Following the deployment of the three new ''Wafmax'' class ships serving the cocoa trades from West Africa, Safmarine has invested in new trucks and warehousing facilities in Abidjan in Cote d''Ivoire. Best known as a shipping company, Safmarine is also investing in land-side logistics and opened a 10,000 square metre warehouse close to the Port of Abidjan earlier this year.
As Didier Willemse, Safmarine's commodities specialist, explained, given the short seasonal period for shipping coffee and cocoa, customers are looking for increased efficiencies getting the commodities to Abidjan, into containers and out of the port on its vessels. "Our investment in this storage space as well as a specialised stuffing station at the warehouse is designed to aide in that process," he told Port Strategy.
