If you are procuring cargo for the Afungi LNG site (provisions, PPE, construction consumables, reefer goods, equipment), you have two main options out of South Africa: put it on a truck, or put it in a container and sail it. Both work. Neither is always right. The decision turns on cargo type, volume, urgency, and a set of operational realities that are changing fast in 2026.
This is not a theoretical exercise. The Mozambique LNG project is ramping toward 17,600 workers at Afungi by year-end. Every week that site needs feeding, equipping, and supplying. The logistics model you use now will either scale with that growth or break under it. Getting the mode decision right, with the right partner locked in early, matters now.
The road haulage reality in 2026
Road freight from South Africa to Afungi means trucks out of Johannesburg or Durban, crossing into Mozambique at Lebombo/Ressano Garcia, then continuing north through Maputo, Beira, and on toward Pemba and the N380 corridor to the Afungi peninsula. That is approximately 2,700 kilometres of road, with two major border crossings and a final leg through road infrastructure that has been subject to flood damage as recently as February 2026.
The cost structure for road freight is broadly predictable in theory and wildly variable in practice. The South African Road Freight Association flagged rising transport costs in March 2026 driven by fuel price increases, and fuel surcharges remain a significant floating component of every invoice. Border waiting times can run from half a day to several days at peak periods, pushing the total door-to-site transit time for road freight to Afungi to typically 7 to 12 days from Johannesburg under normal conditions, and considerably longer when border volumes are high or road conditions degrade.
For single, urgent loads that cannot wait for a sailing schedule, road haulage retains a role. For oversized project cargo that cannot be containerised without costly disassembly, road is sometimes the only option. But for the bulk of what a major LNG construction site needs, reefer goods, provisions, PPE, consumables, containerisable equipment, road haulage carries a cost and reliability penalty that compounds at scale.
What the sea freight route actually looks like
Sea freight on this route means loading at a South African port (typically Durban or Richards Bay), transiting north along the Mozambique channel, and discharging at either Pemba for transhipment or directly at the Afungi Material Offloading Facility. WFL operates a dedicated bi-weekly cabotage service on this corridor, connecting South African ports to Afungi with scheduled sailings and confirmed capacity.
The Port of Maputo is the key pivot point. In 2025, Maputo handled a record 32 million tonnes of cargo, a 3.4% increase on the prior year, with an average vessel waiting time of just 4.5 days in March 2026, compared to 17.2 days at Beira. DP World's $165 million expansion of the Maputo container terminal, currently underway, will double annual throughput capacity from 255,000 TEU to 530,000 TEU by the end of 2026, with berths deepened to 16 metres and three new ship-to-shore gantry cranes added. For reefer cargo specifically, the expansion brings over 700 reefer plugs online, directly addressing what has historically been a capacity constraint for cold chain operators servicing the LNG site.
Sea freight transit time from Durban to Afungi, including the Maputo call, typically runs 7 to 10 days port-to-port. That is broadly comparable to road in good conditions, and considerably faster than road when border delays or infrastructure disruptions occur. The critical advantage of sea freight at volume is not just cost. It is predictability. A confirmed sailing schedule removes the variability that makes road haulage difficult to plan around at the scale of a 17,600-person construction site.
The cost comparison: where sea freight wins
Direct rate comparisons are difficult to publish because both modes vary significantly by cargo type, volume, and market conditions. But the structural cost drivers are clear.
Road haulage to Afungi carries fixed costs (vehicle, driver, tolls) plus a large fuel-variable component over a 2,700 km haul. For a standard 20-foot equivalent load, the all-in cost from Johannesburg to Afungi by road, including border fees and last-mile delivery, typically runs at a significant premium over the equivalent sea freight rate for the same consignment. That gap widens as volumes increase, because sea freight benefits from container consolidation and economies of scale in a way that road haulage cannot replicate. A ship carrying 20 containers to Afungi is not 20 times more expensive than a ship carrying one.
For reefer cargo, perishable provisions, medical supplies, temperature-controlled consumables, the sea freight advantage is even more pronounced. Refrigerated trailers on a 2,700 km road haul in the Mozambican climate carry significant breakdown and fuel risk. A reefer container on a scheduled sea service, plugged into ship power for the duration, arrives in better condition with a lower risk of cold chain failure.
Where road haulage still makes sense
Road freight retains genuine advantages in specific scenarios. Urgent, small loads that cannot wait for the next sailing, such as emergency parts, time-critical medical supplies, or urgent personnel effects, often justify the premium. Heavy oversized project cargo, such as large structural steel sections or wide-load machinery that exceeds standard container dimensions, may require road transport for the overland leg even when sea freight is used for the main haul.
Last-mile delivery from Pemba to the Afungi site will always involve road transport regardless of the primary mode. The distance from Pemba port to the Afungi MOF is roughly 120 kilometres, manageable with the right logistics partner and an understanding of local road conditions on the N380 corridor, which has been subject to seasonal deterioration and the residual effects of recent flood damage.
The bigger picture: port infrastructure is improving, but so is demand
The logistics environment around Afungi is changing rapidly and not uniformly. Port infrastructure at Maputo is being upgraded at meaningful scale: the DP World expansion, a new North-South rail office, the $110 million Dondo dry port near Beira. These investments will progressively improve the sea freight option for Afungi-bound cargo over the next 18 months. A new Cabotage Maritime Transport Regulation for Mozambique is also nearing approval and will formalise the rules under which coastal freight services like WFL operate, providing greater regulatory certainty.
At the same time, demand is accelerating. The Afungi workforce is heading toward 17,600 by year-end, and if ExxonMobil reaches its Rovuma LNG final investment decision in the second half of 2026, the combined site population could ultimately exceed 30,000. That scale of demand has a straightforward implication: logistics capacity will be constrained. Procurement teams that lock in sea freight commitments with a reliable operator now, before the Q3 2026 mobilisation peak, will be better positioned than those scrambling for capacity later in the year.
Key Takeaways
- For regular resupply volumes above one TEU, sea freight via Maputo is the structurally lower-cost option: predictable schedule, better reefer reliability, and no exposure to the fuel surcharge volatility that makes road haulage invoices hard to budget.
- Maputo Port's $165M expansion (completing end 2026) will double container throughput to 530,000 TEU and add 700+ reefer plugs, directly improving the cold chain option for Afungi resupply while Beira continues to manage 17-day vessel waiting times.
- Lock in capacity before the Q3 2026 mobilisation peak. With Afungi heading to 17,600 workers and Rovuma LNG FID expected in H2 2026, logistics capacity on this corridor will tighten materially. Operators who secure a committed bi-weekly sea freight slot now will have the planning certainty that ad hoc road haulage cannot provide.