In a R50-million development, Grindrod Intermodal (GIM), a division of Grindrod Freight Services, has just opened a major bulk/container warehouse facility in Durban – designed to bring its full suite of services to the containerised freight industry up to 21st century standards. The newly developed Bluff Road site was originally purchased in 1979 by former Grindrod chairman, Murray Grindrod senior, for the sum of R450 000 – expressly for housing the Unicorn Line empty container fleet, and appropriately named Unicorn Depot. During the mid 90s changes within the group resulted in the depot trading firstly under the name of Container Link and then Grindrod Container Services. But, in this the centennial year of Grindrod Limited, what began as a relatively small in-house depot operation has been transformed into the flagship GIM development, according to MD Jan Nair. It houses an 8 000m² warehouse and a 7 000m² yard exclusively for handling mining minerals; a 2 000m² open yard for the handling of full and empty containers; a modern washing and repair workshop; and a full SA Revenue Service (Sars) customs-compliant bonded warehouse facility.
