Last Thursday, in blustery weather, as sail ropes tapped away against tilting masts, a diverse assembly of stakeholders from the shipping and related services industry holed up against a strong south-easterly wind in one of the Royal Cape Yacht Clubs charter rooms.
Not since 2019 had Freight News , then still officially known as Freight Trading Weekly , held a Thirstys social in the Mother City, and the patrons made sure they made up for lost time.
Folks from the liner trade, landside support logistics, the ports themselves, customs, and cargo clearing all gathered for one of the most cherished gatherings on the social calendar of southern Africas freight industry.
Transnet sent through a strong contingent of executives, including acting port manager Ophelia Shabane, and the private sector was represented by some of the most respected executives from the supply chain sector.
One only had to look at the various brands represented at Thirstys to grasp how popular an event it is: Chapman Freeborn Global Air Charters, CtrlFleet, Afrigo Global Logistics, AGL Group, Pindulo VDM, Armscor, Lee Botti Associates, Stacks Africa, SACO, SA Cargo, Table Bay Cold Storage, Turners Shipping, Freitan Logistics, and EasyClear to name only a few.
This time around, editorial contributors who regularly add insight to Freight News coverage were also well represented.
Basil Hanival of the South African Association of Freight Forwarders stayed until late, and so did Derick Ongansie of the South African Transporters Alliance.
What a great social, Ongansie said. It was really nice to spend some time with so many people from the industry.
Regular Freight News contributor from Berry Donaldson, Clifford Evans, agreed: These socials are always nice. With Covids nonsense now well and truly a thing of the past, I hope we get to do it far more often.
Freight News Features Editor Liesl Venter, who is based in Cape Town, echoed Evans sentiments.
Thirstys has always been a fantastic platform for the industry to engage informally, share insights, and strengthen relationships. Seeing such a strong turnout after a long hiatus shows just how much this event means to the freight and logistics community.
Alyssa Macdonald Chapman Freeborn Global Air Charters, Esta Beets CtrlFleet and Kineta Govender SA Cargo. Basil Hanival Saaff and Derick Ongansie SA Transporters Alliance. Jonathan Mcdonald and Odette van Zyl JLOG International. Daniel Kinghorn Exclusive Logistics Solutions, Lee Botti Lee Botti Associates and Anton Marsh Freight News. Karyn King Kestrel Liner Agency, Olivier Vanreusel Stacks Africa, and Steff Boyd Switch Recruit. Lorraine Mabindisa TNPA, Liesl Venter Freight News Ophelia Shabane TNPA and Andiswa Mesatywa TNPA. Linda van der Pol Freight News, Mariza Fraser Shaka International and Liz Weideman SACO. Eugene Goddard Freight News and Kobie Hyman Umbono Communications. Mndeni Ngcobo SA Cargo and Shatho Manyanda Table Bay Cold Storage and Logistics. Karyn King Kestrel Liner Agency and Sean Petzer ESBD. Linda Newby Turners Shipping and Catherine Harris Freitan Logistics. Natalie Chippendale Teraka and Uven Vengothasamy EasyClear.
Sign up to our mailing list and get daily news headlines and weekly features directly to your inbox free. Subscribe to receive print copies of Freight News Features to your door.