THE Namibian Ports Authority handled 196 271 freight tonnes of vehicles that passed through the port during the last financial year.
This is a 39% increase on 196 271 freight tonnes recorded in 2017/18, which port management attributed to the aggressive marketing of the company's facilities and services.
Immanuel Hanabeb, Namport's commercial executive, on Monday said that the total freight tonnes went to Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Malawi and the DRC.
The rest were for the local market. NMT Shipping, which is the agent for the Glovis Century Roll-on/Roll-off (ro-ro) vessel, recorded their highest load of 558 units in January this year, discharged at Walvis Bay.
Roll-on/Roll-off ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo such as cars, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers, and railroad cars, which are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using a platform vehicle, such as a self-propelled modular transporter.
This is in contrast to lift-on/lift-off vessels, which use cranes to load and unload cargo.
Ro-ro vessels have either built-in or shore-based ramps that allow the cargo to be efficiently rolled on and off the vessel when in port, and can carry up to 5 500 vehicles per load.
Last week, 321 vehicles were discharged from the ro-ro.
Ashton Nash from NMT Shipping said most of the vehicles imported through the port were destined for Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Botswana.
The location of the port of Walvis Bay allows it to provide an easy and fast transit route between southern Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas.
SOURCE: The Namibian
https://www.namibian.com.na/80609/read/Vehicle-imports-increase-at-Namport
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