Spare parts bolster airfreight sector

The dark cloud of this year’s global economic downturn has its silver lining for the airfreight division of Manica Group Namibia, which finds itself doing good business in spare parts transport. “We are very busy with spare parts. They are needed for rehabilitation of oil rigs and vessels,” reports Gregory Camm, Manica’s exports forwarding consultant for airfreight, which is handled out of the firm’s Windhoek office. With local perishables such as fish and meat now shipped by sea in reefers from Manica’s Walvis Bay facility, the spare parts business comes at a welcome time. Transit traffic is an important part of Namibian transport, but has dropped this year along with diminished export volumes from Zambia, DRC and other neighbouring countries. But with oil prices down and production slashed, oil companies chose this time to refurbish their dormant equipment. “Two oil rigs that were positioned on the West African coast, off Angola, were brought down by tugs to Walvis Bay for repair. The tugs are also being serviced. Spare parts are air freighted in from the US, UK and the Netherlands, and we transport them overland by truck,” Camm said. The company’s 1.5 tonner truck may be pressed into service for the five-hour drive from the national airport to the sea, though a fleet of Hyundai bakkies can usually handle the loads. Manica workers at Walvis Bay now outnumber those in Windhoek, 18 to 14, and all work to ensure seamless transport service via land, sea and road. There are direct flights to Germany from Windhoek on a six-day a week basis. Airfreight connections to other destinations need to be routed through Johannesburg.