TODAY’S BULLETIN OF MARITIME NEWS
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- First View : PATARA
- Africa urged to exploit opportunities in maritime industry
- Market Intelligence platform Xeneta introduces strong NVO commercial team
- Somalia signs Jeddah Amendment on illicit maritime activity
- Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge freight trains commence in January
- Trade and Industry Minister returns from AU meeting
- SITARAIL modernisation between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso underway
- Transnet Port Terminals pays tribute to Madiba
- UKHO revises ENC and ECDIS Maintenance Record
- Expected Ship Arrivals and Ships in Port
- Cruise News and Naval Activities
- Pics of the Day : XIANG RUI KOU & TIAN JING HAO
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Moored at R berth for the Durban Car Terminal at the recent weekend (Saturday) was this vehicle carrier, PATARA (IMO 9491898), without any identifying insignia along her hull or funnel. As pointed out by the photographer, she appears to be named for a Turkish town and port of antiquity, a city that is gets a mention in the New Testament (Acts, ch.21 vs 1) as the place where Paul went to take a ship to Phoenicia. Relatively small as vehicle carriers go (182 metres long x 30m wide) the 47,053-gt Ro-Ro was built in 2012 at the Yangfan Shipyard in Zhoushan, China and for a brief while sailed with the name YANGFAN 2088. Despite this she has a car carrying capacity of 5,000 motor cars. She is now owned and managed by Laeisz Reederei of Rostock, Germany where she is registered and for which she flies the flag of Germany. The owners operate a fleet of eight vehicle carriers, each with intriguing names among a total fleet of 30 ships – one of them being the well-known ice-breaker research vessel POLARSTERN. Patara’s destination after sailing from Durban was shown as being Spain. This picture is by Keith Betts
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AFRICA URGED TO EXPLOIT OPPORTUNITIES IN MARITIME INDUSTRY
President Jacob Zuma says there is a need for Africa to derive value from her maritime industry and develop the oceans economy.
He was addressing the Terminal Operators’ Conference (TOC) Africa being in Durban, which is being attended by experts and investors involved in logistics, liner shipping, ports, terminals, inland transport and equipment manufacturers to discuss improving trade flows across the African continent.
The conference is in line with the country’s policy focus of contributing towards a prosperous continent through, among others, an increase in intra-Africa trade.
He said it was correct that the conference was held…[restrict] in a province which has two of the busiest ports in Africa and the southern hemisphere and sustains a maritime industry that spans sectors such as freight and logistics‚ ancillary maritime support services‚ tourism and leisure‚ marine energy and fishing‚ aquaculture and mariculture. KZN, he said is positioned it as a trade gateway into South Africa and the African region.
Zuma said that South Africa is already promoting the development of its oceans economy sector through the Operation Phakisa Oceans Economy programme.
Operation Phakisa is a fast results delivery programme that was launched in July 2014 to help South Africa implement the National Development Plan, with the ultimate goal of boosting economic growth and create jobs.
“In 2015, the ocean contributed about R60 billion to South Africa’s gross domestic product and accounted for about 397 000 jobs.
“We believe that the future potential of the ocean economy is highly concentrated within marine transport and manufacturing activities, such as coastal shipping, trans-shipment, boat building, repair and refurbishment,” he said.
Turning to industrialisation and sustainable development, the President encouraged Africa to develop its manufacturing capabilities and achieve industrialisation.
“Our region, Southern African Development Community (SADC), has also prioritised industrialisation and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 also prioritises sustainable development for the continent.
“We regard it as our shared responsibility to change the paradox of a rich continent which is endowed with natural resources but which is inhabited by poor people.
“The African peoples need to benefit from the wealth of the continent and it needs to improve their quality of life,” he said.
Also addressing the TOC Africa conference, Transnet Group Chief Executive Siyabonga Gama said the entity wants to be at the forefront of driving regional integration and economic growth which will lead to the creation of jobs and raising the standards of living for all Africans.
