Demands of perishable sector underpin schedule re-engineering

THE CONTAINER share
of fruit exports is now
at a “critical level” with
conventional shipping
acquiring less capacity,
according to Antwerpbased
Safmarine CEO Ivan
Heesom-Green.
“We clearly see this
as a partnership with
fruit exporters so we are
investing even more in that
sector,” he told FTW in
Cape Town last week.
Heesom-Green says
Safmarine is adding a
seventh vessel to the SA
- Europe Container Service
(Saecs) schedule this
month, after realising the
six ships on the service
were unable to provide
sufficient reliability.
He believes the addition
will enable Safmarine to
load an additional 100
reefer plugs on Saecs
sailings.
“This month, we are
taking delivery of new 2
500 teu ships with a lot of
plugs in the Middle East
and it is pretty much the
same with the Asia trade.
“In the US we added
an eighth vessel about
18 months ago so we are
doing as much as we can.”
Heesom-Green says
hopes are high for a good
fruit season (December to
August) as was the case last
year.
Safmarine chairman
Eivind Kolding said the
perishable sector was a
major revenue contributor
for the carrier.
“It is a core focus
for us and we know the
requirements of the
industry and do all in our
power to manage as well as
we can.
“We need to be very
close to them in order to
understand that we have to
have the right equipment
in place at the right time.
Having equipment all over
the place would be too
expensive for us.”