Staff Reporter
A SWAPO Party-linked fishing company, which has brought about chaos and has at some point even led to intervention from President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Hadago Fishing, will have its freezer trawler Venus 1 auctioned on 30 June 2026 after failing to pay back debts and workers’ wages.
In an advertisement placed in local papers on 5 June 2026, the auction of the embattled fishing vessel is set to take place in Walvis Bay, with bidders expected to make an upfront refundable payment of about US$50,000, which is over N$800,000, in order to get a chance to take part in the auction.
The Venus 1, built in 1988, is about 96 metres in length and has a gross tonnage of 4,407 tonnes and is valued at N$65 million.
This auction comes after the High Court ordered the sale of the Venus 1 fishing vessel, after Standard Bank Namibia made a court application to recover millions in unpaid debts from the fishing company.
Hadago Fishing is 45% owned by SWAPO fishing company Gendev Fishing Resources, in which the SWAPO-owned company Guinas Investments is a 96.5% shareholder.
According to court documents, Hadago had secured a loan from Standard Bank Namibia in October 2024.
The bank demanded repayment of amounts of N$18.4 million and N$17.6 million from Hadago Fishing on 10 April 2026; however, these payments were not effected.
Crew members of the Venus 1 had also been placed under arrest through a warrant of arrest that was issued on 9 February 2026. At that stage, the crew members were claiming payment of US$211,556 (about N$3.3 million) in wages from Hadago Fishing.
Further to this, the company was also taken to the High Court by Zambian company Delmare Group Limited, which wants to go to court to stop Hadago from offering about 600 metric tonnes of horse mackerel to the Social Fund of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FSRDC). This is after the Zambian company had allegedly made upfront payments for the horse mackerel catch made on the Venus 1, and claimed that this agreement was breached.