“Greater connectivity within the regional freight system is a key objective for Transnet and our flagship project in this respect is the establishment of the Port of Ngqura as a regional a transhipment hub connecting the Indian Ocean subcontinent, South America and the West Coast of Africa.
“We handle in South Africa almost a quarter of Africa’s transhipment shipment volumes and we have set challenging growth targets,” Gama said.
Transnet is also collaborating with development partners and it’s planning to deliver a smart port regional solution that will enhance efficiency and productivity in the regional transport sector by connecting transport operators thus simplifying intricate commercial issues, such as pricing and capacity on the network and making it easier to plan shipments.
Gama said Transnet is starting to make a significant footprint in the continent which will eventually lead to regional integration and lower transport costs.
“It is imperative that business is digitally enabled to meet the high levels of customer expectations to gain a competitive edge and continue to thrive in today’s robust digital economy,” Gama said.
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Sihle Zikalala said the province will continue to improve the Durban port and ensure that the Richards Bay port is also developed.
He said the TOC Africa and exhibition provides a platform for the province to demonstrate its ambitions and cement its position as a key global player.
The world-class trade exhibition and networking conference coincides with big-ticket investment undertakings in the country to expand the capacity of its major commercial ports to support the projected increases of cargo volumes.
The conference is also showcasing to the world the vast array of investment opportunities and capabilities on offer at the world-class ports which also have an established history as the gateway into the rest of Africa.[/restrict]
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MARKET INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM XENETA INTRODUCES STRONG NVO COMMERCIAL TEAM
watch a one minute video clip of Xeneta
Xeneta, the ocean freight rates global benchmarking and market intelligence platform yesterday announced that Paul Mullins, Ronald Plevier and Jocelyn Hansen, shipping industry experts have joined Xeneta to form its NVO commercial team effective immediately.
Paul Mullins, previously senior vice-president at container shipping electronic booking platform INTTRA and a freight forwarding specialist at Agility and DHL, joins Xeneta as the Head of NVO.
Joining Mullins at Xeneta’s NVO team is Ronald Plevier as Director of Business Development. Plevier also spent the past two years at Inttra as regional sales director for European markets and comes to Xeneta with over 20 years of international experience in Sales- and people management in both the Forwarding and Logistics industry as well as in the IT Solution industry.
Xeneta had already hired Jocelyn Hansen as Director of Business Development at Xeneta based in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was with INTTRA for about 16 years in various roles across Denmark, UK, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. In her last role as Global Relationship Director, Account Management at INTTRA, Hansen had overall responsibility for INTTRA’s top international freight forwarders where she built strong relationships across multiple layers and functions.
The three are joining Andreas Leichert, Director Business Development NVO at Xeneta who has been already pushing Xeneta into the freight forwarding industry for the past year. Before Xeneta Leichert was at Catapult International as Commercial Director, Europe.
“I am extremely pleased that we are able to bring such a high-calibre team together coming from different backgrounds and companies. Xeneta has clear goals to further its reach in the freight industry and I believe that our new NVO team together with Andreas Leichert will make this possible. Our main objectives will be to grow the value proposition and awareness of Xeneta in the freight forwarding community as Xeneta continues to introduce new products and target new modes of transport,” says Paul Mullins.
“The NVO sector is critical for the success of Xeneta and therefore we are confident that our new NVO team made up of respected ocean shipping experts will support Xeneta’s growth in the industry. Their strengths in the NVO market, business and sales leadership as well as deep knowledge in supply chain and logistics, will help Xeneta continue its growth and strategy to deliver freight rate intelligence to the entire container shipping industry,” said Thomas Sørbø, CRO, Xeneta.
Xeneta is a leading ocean freight rate benchmarking and market intelligence platform transforming the shipping and logistics industry. Xeneta’s data comprises of over 35 million contracted dry container rates and covers over 160,000 global trade routes optimizing companies’ container rates procurement. Xeneta is a privately held company and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.
