Africa PORTS & SHIPS Maritime News
TODAY’S BULLETIN OF MARITIME NEWS
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- First View : GRAND COSMO
- Nigerian House of Representatives opens enquiry into maritime industry
- Port of Pemba failing to attract cargo
- NIMASA remains committed to making Nigeria Africa’s leading maritime nation
- Mozambican police identify ringleaders of Cabo Delgado attacks
- Subtech contracted to refurbish Saldanha Fire Pump Station
- Mozambique Mustang graphite export project moves ahead
- Tall ship Dar Mlodziezy arrives in Cape Town for short visit
- EU NAVFOR and Chinese Naval Forces in Gulf of Aden discuss counter-piracy tactics
- Wilhelmsen group delivers a slight increase in top line in the second quarter
- Expected Ship Arrivals and Ships in Port
- Cruise News and Naval Activities
- Pics of the Day : MSC MARS
- The masthead image today (Wednesday) is of Port of Ngqura
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The Panamanian-flagged, Chinese-owned (Hong Kong) 59,217-gt RoRo car carrier GRAND COSMO (IMO 9303182) shown arriving at the port of Lyttelton in New Zealand last Saturday (11 August) to discharge vehicles. Grand Cosmo was built in 2006 and is managed by Cido Shipping HK Co Ltd, originally a Japanese company but with offices in South Korea and now with its HQ in Hong Kong. The RoRo was built at the Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding yard in Toyohashi, Japan and is 199 metres in length and 32m wide. Picture by Alan Calvert
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NIGERIA’S HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OPENS ENQUIRY INTO MARITIME INDUSTRY
Nigeria’s House of Representatives Committee on Ports, Harbours and Waterways this week commenced an investigation into alleged malpractices in the maritime sector, reports Omotilewa Quadri in Ships and Ports http://shipsandports.com.ng
This follows several motions calling for an investigation into alleged malpractices in the maritime sector.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, referred to the allegations raised as weighty, with potential to seriously affect the economy.
He emphasised the importance of an effective maritime sector to the Federal Government’s diversification drive, saying that the Nigerian maritime industry still seemed to be struggling in spite of efforts aimed at repositioning it. He commended the executive arm for improved service delivery and enhanced contribution to economic growth.
He said that despite these efforts, the maritime industry is yet to attain the desired and expected status of becoming the hub for international freight and trade in West Africa.
“In this regard, it has been observed that over the years, the Nigerian maritime industry has failed to attract the required local and foreign investment inflow that is proportionate to its contribution to both the Nigerian and West African economy, despite its great potential and enormous investment opportunities.”
He said it was unacceptable that ports in other West African countries were delivering better and more efficient services than Nigerian ports.
“According to the National Bureau of Statistics in March, Nigeria’s ports dropped down the global ratings basically due to bad infrastructure. Interestingly, major competitors in the West African region, such as the Port of Lome in Togo, Port of Dakar in Senegal, and the Port of Cotonou in Benin Republic, all deliver better efficient services than the Nigerian Ports. This is really not acceptable.”
According to Dogara, some of the reasons why the Nigerian Ports are performing so poorly include bad infrastructure, high cost of doing business and low draught at the major waterways.
“It is our hope that the legislative exercise being carried out through this committee will proffer lasting solutions to these problems,” he said.
Dogara said that stakeholders have pointed out that dredging of the port channels outside of Lagos will increase traffic to the various ports and would increase economic productivity.
“For instance, if we have cargoes going up north to places such as Kaduna, Kano and Maiduguri, such cargoes would not need to go through Lagos, which is already so congested. But for this to happen, the channels of other ports need to be dredged.”
He said that according to reports the Lagos port channel is about 14.5 metres deep, while the Port Harcourt and Calabar channels are less than 10 meters deep, “which limits their capacity to receive big cargo ships. This explains why there is so much congestion at the Lagos Port.”
He said that in order to make the expected progress in the maritime sector, all available resources must be accountably and prudently managed to meet the various demands for improved infrastructure.
He identified inefficient collection and accounting procedures, contract repetitions and payment of huge commissions to service providers compared to remittances into the Federation Account as other factors militating against efficient service delivery in the maritime sector. source: Ships and Ports Nigeria
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PORT OF PEMBA FAILING TO ATTRACT CARGO
The Port of Pemba in northern Mozambique in the province of Cabo Delgado is failing to attract regional businesses into using its facilities, says a report in the national newspaper O Pais.
This is despite recent economic development plus the fact of the port, which was originally named Porto Amélia after the Queen of Portugal, lying in the world’s third largest natural bay. It was renamed in 1975.
The draught alongside the quayside at Pemba is…
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NIMASA REMAINS COMMITTED TO MAKING NIGERIA AFRICA’S LEADING MARITIME NATION
The director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside has re-affirmed the agency’s commitment to achieving Nigeria’s global maritime goals.
Dr Peterside was speaking in Port Harcourt where he gave an assurance that NIMASA would not relax in its efforts to make Nigeria a leading maritime nation.
“We are putting a lot of structures in place to ensure the Agency remains on a sound footing and our efforts have attracted commendation from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and stakeholders within and outside the maritime sector,” Peterside said.
“We can only get better in our…
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MOZAMBICAN POLICE IDENTIFY RINGLEADERS OF CABO DELGADO ATTACKS
Mozambique’s Commander-in-Chief of the Police, Bernardino Rafael says that six men have been identified as the leaders of the men who attacked local villagers in the northern parts of Cabo Delgado province.
The attacks took everyone by surprise and led to comparisons with the militant…
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SUBTECH CONTRACTED TO REFURBISH SALDANHA FIRE PUMP STATION
South African company Subtech has been subcontracted by WBHO Construction to execute the marine components of the Saldanha Fire Pump Station Refurbishment.
The facility was built in the late seventies and has been earmarked by the owners, Oiltanking MOGS Saldanha, for an upgrade for some time.
The marine-based scope of work entails the removal of the existing concrete caisson and intake pipelines, followed by the dredging of the caisson footprint and installing new caissons with SCOUR protection.
This requires the mobilisation of the Ubejane Barge, the Inkwazi support tug, a Dragflow pump, an airlift and a RHIB. The Subtech Team, led by Chris Marais, and comprising twelve personnel members ranging from vessel crew members to divers, will be deployed over a period of three months.
A critical component of the project will involve the receipt of the new caisson, which has an estimated weight in excess of 70 tons. Once placed in the water by WBHO, at a quayside approximately 8 kilometres away from the pump station, the caisson will then be towed to the pump station by the Inkwazi and installed with its base at a depth of approximately 5 metres below sea level.
Once the caisson has been placed, the space between it and the existing pump station will be sealed with grout. A large volume of grout will be placed by means of grout bags around the caisson to serve as scour protection.
The project kicked off in June and is expected to be completed by the end of September 2018. source: Subtech
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MOZAMBIQUE MUSTANG GRAPHITE EXPORT PROJECT MOVES AHEAD
Mustang resources raises US$1.75 million for vanadium graphite project
The Australian mining company Mustang Resources on Sunday announced it has raised US$1.75 million through a private placement to advance the company’s graphite and vanadium project in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.
The company statement revealed that of the 2.4 million Australian dollars raised over ten per cent came from Mustang’s management and directors from Regius Resources (which is majority owned by Mustang Chief Operating Officer Cobus van Wyk and Director Christiaan Jordaan). The other investors are based in Australia, Hong Kong and the United States.
According to Mustang’s managing director Bernard Olivier, “this capital raise is…
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TALL SHIP DAR MLODZIEZY ARRIVES IN CAPE TOWN FOR SHORT VISIT
As reflected earlier in our SHIP MOVEMENT reports for the Port of Cape Town, expect a treat at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront and harbour this morning with the arrival of the Polish Tall Ship DAR MLODZIEZY, which is to berth at No.2 Jetty. CORRECTION: TNPA decided to berth her at the Cruise Terminal instead (E berth) – that is in the Duncan Dock, NOT the V&A!
Her visit is apparently a short one with the ship sailing on Friday but she will be open for visitors today (17h00-20h00) and tomorrow (Thursday) between 10h00 and 13h00.
A parade of the cadets on board will take place on Thursday at 10h00 together with the naval band in attendance.
According to Wikipedia the “ship was launched in November 1981 at the Gdańsk shipyard, Poland, and commissioned for service in July 1982 at Gdynia, thus replacing her forerunner Dar Pomorza. Her home port is Gdynia. The Dar Młodzieży is the first Polish-built, ocean-going sailing vessel to circumnavigate the globe (1987–88), thus repeating the famous voyage of her predecessor (1934–35).”
Also according to Wikipedia Dar Mlodziezy was the first of a class of six, the following five slightly-differing units were built subsequently by the same shipyard for the merchant fleet of the former Soviet Union. Her sister ships are Mir, Druzhba, Pallada, Khersones and Nadezhda.
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EU NAVFOR’s Operation Commander, Major General Charlie Stickland, met Senior Captain Liang Yang, Commanding Officer of the Chinese PLA (People’s Liberation Army) Support Base in Djibouti, onboard EU NAVFOR’s new flagship, the ESPS Castilla on Monday 6 August 2018. There they held discussions on how to…
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WILHELMSEN GROUP DELIVERS SLIGHT INCREASE IN TOP LINE IN THE SECOND QUARTER
The Wilhelmsen group delivers a slight increase in top line in the second quarter, mainly supported by higher operating revenue in supply services. The positive underlying market trends are expected to continue.
The total income for the second quarter was US$222 million, up 5% from the first three months of 2018.
“We note that the positive development in top line in the first quarter continues into the second. Maritime services deliver…
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EXPECTED SHIP ARRIVALS and SHIPS IN PORT
Port Louis – Indian Ocean gateway port
Ports & Ships publishes regularly updated SHIP MOVEMENT reports including ETAs for ports extending from West Africa to South Africa to East Africa and including Port Louis in Mauritius.
In the case of South Africa’s container ports of Durban, Ngqura, Ports Elizabeth and Cape Town links to container Stack Dates are also available.
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CRUISE NEWS AND NAVAL ACTIVITIES
QM2 in Cape Town. Picture by Ian Shiffman
We publish news about the cruise industry here in the general news section.
Naval News
Similarly you can read our regular Naval News reports and stories here in the general news section.
Mediterranean Shipping Company’s 10,055-TEU capacity MSC MARS (IMO 9725122) departs from Durban earlier this month (8 August) after a scheduled call, having featured on a similar visit in our 13 July edition. The 188,000-dwt ship was built in 2016 at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Ltd shipyard in South Korea and is owned by UK interests and managed by Zodiac Maritime Ltd. As can be seen from the marking on her side she was until recently operated by Hyundai Merchant Marine, whose ships have now been dispersed among the fleets of various companies including MSC. MSC Mars is 324 metres in length and 48m wide and has a summer draught of 15.5 metres – too much for Durban at present were she to be fully loaded but that will change in the coming few years as certain berths are deepened. This picture is by Trevor Jones
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
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― Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams
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