Since April 28, the Port of Beira, which in October will be 25 years under the management of Cornelder de Moçambique (CdM), has had another shipping line, Gold Star Line (GSL), an Asian corporation based in Hong Kong.

The first vessel of this new line, the Contship Ono, docked at the Port of Beira last Friday at around 10:00 am.

GSL will provide containerized cargo transport services linking the Port of Beira to the Far East, via Southwest Asia, through Singapore and Mauritius.

In this first phase, the Asian corporation will also operate every two weeks and may later dock its ships once a week.

The deputy managing director of Cornelder Mozambique, António Libombo, who welcomed the crew of the Contship Ono and its agent, Diamond Shipping Services, said that the fact that the Port of Beira had recently been classified by the World Bank as the best port in the southern region in terms of containerized cargo performance, would have boosted the entry of the new shipping line, as "this international recognition made the negotiation process that we had been doing for years easier and which has now come to fruition".

"For the last six years, we have been trying to attract new lines and finally, after a lot of work and a great deal of commitment in the commercial area, we were able to attract Gold Star Line, which is an Asian line based in Hong Kong. This is a great achievement, as we will be able to offer more and better services and also higher quality to our customers, both in Mozambique and in the region," said António Libombo.

The entry of the new line comes in response to the desire of operators who "have been clamoring for more shipping lines in the Port of Beira for a long time".

The deputy managing director of Cornelder de Moçambique also revealed that "we are currently negotiating another new shipping line, with an international dimension, which will be an excellent gain for the country and the region", adding that "a new line brings many advantages, makes the corridor more competitive and customers have more options in terms of shipping lines and also destinations for their export products".

GSL is the fifth shipping line to operate in the Port of Beira in addition to MSC, PIL, MAERSK and CMA-CGM, which were already operating in the Port of Beira.

It should be noted that the Container Terminal at the Port of Beira is one of the most modern in the southern African region and has modern computerized management systems produced in-house, such as CDMS, C-Gate, CommTrac, which aim to meet specific needs and integrate the Navis N4 system, which is considered the most advanced in the world port industry. (Information Note)