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SOMALIA SIGNS JEDDAH AMENDMENT ON ILLICIT MARITIME ACTIVITY
On 4 December IMO announced that Somalia has become the 14th signatory* to the Jeddah Amendment to the Djibouti Code of Conduct – the instrument developed and adopted by countries in the Western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden that has been a key factor in repressing piracy and armed robbery against ships operating in that region.
This Amendment significantly broadened the scope of the Djibouti Code when it was…[restrict] adopted at a high-level meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in January 2017.
The document covers measures for suppressing a range of illicit activities, including piracy, arms trafficking, trafficking in narcotics, illegal trade in wildlife, illegal oil bunkering, crude oil theft, human trafficking, human smuggling, and illegal dumping of toxic waste.
HE Mariam Aweis, Minister of Marine Transport and Ports, Federal Government of Somalia, deposited the instrument with IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim at IMO Headquarters in London on 1 December.
* Signatories are: Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mozambique, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen.[/restrict]
Edited by Paul Ridgway
London
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MOMBASA-NAIROBI STANDARD GAUGE FREIGHT TRAINS COMMENCE IN JANUARY
Freight trains will begin operating along the newly opened standard gauge railway between the port of Mombasa and Kenya’s capital Nairobi as from January.
Kenya Railways Corporation Managing Director Atanas Maina said this week that trials have been underway since last week to iron out any complications and to facilitate the smooth introduction of the goods train services and schedules.
“Since we have set up a…[restrict] process flow, what our teams are doing now is to test how the flow will be so that come January, we have the systems firmed up. We have the contracts in place and we have done trials with the commercial clients so that they can have a feel of the service,” Maina said in an interview with Kenya’s Capital FM.
He said that cargo will be charged at KSh 50,000 per 20 foot container and that it would take an average of eight hours to transit the 472km from the coastal city of Mombasa to the capital, Nairobi. The line’s capacity is for 22 million tons of freight a year, which is estimated to be 40% of the projected Mombasa port cargo in 2035.
The freight (container) trains will carry up to 216 TEUs per train double-stacked on 54 flat wagons and travel at an average speed of 80km/h. An average train will measure 880 metres long.
China has not only built the railway but is also supplying the initial rolling stock of 56 diesel locomotives, 1,620 wagons and 40 coaches for the passenger service.
According to Kenya Railways the freight service will boost business by cutting the cost of transportation from and to the Port of Mombasa.
“For a start, four freight trains are available to provide a daily service between Mombasa and Nairobi,” Maina said.
The new line was inaugurated by President Uhuru Kenyatta on 31 May this year after taking a record five years to build. source: Capital FM[/restrict]
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TRADE & INDUSTRY MINISTER RETURNS FROM AU MEETING
Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies is back in South Africa after attending the 4th African Union (AU) Ministers of Trade Meeting in Niger.
At the two-day meeting held in the capital Niamey, progress was made on the draft agreement establishing the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), as well as the Protocols on Trade in Goods and Trade in Services.
“While there is still outstanding work on some of the draft texts, it is expected that the agreement establishing the CFTA and the Protocol on Trade in Services will be concluded for signature by the AU Heads of State and Government in March 2018. The finalisation of the negotiations on the Protocol on Trade in Goods and its Annexes will continue thereafter,” said the department.
The CFTA establishes an integrated continental market of 1.2 billion people with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of over US$2 trillion that will facilitate the movement of goods and services across the African continent.
This will unlock sustainable growth and…[restrict] development and promote intra-Africa trade. It will also provide preferential access for South African goods and services into the rest of the continent.
Minister Davies emphasised the importance of Africa’s development integration agenda that combines market integration with industrial and infrastructure development.
The Minister said the conclusion of the CFTA will be a significant milestone in Africa’s integration process and the CFTA should promote industrial development and the development of regional value-chains.
The meeting, which was opened by Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou, also received an update on the State of Play in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations in preparation for the 11th Ministerial Conference (MC11).
