ERITREAN SHIPPING LINES - ASMARA

Introduction
Eritrea, endowed with 1200 kilometers of coastline and sitting along the busiest shipping lane in the world, is geographically a seafaring nation. Since earliest times Eritrea's two famous ports Massawa and Assab have been the gates to the greatest parts of the horn region. Because of successive colonial rules, however, Eritrea did neither have the opportunity to administer its two ports and its coastline nor did it own or manage its own ships. It is in 1991 that the country regained its independence and only then did it have the chance to avail of the fruits of sea trade.

The formation of the Eritrean Shipping Lines goes way back to the early 1980s when the Eritrean People's Liberation Front ( EPLF ) purchased and managed in 1982 an ocean going vessel the m.v. Angelos, a vessel of a 710 tons deadweight, to boost its clandestine activities, subsequent to its earlier usage of several wood made dhows of various loading capacity ranging from 20-200 tons. During the armed struggle sea transport was a life blood activity till the liberation in 1991. In 1990, immediately following the liberation of Massawa, a second vessel the m.v Salam with a deadweight of 3160 tons was purchased. Both vessels played a significant role in providing logistical support to the EPLF during the final years of the 30 years old armed struggle.

With the birth of Eritrea as a free country, the Eritrean Shipping Lines was formally established as a business entity, in October 1992. To meet the challenges of serious competition the company bought a tanker named Beilul in March 1992 and a modern RoRo/LoLo vessel in July 1996, thereby increasing its feel to four. The RoRo vessel was named Yohana meaning Greetings. And now due to increasing demand a general cargo vessel Denden was bought in January 1999.


Objectives of the Eritrean Shipping Lines
1. To raise profit and to help the economy through its hard currency earnings.
2. To promote the country's foreign trade by carrying its exports to foreign ports.
3. To encourage local exporters and importers by offering them attractive freight rates payable either in foreign or local currency.
4. To train its nationals at a merchant marine academy and employ them as trained seamen, thereby contributing to the creation of employment in this sector.
5. Promote the country's maritime activity.


Management
The Eritrean Shipping Lines is wholly owned by the P.F.D.J. however the company
has a full managerial, operational and financial autonomy.


Company Organization
The Eritrean Shipping Lines is organized in such a way that it is divided into 4 departments directly under the General Manager; the operations, technical and supplies, finance and administration department. The company has also two area branches in Massawa and Assab. It has also subsidiaries, a workshop in Massawa providing technical repair support for vessels and performing other repair services for the general public.


Personnel
The company has a total of 199 employees, comprising of 47 management and clerical staff stationed at the head office in Asmara, at branch offices in Massawa and Assab and at an overseas office and 113 seamen working on board ships in different ranks. The rest of the employees are technicians and mechanics in the company's Massawa workshop. Except for 3 crew members on mv Yohana and 8 on mv Denden all employees are Eritrean nationals.

The company has qualified shore based and ship board managerial personnel and officers who have acquired their skill from long years of services in the sector.



 
Fleet

Yohana RoRo/LoLo type
3,340 deadweight - Built 1979 Germany
319 TEU - Cranes 2 x 25 tons

Salam General Cargo type
2,910 deadweight - Built 1971 Norway
Derricks 1 x 10, 3 x 5 tons

Angelos General Cargo type
715 deadweight - Built 1970 Denmark
Derricks 2 x 5 tons

Beilul Motor tanker
3,160 deadweight - Built 1979 Germany

Denden General Cargo type
8,626 deadweight - Built 1977 Japan
Cranes 5 x 16 tons


 

Cargo Transported
The majority of cargo transported by the company's vessels is for Eritrean import includes construction materials such as steel bars, iron tubes, plywood, asphalt in drums, vehicles, trucks, PVC pipes, chemicals and other personal effects. These cargoes could e in break bulk, in containers or other forms of packaging. The company has also purchased 100 containers for use by its customers on rental basis and has already introduced them in its various lines. Export cargo by company's vessels include iodized salt, sorghum and various other commodities.

Routes
The Eritrean Shipping Lines uses the ports of Massawa and Assab as its bases and presently serves the Red Sea ports of Jeddah, Gizan, Port Sudan, aden, Hodeidah,
Djibouti and also Dubai and Sharjah in the Gulf and Mombassa and Dar Es Salaam in East Africa. The company provides also services from Hamburg and Antwerp to Massawa.


Conclusion
The company and the nation are literally new and young. However following the demand and the competition of the market, company offers to its customers modern and professional shipping services.

Eritrean Shipping Lines
Semaetat Ave. no. 74/3
Tel : 291-1-120359 / Fax : 291 1 120331
email ersl@eol.com.er
P.O. Box 1110
Asmara, Eritrea

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