P&ON sees reefer capacity boom

IT HAS been a "very positive" start for P&O Nedlloyd's Asia-SA-South America service, according to m.d. Nigel Pusey - particularly on the Far East leg.
The weekly, named-day service, launched on April 5, uses a 10 ship fleet operating under its two brand names - Safesa (SA-Far East-South Asia) and Salsa (SA-South America).
"August was a bit of a disaster for us with the congestion crisis in Durban. But September made up for it very well."
The primary benefit of the line having its own service, he added, is that it has greatly increased its reefer uplift capacity which has now boomed to 150 TEU (twenty foot equivalent unit) slots per voyage.
"This," said Pusey, "allows us to lift a lot more perishables, which has been a big plus for us, particularly to Hong Kong.
"We also share the Nissan cargo into Port Elizabeth, another new one for us.
"The South American leg has also done well."
The immediate strategy, according to Pusey, is "to get busy exploiting other areas."
But, despite Pusey's enthusiasm, one industry source has suggested that - with all the competition on the Far East trade - most of the lines are running these services as a loss-leader, "only kept in place to give them Southern African and South American links
in their global networks,"
he said.
Pusey is not debating this issue.
"If the collective trade is making money," he told FTW, "I'd be surprised.
"But I'd call it break-even for most of the lines or a slight loss.
"The losses are not massive but it's certainly not an easy-money trade."
However, Pusey is confident that there's potential there.
"I'm still positive about it growing," he said.