The meeting agreed on the need for African countries to participate in the conference to ensure that African interests are advanced.
Minister Davies reiterated that the African continent should ensure that the outcomes of MC11 support the economic transformation agenda of the continent as entailed in Agenda 2063 and that African countries should engage to preserve policy space to industrialise.
The WTO MC11 is scheduled to take place from 10 – 13 December 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. source: SAnews.gov.za[/restrict]
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SITARAIL MODERNISATION BETWEEN IVORY COAST & BURKINA FASO UNDERWAY
SITARAIL will spend a total of 260 billion CFA francs including 85 billion in the first phase of the modernisation of the railway between Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso.
Phase 1 covers the railway renovation and should extend until 2021, plus a further 70 billion to acquire and modernise locomotives, coaches and other equipment. Throughout this project the company will be pursuing efforts to substantially increase the freight and passenger transport capacities and to reduce routing delays between the two countries.
The work involves rail replacement, upgrades of…[restrict] safety systems and renovation of stations, bridges, and maintenance workshops.
In addition all rolling stock will be renewed and the fleet expanded. Once the work is completed, it will be possible to transport over 5 million tons of cargo and 800,000 passengers annually.
This ambitious project marks a new phase in SITARAIL’s development. The company says it will leverage its expertise and knowledge of the local environment to provide modern, reliable, high-performance rail services.
According to Eric Melet, CEO of Bolloré Railways, “This project fits into Bolloré Transport & Logistics’ strategy of multimodal investment and transformation of the logistics chain all the way from the port terminal to the final destination. Thanks to the professional commitment of our 1,500 railway workers and our 250 partners and subcontractors both in Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso, SITARAIL is demonstrating its social responsibility. It helps to modernise the strategic infrastructures on which the region’s economic development depends.
The SITARAIL modernization program consists of:
* 853 km of railway tracks to be replaced
* 51 protected level crossings
* 31 railway stations and 50 civil engineering works renovated
SITARAIL is a Bolloré Railways concession managing 1,260km of railroad between Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso. SITARAIL employs 1,500 people and transports 200,000 passengers and 800,000 tons of freight every year. source: Bollore Transport & Logistics[/restrict]
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TRANSNET PORT TERMINALS PAYS TRIBUTE TO MADIBA
Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) staff across the country paid a touching tribute to SA’s former President, Nelson Mandela, on the anniversary of his death on 5 December. This year will mark the fourth year since Madiba’s passing and in memory of their hero, who was the ultimate humanitarian, TPT has been continuing his legacy with their third consecutive year of coordinating the ‘Shoes on Feet’ initiative.
Shoes on Feet is a corporate social responsibility initiative that started at TPT’s regional terminals in 2014 and has since been spearheaded by TPT nationally. The initiative entails TPT staff being encouraged to donate as many school shoes as possible or pledge funds to go towards buying shoes for underprivileged students who attend pre-identified schools.
“This humanitarian initiative captures the spirit of Tata Madiba by promoting active citizenry amongst our employees. We understand the importance of reaching out to communities in need and to make a meaningful difference in the communities we operate in and in particular – in the lives of those less fortunate. Furthermore, TPT has always placed great emphasis on education through a number of our training and development programmes currently in place and this initiative underpins our efforts to create conditions in which education is seen as a priority. As Nelson Mandela once said ‘education is the only weapon that can change the world’, so it is critically important that we do what we can to inspire and motivate these children who are our future leaders to continue going to school and get an education,” said TPT’s CE, Nozipho Sithole.
In 2017 the initiative was launched earlier in the year on Mandela Day in July. Collection jars were also distributed to various terminals and placed in common areas for staff to contribute their small change on an ongoing basis. This was done to try make participation and donations by staff more manageable and hopefully ensure an even greater number of shoes could be purchased through their official shoe partner, Toughees, ahead of the final handover of shoes in the new school year of 2018.
