Importers of second-hand cars are strongly advised to take out marine insurance, says Caren Jacobs, manager of NMT International in Wa lv i s Bay.Although there is only a small percentage of vehicles that are damaged or have parts and components removed, the risk remains.Marine insurance costs around 0.03% of the value of the vehicle.The NMT Group specialises in the worldwide shipment of cars, trucks, trailers and all other self-propelled or rolling cargo.In Walvis Bay it handles mainly used passenger vehicles, trucks, construction vehicles and agricultural equipment bound for Namibia and neighbouring states.Namport provides a secure staging area within the port precinct for all vehicles.Most of the passenger and commercial vehicles are imported from Great Britain. New vehicles coming through the port include trucks for Angola, and Toyota and Land Rover and Jaguar models for Zambia.All new vehicles are surveyed and photographed when they are loaded, and again on arrival.While there is strict control on board, the risk to importers is that the ro-ro vessels call on a number of smaller ports where security is often lacking. NMT agents are on hand at most of the bigger auctions to assist with the shipping arrangements, but are not involved in the vehicle transaction.
