The Port of Lüderitz is simply not deep enough to accommodate vessel calls at Namibia’s southernmost port, ocean carrier Maersk has said in response to recent news that containerised cargo will have to be sent to the Port of Walvis Bay by road (*).
It means that exports such as frozen fish, ordinarily transhipped from Lüderitz to Walvis for deep-sea shipping, will have to be trucked 1 262.8 kilometres through Namibia’s interior, compared to 470 kilometres along the coast.
Moreover, it meant that the usual container load of 28 tonnes of fish had to be dropped down to 21 tonnes, all in order to fit reefer boxes with generators and fuel, said Willie Prosser, managing director of Novaship Namibia.
The impact of the recent development on their business, he said, raised the question whether it was still worth staying in business.
However, since it was announced recently that spiralling ocean-side costs had necessitated the cancellation of a transhipment service including Lüderitz, Maersk has confirmed that it has no other option.
The company’s media relations official, Mikkel Elbek Linnet, has said: “The draft restrictions of the Port of Lüderitz limit us from providing a container vessel from the Maersk fleet that can berth at the port.”
He said they’d looked at various alternatives to continue providing a service, including the introduction of a barge.
It wasn’t feasible though, Linnet said, as “it cannot deliver the power supply needed for refrigerated containers”.
He added: “We remain in direct contact with the impacted customers and with them we will continue to explore ways to find a better solution.”
Prosser, who also heads up the Walvis Bay Port Users’ Association, has on various occasions said it’s simply not acceptable that the Danish-run line, second biggest in the world by capacity, cannot come up with an ocean alternative.
“They’re leaving their clients high and dry,” Prosser has said.
The company which used to charter vessels for calling at Lüderitz, Ocean Africa Container Lines (OACL), has since reiterated what it has earlier stated in a letter to its clients – that it simply does not make business sense any more.
“The charter hire rates for ships have increased by more than 400% in the last year. The charter rate for the type of ship OACL deploys has increased from $8 000 per day to $40 000 per day, and the price of marine fuel has risen to above $1 000 per tonne.
“The maritime industry has watched these rates increase over the last year, and finally, OACL reached the decision to discontinue the service to Walvis Bay.
“The business cannot compete with road transport or freight rates from deep-sea shipping lines with an existing network calling Durban, Cape Town and Walvis Bay. Our commercial team has contacted clients to provide further information on an alternative solution.”
* Read these reports for context:
