Unisea receives second breakbulk copper shipment at Walvis Bay harbour
The Namibian Ports Authority last week recorded a significant milestone when the Unisea vessel docked at the Port of Walvis Bay, loading over 8,500 metric tonnes of Copper Cathodes destined for the Port of Panama.
The shipment is the second consignment of copper exported via the Port of Walvis Bay in a breakbulk format as an alternative to containerized export.
The copper cathodes are from the Mopani Copper mine in Zambia and were transported to Walvis Bay via road and loaded onto the Unisea vessel.
Elias Mwenyo, Namport’s commercial services executive, said due to the ongoing global shortage in containers, it has become a phenomenon for shippers to opt for their consignments to be carried by bulk vessels to ensure continuity of operations and less dependency on containers.
“With Namibia’s ports being strategically located along the West Coast of Africa and supplemented by the country’s excellent road infrastructure which is rated number one in Africa, the country continues to play a leading role in the facilitation of trade via our transport corridors serving hinterland markets within SADC,” Mwenyo said.
Namibia has four transport corridors that connects it to other SADC countries namely the Trans Kunene connecting Namibia to Angola, the Walvis Bay Ndola Lubumbashi Development Corridor connecting Namibia to Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Trans Kalahari Corridor connecting Namibia to Botswana and the Trans Oranje corridor connecting Namibia to South Africa.
