Angola line celebrates centenary voyage

Irving Berlin’s classic song,
“Blue Skies smiling at
me” seemed rather fitting
last week as Meihuizen
International celebrated the
100th voyage of the multipurpose
Blue Sky which
operates between South
Africa and Angola.
The multi-faceted
Cape Town company has
represented the Angola/
South Line since inception
in 1992 and Blue Sky, with
its blue hull and white
superstructure, has become
a permanent fixture,
perhaps the doyen, on the
West Africa trade.
Peter Meihuizen, MD of
Meihuizen International,
told the gathering of clients
representing the likes of
Safcor Panalpina, Tristan
Export, DHL Global
Forwarding, Iscosa and
AMT SA: “We would be
hoping to replace the Blue Sky with a new or newer
vessel early next year , why
not Blue Sky 2?”
Alan Winde, Western
Cape MEC for finance,
economic development and
tourism, said the province
was “100% supportive of the oil and gas industry
focus.
“A lot of people are
already knocking at our
door, asking how they
can bring more logistics,
supply and head office
space to Cape Town.
“Cape Town may not
have oil on its doorstep
but it has the necessary
infrastructure and if we as
government can help you
grow your business, that is
what we want to do.”
Mark Kilbride, ships
agency director for
Meihuizen International,
did some calculations for
FTW, revealing that over
the 100 voyages, Blue
Sky has covered at least
365 000 nautical miles,
carrying approximately
11 000 TEUs, around
2 000 refrigerated
containers and some 95 000
tons of breakbulk cargoes.
“As a segment of our
business Angola South
Line has grown to be a
substantial performer
within our multi-faceted
operations and we expect
it to continue to follow the
growth path of the oil and
gas industry,” he told FTW.
“Our relationship with
Angola is as strong as ever
and we are confident this
will develop further.”
With close on 20 years’
experience in the Angola
South Africa trade, ASL
serves as a niche market
rather than competing
with larger carriers though
competition obviously
exists, which calls for
flexibility and trying to
meet clients’ documentary
and cargo handling
requirements.
Given that ASL calls
primarily at oil industry
terminals rather than
commercial terminals,
congestion is not a factor
for the Blue Sky.
“The problems we
experience on the route
are port infrastructure
limitations which impact
on the size and type of the
vessel that is employed,
weather/sea conditions and
landside logistics.