Leonard Neill
MARITIME CARRIER Shipping's deep sea liner Green Cape berthed in Walvis Bay on May 30, its first direct call from Europe to the port to offload containerised and bulk import cargo since the deepening of the
harbour to 12,8m.
MACS will now continue with a fortnightly service, with other lines currently negotiating with Namport to include Walvis Bay on a
regular schedule basis.
Now the Walvis Bay Corridor Group, of which Namport is a leading player, has made it clear that although this is a major step forward, the Group must aim at increasing and
diversifying the frequency of direct shipping calls from overseas.
In addition, says Group business development
executive Frank Gschwender, the opportunity has now been created for more positive action to be undertaken to step up Namibia's trade dealings with its neighbouring countries.
At a strategic planning workshop held in Windhoek last week, it was agreed that the Group must redress logistical obstacles along the Trans Kalahari Highway at trilateral level involving Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.
These obstacles, says Gschwender, include restrictive border hours, absence of harmonised transit regulations and weekend driving restrictions. Customs procedures at the borders need streamlining, and the feasibility of innovative transport concepts such as extended road trains must also be evaluated, he says.
These issues are to be taken up by the Namibian Departments of Transport and Customs, assisted by
the Associations of Freight Forwarders and Road Carriers. They will be addressed by the tripartite Trans Kalahari Highway Planning Committee which is scheduled to meet for the first time in Windhoek this month.
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