A milestone has been achieved with TransNamib moving the first shipment of Northern Cape manganese from Ariamsvlei to Luderitz on the 02 August 2019. The train departed Ariamsvlei on Thursday 01 August 2019 and arrived at the port of Luderitz and the cargo consisiting of 520 tons were offloaded Saturday, 03 August 2019.
This is the first major movement of cargo on this route, especially after the rehabilitation and upgrade of the railway line between Aus and Luderitz, which has not been operational for more than 20 years since 1998.
TradePort Namibia, approached TransNamib in 2018 to start shipping their bulk manganese originating from the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, by rail through the Port of Luderitz, for export to various overseas markets. This is part of the solution to provide the required Pit-to-Port logistics solution and gave an undertaking to provide a minimum of 30,000 metric tons of manganese concentrate per month for this route.
Various stakeholders such as Namport, Ministry of Works & Transport as well as Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and SME Development were part of the rate offer negotiations made to the customer, which was concluded this year in May.
With the issuing of their Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC), which compelled the customer to have enclosed storage warehouses at both Ariamsvlei and Luderitz, preparations were afoot to start with the very first rail shipment of these manganese, pulled by two (2) multiple locomotives with 20 wagons loaded with 26 tons each of manganese due to current railway infrastructure limitations.
This national project has seen TransNamib recruiting more than 150 people, as part of our commitment and dedication to uplifting the unemployment situation in the country. A lot of spinoff business activities are expected to be generated out of this new business venture, especially in Ariamsvlei, Keetmanshoop, Aus and Luderitz.
Manganese is a transition metal with important industrial alloy uses, particularly in stainless steels. TransNamib is proud to be part of this operation.