for its main market in the United States. “Previously, only North America has seen vessels arriving with these giant containers leaning over the ends of the vessel,” said Unitrans MD Margrit Wolff. A South African-based company is now importing these products in shipperowned containers, which it intends donating to various schools to use as classrooms once the cargo has been discharged, she said.