
TODAY’S BULLETIN OF MARITIME NEWS
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- First View : BOKALIFT 1
- Durban under threat from rival African ports but competition will benefit shippers
- Congestion and delays at Port of Cape Town
- New equipment helps upgrade Tema dry dock
- SA Agulhas returning from Antarctica
- Anadarko’s Rovuma Basin natural gas project still under evaluation
- Belt and Road Initiative to promote Southeast Asian economy
- Woman missing overboard from Carnival Cruise ship, another dies from fall off balcony
- PRESS RELEASE-Liberia opens state-of-the-art maritime training institute
- Expected Ship Arrivals and Ships in Port
- Cruise News and Naval Activities
- Pics of the Day : NAVIGATOR CERES
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The heavylift carrier BOKALIFT I (IMO 9592850) outside Cape Town harbour in Table Bay last week. The 2012-built, 48,312-dwt heavylift carrier is registered in Cyprus where her owners are also listed, but the ship is managed by Boskalis CTD-Offshore BV of Papendrecht, Netherlands. This picture is by Ian Shiffman
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DURBAN UNDER THREAT FROM RIVAL AFRICAN PORTS BUT COMPETITION WILL BENEFIT SHIPPERS

Durban is still the dominant container port in Sub-Saharan Africa, but its status as the gateway into Africa is under threat from rivals such as Namibia’s Walvis Bay Port and Mozambique’s Maputo Port, with Beira also lining up as a contender.
“Although Durban is one of the busiest container terminals in the region, it will start losing dominance as capacity and reliability in other ports serving the region improve,” says Trudie Nichols, partner in the Litigation Practice and Ports, Transport and Logistics Sector at pan-African law firm Bowmans’ Durban office.
Through the Walvis Bay Corridor Group, Walvis Bay is making good progress in providing the key components of a top container port: efficient port infrastructure plus hinterland connectivity and logistics corridors.
These are crucial in reducing the costs of transporting goods to landlinked African countries such as Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. “Average transport costs represent about 19% of the value of imports for landlinked developing countries compared with a world average of 15%,” she says.
Container ports that can reduce the “economic distance” through effective connectivity and corridors, especially rail and high-quality roads, would be in prime position to attract shipping trade. As Nichols puts it: “Ship-owners always choose the most efficient ports through which to get goods to the country of destination.”
Competitive pressures grow
Technically, a land-linked country such as Zambia could easily be served by Durban, Walvis Bay or Maputo. “At this point, the port of call for shippers is Durban but that could change given the competitive pressures from other ports.”
She points out that Durban ranks 63rd in the world in the Lloyds list of container ports 2017. While this is currently the highest ranking of any container port in Sub-Saharan Africa, its position so far down the list shows there is room for improvement. Port inefficiencies coupled with non-competitive pricing make it vulnerable to competition.
The major shipping companies have fleets consisting of hundreds of vessels, so if just one were to switch to another African gateway port, the effect on Durban would be significant.
However, infrastructure alone does not guarantee business, says Nichols. “The whole logistics chain must be more competitive than the alternative. Competitive pressures will encourage port and terminal operators to maximise their efficiency and pass on those efficiency gains to their clients, shippers and shipping lines.”
A key factor in this competitiveness is seamless connectivity from ports to inland destinations. This can be extremely challenging – and time-consuming – to achieve if every cross-border connection has to be individually negotiated at government level. “South Africa has finalised a rail corridor agreement with four other countries and it took two to three years to conclude,” says Nichols.
The situation could be very different when governments are part of international agreements such as the World Trade Organisation’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), she says.
Governments slow to ratify key agreement
The TFA came into effect in February 2017 and addresses the challenges landlinked countries have in moving goods across borders efficiently and effectively. While a few African countries such as Kenya and Zambia ratified the agreement as early as 2015, others have been slow to follow.
“South Africa only ratified the agreement on 30 November 2017,” says Nichols, adding that approximately 40 other African countries have not yet ratified the TFA, including Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
“The TFA sets out procedures for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods across borders, with a view to reducing costs while at the same time ensuring safety and security of trade goods through efficient compliance controls. It has the potential to significantly reduce trade costs for import, export and transit procedures if implemented in full.”
The sooner African governments ratify and implement trade facilitation agreements such as the TFA, the sooner all countries in the region could start reaping the benefits. “Unfortunately, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link and an international agreement is only effective if it is ratified.”
About Bowmans
Bowmans is a leading Pan-African law firm, which has a track record of providing domestic and cross-border legal services in the fields of corporate law, banking and finance law and dispute resolution, which spans over a century.
With 400 specialised lawyers, Bowmans is differentiated by its geographical reach, independence and the quality of legal services it provides. The firm delivers integrated legal services to clients throughout Africa from six offices (Cape Town, Dar es Salaam, Durban, Johannesburg, Kampala and Nairobi) in four countries (Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda).
Bowmans works closely with leading Nigerian firm, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie, which has offices in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt, and has strong relationships with other leading law firms across the rest of Africa. It is a representative of Lex Mundi, a global association with more than 160 independent law firms in all the major centres across the globe.
Clients include corporates, multinationals and state-owned enterprises across a range of industry sectors as well as financial institutions and governments.
Bowmans expertise is frequently recognised by independent research organisations. The firm has been named African Legal Adviser by DealMakers for the last three consecutive years and South African Law Firm of the Year for 2016 by the Who’s Who Legal. Most recently, Bowmans won the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Team of the Year Award at the prestigious African Legal Awards hosted by Legal Week and the Corporate Counsel Association of South Africa in 2017. The firm was also ‘highly commended’ in the African Law Firm of the Year – Large Practice and Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year categories.
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CONGESTION AND DELAYS AT PORT OF CAPE TOWN

