The Namibia Ports Authority managed to safely receive 17 RoRos (car carrier vessels) for the past six months to date and while these numbers do not show an increase, these vessels were allowed to dock at the Port of Walvis Bay despite the pandemic.

Most recently, the port recorded 4 RoRos which docked at the Port of Walvis Bay’s quayside in September and 4 more similar vessels are expected to call the Port in the month of October.

The presence of these vessels that are primarily used to convey vehicles in bulk indicates that the market for a vehicle is still favourable in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region.

The most recent RoRo that docked in the Namibian waters is the RRC Compass and discharged a total of 217 vehicles which are destined to different markets within Southern Africa.

With Namibia located at the very strategic location that it is, the country is given a favourable advantage to be a connecting point to other neighbouring land-linked countries such as Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and DRC Congo who make frequent use of the seamless offerings of Namport.

RoRo vessels can berth at designated areas only due to the access ramp that has to be lowered. 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 a crane to load and unload cargo. RoRo 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.

SOURCE: Namibia Economist

https://economist.com.na/56471/wheels-wings/namport-docks-17-car-carrier-vessels-amid-pandemic/