New international container line to call at Walvis Bay

WALVIS BAY – Maruba Container Lines has announced a new feeder service, which will be calling at the Port of Walvis Bay.

The Business Development Officer for the Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG), Agnetha Mouton, said in a statement issued on Wednesday that the service originates from the Far East and calls at major Chinese ports such as Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao, Xiamen and Shekou, and connects to the main ocean carrier vessel in Port Kelang, Malaysia, on a weekly basis to Durban for trans-shipment into Walvis Bay, and further onto the ports of Douala, Libreville and Point Noire. ‘The other ports along this route will be called on in an inducement basis’, she added.Mouton said the majority of the consignments on the shipping line consist of Chinese chemical and electronic goods, textiles destined for Angola, as well as machinery, second-hand vehicles and trucks. ‘The Maruba feeder service is a multi-purpose service and includes break bulk and containers, which is ideal to accommodate project cargo,’ she added.She said with the increase in direct shipping connections to the Port of Walvis Bay, it has become important that more feeder connections are established at the port to move the large number of trans-shipment containers between the Port of Walvis Bay and other ports in the region. ‘During the past four years, the Port of Walvis Bay has increased its role as a trans-shipment port, serving the markets of southern and west Africa,’ Mouton noted. ‘At the same time, the Port of Walvis Bay has capitalised on the increased international direct sailings to this port to grow the corridor volumes serving the hinterlands such as Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Gauteng region in South Africa, Zambia as well as Zimbabwe,’ she added.Maruba Container Lines is represented by Novaship Namibia in Walvis Bay. -Nampa