The Namibian Ports Authority reports a remarkable improvement in the numbers of containers handled, since the beginning of operations at the new container terminal at the port of Walvis Bay, which was about one month ago.
According to Tino !Hananbeb, Commercial Executive at Namport,the new terminal came into force on August 27, 2019, while the container handling facility was officially inaugurated by President Hage Geingob, towards the end of July.
The Commercial Executive said quoted
Throughput for the month of September was 37 percent higher when compared to the average throughput during the first five months of our financial year. Although it is early days yet, this increase is a positive sign of customer confidence in our new facility.
The relocation of the equipment and its operations exceeded expectations, wkith the port in line with the government’s aspiration on making Namibia a logistics hub for the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
According to Informanté, African medium, the Commercial Executive quoted that the Terminal was upgraded and is now equipped with high-tech features, enabling yard and equipment optimization on a real-time basis, on the contrary to today’s conventional style of yard planning and equipment deployment that was time consuming and costly. The ones that are to use the new equipment were submitted to training to improve their knowledge and skills, and be able to use the system effectively from the first day of operations.
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In addition, the terminal is equipped with state of the art Ship to Shore Cranes (STS) with the capacity to exceed quayside productivity levels achieved by Mobile Harbour Cranes. The STS Cranes are supported by rubber tire gantry cranes (RTG’s) inside the container yard which provide improved stacking capacity and efficiency compared to reach stackers previously employed by Namport.
The Commercial Executive also commented the customers’ satisfaction as the changes resulted to minor challenges in the first days of operations, something that Namport was able to resolve in the shortest possible time.
In order to further attract more volumes through Namibian Ports, a concerted effort by all players in the logistics chain is required in order to embrace and implement new technologies and enhance the ease with which customers are able to do business in Namibia, trough transport corridors, providing customers with high productivity levels, affordable pricing, and safety and security of cargo.
The port authority aspires to reach a 20% of increase in corridor volumes; This may be accomplished through the passenger lines that will increase four fold in the year ahead , compared to the 12 passenger ships that visited the harbor in the previous financial year, meaning the tourism industry at the coast will also benefit from the improved facilities.
The Namibian Ports Authority further aims to increase corridor volumes by at least 20%, due to the utilization of the recently completed passenger liner quay increasing the number of passenger vessels that will be able to moor there.
The terminal in particular is constructed on 40 hectares of land reclaimed from the sea and is expected to increase the container handling capacity from 350,000 containers to 750,000 per year.
The expansion aims to support Namibia in establishing the port of Walvis Bay as the preferred port for southern and central African logistics operations on the west coast of the continent, further aiming to form a new chapter in the country’s economic transformation.
