Ed Richardson
THE INTRODUCTION of a direct weekly named-day service between East London and Europe is creating new opportunities for exporters and importers based in the city.
Up to now exports from the East London area have had to be routed through Durban or Port Elizabeth.
The new service, which is a joint venture between shipping companies Safmarine and Deutsche Afrika-Linen (DAL), offers an 18-day turnaround between East London and Bremerhaven. Bremen is the European centre of production for the Mercedes Benz C Class passenger car.
Safmarine Eastern Cape area manager Dave Kirkman says the service was introduced to cater for the traffic to the DaimlerChrysler plant in East London, which is the sole source of right-hand-drive Mercedes Benz C-Class cars for the DaimlerChrysler group.
The basis for the service is the supply of containerised components for the vehicles, which are assembled in East London and then exported on Ro-Ro vessels and in containers.
Portnet is projecting exports of up to 25 000 vehicles and imports of up to 15 000 passenger and commercial vehicles through East London for 2001.
The local port authority says the spare capacity on the return leg of the container vessels creates new opportunities for exporters.
The port's aim is to get the majority of cargo manufactured in our region exported via the port of East London as opposed to having it transhipped or railed to other ports, says spokesman Terry Taylor.
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