Walvis Bay: Link To Southern Africa

Namibia’s Walvis Bay Port is emerging as an important shipping and logistics hub in Southern Africa

Namibia’s port of Walvis Bay offers many advantages for importers and exporters, as it is strategically located for trade between southern Africa, Europe and the Americas. The port is a natural gateway for international trade to and from the SADC region to Europe, the Americas and the Far East. Namport’s strategic goal is to consolidate the Port of Walvis Bay as a regional gateway serving as a reliable and efficient interface for imports and exports within SADC, and to and from the west coast of Africa and other sub-Saharan African countries.

Through the Walvis Bay Corridors, the infrastructure and location of the Port make it suitable to serve SADC import- and export bound sea-borne cargo. As such, the Port provides a cost-effective alternative to those in South Africa, which operate at maximum capacity and whose turnaround times on cargo handling are dependent on weather conditions.

In fact, the Port of Walvis Bay is one of Africa’s most efficient and best equipped, with the capacity to handle more than eight million tonnes of cargo. It is linked to Namibia’s air, rail, and road network, making it ideally placed to service landlocked countries in southern Africa, especially through the arteries of the Walvis Bay Corridor Group.

Key benefits of Walvis Bay:
• Strategically located halfway down the Namibian coast, with direct access to the principal international shipping routes

• Established as a regional hub for central and southern Africa.

• Secure, congestion-free, efficient and of world-class standard.

• Turnaround times for offloading vessels vary from 12 to 15 hours for container vessels; 24 to 48 hours for bulk vessels, depending on tonnage and shipment; and between 18 and 20 hours for break-bulk vessels.

• Developed-world infrastructure and equipment, enabling safe and reliable handling of cargo.

• Maximum security measures and procedures are in place, including closed-circuit cameras.

• International Ship and Port Facility Security Code compliant port.

• There are no delays because of weather conditions as the Port experiences temperate weather throughout the year.

• Importing through the port is more affordable, while exports have efficient and affordable access to foreign markets.