Marc Rooms, Safmarine
"Fruit and perishable product shippers are more reliant on containers than ever before"
According to Marc Rooms, Safmarine’s Global Head of Reefers, one of Safmarine’s greatest strengths in the reefer market is its ability to offer its customers access to a large, global reefer container fleet thanks to its position as a key member of the world's largest liner shipping group, the A.P Moller Maersk Group.
“Being a part of the APMM Group has not only allowed us to grow our reefer business significantly in the past 14 years, but it has also allowed us to meet the equipment demands of our customers and deliver the type of service the perishables industry needs.
“Today’s fruit and perishable product shippers are more reliant on containers than ever before and we as Safmarine recognise the important role we play in ensuring we provide the market with a reliable, consistent and highly personal shipping service.”
Equipment imbalance can be a challenge on many of reefer-dominant trades and Safmarine’s access to a large global refrigerated container fleet is a particular advantage in this regard. This said, Safmarine also supports equipment availability by looking for opportunities to encourage the return of reefer boxes to high demand areas.
“Safmarine's reefer team is always looking at how we can source suitable cargo for our ‘non-operating reefers’ so they are returned to the demand areas as soon as possible.”
According to Rooms, Safmarine has increased its containerized reefer volumes year on year and is fast emerging as a reputable carrier in a number of the world's containerized reefer trades.
“We have always been seen as the market leader in the Europe-South Africa reefer trade, which continues to be our largest market, but we have also used our decades of experience in the reefer shipping industry to expand our presence around the globe.”
Safmarine’s focus on Africa also extends beyond South Africa. “West, North, East and the Horn of Africa are increasing in export and import potential. Another area of growth is the West and Central Asia – particularly India, Pakistan and the Middle East - given their increasing buying potential.”
Reefer expertise and education is another priority for Safmarine, according to Rooms, who has spearheaded Safmarine’s reefer education programme for more than a decade.
“Having reefer experts at both ends of the supply chain plays a key role in Safmarine's ability to deliver a consistent and reliable service both at source and destination.”
Rooms also expects environmental concerns to continue to influence the reefer shipping business - and sourcing programmes in general.
“In certain markets, seaborne transportation and containers are favoured by environmentally-conscious shippers because the per unit carbon emission/footprint of fruit transported in a container ship tends to be lower than fruit transported by air or road.”
Rooms says all Safmarine reefer containers operate under the QUEST software which enables the unit to save energy by consuming up to 50 percent less electricity.
Another trend which is likely to continue into the future is the sea transportation of high value, perishable commodities previously shipped via airfreight, a trend which gained momentum in 2010 after the ‘ash cloud’ incident in Europe. This was particularly applicable to the Indian pharmaceutical industry.
Safmarine, which is one of the world's leading ocean transporters of perishable products in freight containers, is currently active in the import of all types of refrigerated produce into East and West Africa and in the export of bananas, mangoes, pineapples, fish and vegetables from East and West Africa to Europe and meat and poultry from South America to Europe.
Having successfully shipped thousands of tons of refrigerated cargo across the world, Safmarine is determined to be the carrier of choice for reefer shippers around the globe wanting to transport their cargo safely, efficiently and effectively from point of origin to final point of distribution.
For more information:
Debbie Owen
Safmarine
Tel: + 27 21 788 9962/3
Email: Debbie@communicators.co.za