Yara South Africa awards five year contract to Wilhelmsen Ships Service

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

31 Jul 2009

Yara South Africa awards five year contract to Wilhelmsen Ships Service Wilhelmsen Ships Service (South Africa) (PTY) Ltd has signed a significant five year contract with Yara South Africa, one of the biggest fertilizer companies in South Africa. Almost 2 million tons of fertilizer was imported into South Africa in 2008.
Yara, a dominant player in the sale, import and export of fertilizer in South Africa awarded Wilhelmsen Ships Service the contract to provide them with logistics services. These services include agency, clearing and forwarding, shore side supervisory and monitoring, and tally. The supervisory element is the same as Owners Protective agency whereby the company will look after Yara's interest for all shipments such as parcel loads where Yara is not involved in nominating the vessel agent. 
This contract is a significant milestone in a relationship going back many years. Wilhelmsen Ships Service has handled many agency appointments for Yara in the past which slowly developed into offering additional services such as clearing and forwarding. Anton Coetzee, Trade Manager, was instrumental in the signing of this contract. "Working closely with the customer allows us to constantly monitor and review the supply chain, finding better solutions. I am very pleased that Yara is happy with our service,” said Anton.
Prean Pather, General Manager, Wilhelmsen Ships Service South Africa believes that this contract marks the start of a good solid partnership with the customer. “We believe that being customer-centred is one of the key fundamentals to being a shaper in the industry,” said Prean. This is a classic example of how we can work closely with a customer to find better logistics solutions in the supply chain. These relationships take years to build and develop, but once you earn the customer’s trust, you can offer innovative ideas and tailor-made services. We hope to extend our good logistics practice here in South Africa to other ports in East Africa for Yara.”
Sean Roberts, Sales Manager South Africa added, "Yara SA is a major role player in South and East Africa with regard to chartering and movement of cargo. We are extremely proud that they have shown their confidence in WSS to handle and oversee their activities in this tough economic time.”  He continues “We look forward to the years to come where we can continue to build on our relationships and service our customer in a way that we can both grow in our markets."

Source: Wilhelmsen Ships Service