IF YOU’RE keen on forward planning, St Helena Line – which provides a regular service to St Helena and Ascension in the South Atlantic, departing from Cape Town, SA or Portland, UK via the Namibian coastline - is a service to bank on. Operator and manager of the service, Andrew Weir Shipping, has just published the new sailing schedule up to 2008. “Issuing voyage details for the next two years gives shipping agents and passengers a chance to plan ahead with real confidence,” Andrew Weir general manager Captain Bill Langworthy told FTW. “The schedule is similar to the one we have been operating within for the last 12 months, although the number of calls at Walvis Bay has been reduced slightly.” The vessel is able to transport cargo of all shapes and sizes and is carrying an increasing number of 4 x 4 vehicles and motorcycles on the coastal passages between Cape Town and Walvis Bay or the reverse. This is becoming especially popular for passengers who enjoy the challenge of exploring Namibia in their own vehicles,” he said. Although Luderitz Bay is not currently shown in the schedule, time has been allowed in the voyages via Walvis Bay for calls at Luderitz if there is sufficient cargo inducement and published dates can be maintained.
