Walvis Bay currently showing highest demand in Africa – Piredda

African ports continue to witness unusually high demand, says Simone Piredda, senior trader at Monjasa.

PHOTO: Cargo ship docked in the port of Walvis Bay, Namibia. Getty Images

Piredda says the ongoing Red Sea situation has increased demand in ports across East, Southern and West Africa.

Suspended offshore bunkering in Algoa Bay is another contributor to the heightened demand in West Africa and surrounding areas, Piredda says, adding that other Southern African ports and East Africa have also seen an increase in demand because Algoa Bay is out of play.

Namibia’s Walvis Bay is currently showing the highest demand, according to Piredda.

“Our data shows that Walvis Bay, Namibia, is increasingly becoming a refuelling centre for many vessels rerouting around Cape of Good Hope,” he says.

Monjasa has been among the most active physical suppliers off Walvis Bay in the past month, going by the number of fuel quality samples recorded by ENGINE. Other active players have been Oryx Energies, and to a lesser extent TFG Marine, Vivo Energy and Puma Energy.

Walvis Bay’s location means that little route deviation is needed and offers bunker-only calls offshore and at a designated anchorage.

“We can see that various shippers point to this refuelling location too when releasing comments on the situation.” 

Meanwhile, in East Africa, Mauritius' Port Louis has seen an uptick in demand, Piredda points out.

By Manjula Nair  

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