The opening of a modern cold storage facility in Walvis Bay is paying off for shippers and the port, according to Behan van Niekerk of Atlantic Cold Storage.
The facility caters for any frozen food product that needs to be stored below -18 degrees Celsius.
Opened in 2017, the facility complements Atlantic Cold Link warehouses in Windhoek and a new store destined for Cape Town.
It has been running at close to capacity since opening, with the main demand coming from the fishing industry. The facility can hold 8000 tons, with a 2000-ton bonded area for in-transit cargo. Good systems need to be in place to ensure that the cold chain between the vessel in the port is not broken, even in desert heat.
“Vessels don’t wait for the warehouse to catch up,” he says.
Pallets are scanned in on arrival at sealed docking stations, and are controlled through a real-time stock management system.
Services include blast-freezing and cross-docking. Clients can manage their stock using the system, which includes visual tracking of the cargo from receiving to despatch.
“It is easy to go back and track a pallet through the system,” he says. Designed to be as energy-efficient as possible, the cold rooms are fitted with high-speed doors and additional features to reduce heat loss and improve security.
INSERT
The facility caters for any frozen food product that needs to be stored below -18 degrees Celsius. – Behan van Niekerk
