FAMOUS Pacific Shipping (South Africa), a global logistics and NVOCC network, has opened a new office in Cape Town, a five-minute drive from the city's port.

The company, has moved to the Waterkant district, adjacent to Cape Town's port which is undergoing a R800 million (US$120 million) expansion programme.

"Although based in Durban, South Africa's largest port, we have had a presence in Cape Town since we started," said Jacqui Etschmaier, managing director of FPS SA.

"With overall traffic through Cape Town expected to grow by 3.5 per cent this year to 480,000 TEU we knew we had to expand our presence to meet customer demands.

"Future expansion in Cape Town port will cater for the much larger container vessels expected to call after 2007. Trade to and from Southern Africa is growing steadily. As the South African member of the Famous Pacific Shipping group, we want to ensure that we can meet the needs of our partners in the network, as well as their customers," she continued.

Ms Etschmaier added that with a new presence in Cape Town, Famous Pacific Shipping is now ideally placed to help shippers that use this gateway for markets in southern Africa.