According to Sithole, this year’s Shoes on Feet initiative collection is already on track to surpass the support of previous years. The schools in the various regions that have been identified as beneficiaries to the final collection that is due to end in January 2018 include Yiboni Junior Primary School in the Durban region amongst others identified in the KZN North Coast district, the Eastern Cape region and in the Western Cape.
“Shoes may look like they are not an important essential to others, but to the learners who come from homes who can’t afford them – it symbolises pride and gives confidence to these young learners. It gives students from underprivileged backgrounds an opportunity to succeed in their education while taking comfort in knowing that large companies such as TPT stand behind them,” Sithole said.
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UKHO revises ENC and ECDIS Maintenance Record
The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office has published a revised edition of the ADMIRALTY ENC and ECDIS Maintenance Record (NP133C).
First published in 2014, this publication is designed to help mariners demonstrate compliance with IMO regulations during Port State Control inspections, with easy-to-use checklists and templates to record ECDIS annual performance checks and software maintenance.
For the first time, the record now provides guidance to help bridge crews record and manage cyber risks. This update has been developed in line with guidance published by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), stating that approved safety management systems (SMS) should consider cyber risk management in line with the ISM code before January 2021. NP133C has been revised to help mariners achieve this by providing a checklist to document threats and procedures to mitigate risk to ships.
In February 2017, the IMO also made important clarifications on training requirements for ECDIS, stating that seafarers are not required to take type specific training at designated colleges but that companies are still responsible for ensuring all seafarers employed on their ships are familiarised with ECDIS. To support this, the revised version NP133C now includes checklists designed to document and evidence that ECDIS familiarisation training has been completed, thus helping to ensure evidence can be provided during Port State Control inspections.
Thomas Mellor, head of OEM support and digital standards at the UKHO, commented: “The first edition of NPC133C was published in 2014 and has quickly become an invaluable asset on the bridge for users of the ADMIRALTY Vector Chart Service (AVCS). Shipping’s regulatory landscape is constantly changing and these important revisions to the ENC Maintenance Record reflect that shifting picture. Mariners need to be able to accurately and efficiently follow and record ENC and ECDIS management processes on the bridge. This can make the difference between passing an inspection and being found in breach of regulations, with the significant impact that this can have for the vessel and voyage, including potential detention in port.
“In the wake of the growing cyber-threat to shipping, NPC133C now also provides essential advice on how to mitigate cyber risk through recorded risk assessments in line with the IMO deadline of 1 January 2021 on cyber-security.”
UKHO have also updated their popular ‘Living with ECDIS’ Seminar series to include perspectives on industry initiatives on cyber-security, as well as advice on how owners and operators can ensure that their ships are compliant with upcoming changes to the ISM code.
Details about the updated edition of NP133C are available by CLICKING HERE
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GENERAL NEWS REPORTS – UPDATED THROUGH THE DAY
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EXPECTED SHIP ARRIVALS and SHIPS IN PORT
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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.
You can access this information, including the list of ports covered, by going HERE remember to use your BACKSPACE to return to this page.
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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.
PIC OF THE DAY : XIANG RUI KOU & TIAN JING HAO
Two for the price of one! Cosco’s heavylift carrier XIANG RUI KOU (IMO 5104797) arrived in port at Durban on 20 November to take bunkers and supplies at the South African port. On her deck was the 6017-gt, 127.5-metre long cutter suction dredger TIAN JING HAO (IMO 9549073) owned by CCCC Tianjin Dredging Co that was built in 2009 at the China Merchants Heavy Industry shipyard at Shenzhen as yard number 1111. The heavylift Xiang Rui Kou has an overall length of 216.7 metres and a moulded breadth of 43m. Her deck area measures 177.6m in length x 43m wide and the heaviest lift she has so far undertaken was a 20,550-ton FPSO forebody in 2013, which measured 151-metres long by 54m wide. These pictures are by Trevor Jones
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
“Just as there is no loss of basic energy in the universe, so no thought or action is without its effects, present or ultimate, seen or unseen, felt or unfelt.”
– Norman Cousins
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