By Petronella Sibeene WALVIS BAY Considering the importance of water transportation with regard to development, President of Singapore Sellapan Ramanathan has invited the Namibia Ports Authority (Namport) to soon visit Maritime and Port of Singapore, a move that might see the two forming a partnership. Impressed by the operations of Namport and the efficiency of Walvis Bay port, the Singaporean president noted he would brief the Maritime and Port of Singapore authorities on possible collaboration with Namport. Ramanathan, who visited Namport over the weekend, reiterated that the two ports have similarities and as such he would carry the message to the relevant authorities in his home country for possible future partnership with Namport. Accompanied by an entourage of business executives, Ramanathan revealed they were interested in infrastructure investment. He invited Namport to visit Singapore. Singapore port deals with facilities and terminals that conduct maritime trade handling functions in Singapore’s harbours. Currently, it’s the world’s busiest port in terms of shipping. It handles a quarter of the world’s shipping containers including half of the world’s annual supply of crude oil. Briefing Ramanathan and his entourage about the port, Namport’s Manager for Marketing and Strategic Business Development, Jerome Mouton, explained that Walvis Bay port has grown in the past few years with 3 000 ship calls per annum. Centrally located, its position is strategic which has enabled the port to serve as a natural gateway for international trade from the SADC region to and from Europe and America. The port handles 22 containers per hour and is the second best in Africa after Mauritius. Mouton also said that the port is efficient and the turnaround time is competitive with the handling times for container vessels of around 12 to 15 hours. “The Port of Walvis Bay is a congestion-free port with minimum delays. The port currently handles 3 million tons and operates at 65% of its capacity,” he added. It carries a low risk in respect of insurance with no pilferage. Also responding to Ramanathan’s inquiry on repair facilities, Mouton explained that the port has a thriving ship repair facility – the synchrolift. With a capacity of 2 000 tons displacement, 80 metres in length overall and 12 metres in width, a wide range of ships are able to save valuable steaming time by using Walvis Bay for dry docking and repairs instead of going to Cape Town. The synchrolift handles about 50 vessels per month. He also told New Era that the facility has been operating at 85% of its capacity. Approval has now been granted to extend the facility since a demand exists for ship repairs, especially for larger fishing and other ocean-going supply vessels. Being one of the few privileged countries in Southern Africa to have a coast, Namibia has signed agreements that would allow landlocked countries such as Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana to make use of Walvis Bay for exports and imports. Mouton says Namport is currently promoting links that have contributed to the growth of the port. Since the commissioning of the Zambia-Namibia Bridge three years ago, the Trans-Caprivi Corridor has experienced a gradual increase in cargo. Zambia has identified this route as viable with the World Food Programme importing, via Walvis Bay port, 10 000 tons of peas, grain and rice from the United States of America last year only. Similarly, the Trans-Kunene link has become busy especially that the Angolan economy is growing. “About 120 trucks of consumer goods go to Oshikango every day,” Mouton said. Generally, there is positive growth in corridor cargo volume. Figures indicate that yearly volumes on the Trans-Kunene Corridor has witnessed an increase of more than 72 % with its cargo volume going up from 5 032 to 8 690 tons. Due to that, Namport has expanded its storage facilities given the increasing demand to store transit cargo destined for other Southern African countries. The cargo volumes along the various corridor routes have significantly increased during the past two years and has spearheaded the need for increased capacities along the Trans-Caprivi, Trans-Kalahari and Trans-Kunene corridors. Recently, Namport erected a total of five new sheds each with an undercover storage capacity of 1 000 square meters. Each of these sheds has a length of 96 metres, 20 metres’ width and height restriction of 10 metres. Statistics recorded in the previous year (2005/2006) show that corridor volumes have grown by more than 55% on tonnage compared to the previous year (2004/2005). “We want to become a smart port,” concluded Mouton.