Several reports have been received of delays and rising congestion at the Port of Cape Town.
Some of these, for example the delayed departure of the MSC Cruise ship MSC SINFONIA for Durban last week, was a result of inclement weather – in this case strong winds that closed the port.
MSC Sinfonia had concluded a short season of cruise out of Cape Town and was returning to Durban to continue cruises along the KZN and Mozambique coasts. The ship had transferred to Cape Town after returning from is New Year cruise between Durban and Mauritius, where the ship avoided Cyclone Berguitta by a matter of about a week.
As a result of the port closure last week MSC Sinfonia was a day late arriving back in Durban which has to be absorbed by one of her subsequent cruises to Mozambique.
Meanwhile, container delays have been experienced also at Cape Town. In one example brought to Africa PORTS & SHIPS‘ notice, the container vessel EVER DECENT voyage 114W arrived at Cape Town on 11 December but could only secure a berth on 22 January, raising questions from agents about why it has taken 11 days to secure a berth at the Tavern of the Seas.
Do readers know of other delays at this port? If so email us at info@africaports.co.za
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NEW EQUIPMENT HELPS UPGRADE TEMA DRY DOCK

Ghana’s Tema Shipyard has taken delivery of a 45-ton mobile crane as well as two cherry pickers as part of Ghana Ports & Harbours Authority (GPHA) plans to help revive a dilapidated dry dock company and to enhance efficient and effective work delivery in the dry dock yard.
Captain Francis Kwesi Micah, CEO of Tema Shipyard said the new machinery is essential to augment the much-needed radicalisation at the shipyard.
He said the three items of equipment have…[restrict] been costly but had arrived at a critical moment when GPHA intended to improve upon its turnaround time for vessels in the yard and to increase the number of vessels that can be worked on.
Micah said the new machines were replacing older, outmoded models thus facilitating improved turnaround time for vessels that dock at the shipyard for repair work.

He described the new 45-ton crane as an improvement on the existing 35-tons cranes already in service at the repair dock. The CEO described the older machines as aged, dilapidated, delinquent and out of vogue and maintenance. “It was in that direction that we requested GPHA to come to our aid and they did so well”, Captain Micah said.
Managers at the Tema Shipyard are optimistic the machines will improve efficiency.
“The cherry pickers will be used in sandblasting. It is a self-manipulated cherry picker model so if the person is standing at the top, he is able to move it forward, move it up and down and then be able to do the sandblasting, hydro blasting or painting,” said Engineer Otoo.[/restrict]
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SA AGULHAS RETURNING FROM ANTARCTICA

The training and research ship SA AGULHAS is on its way to Port Louis, Mauritius, to drop off international scientists who joined 20 South African cadets. The international scientists and cadets have been visiting Antarctica late last year.
The vessel, which is the South African Maritime Safety Authority’s (SAMSA) dedicated training ship, sailed from Cape Town on the afternoon of 24 November 2017 for Port Louis, Mauritius. On board were 20 maritime cadets – their first exposure to the high seas.
Over 40 scientists from…[restrict] the Indian National Oceanic Science Program of India joined the cadets on the expedition in early December 2017 from Port Louis. They spent two weeks in the Antarctica carrying out various oceanographic research.
Roland Shortt, SAMSA’s Operations Manager for SAMSA’s Maritime Special Projects said the SA Agulhas was expected to reach South Africa in February 2018. It was now on its way to Port Louis.
“The expedition has been tremendously successful,” said Shortt. “The cadets have outshone themselves with the commitment and dedication that they have displayed. Along the way the ship was able to lift scientific buoys which allows us to gather data once a year and then they are released back into the ocean.
“The voyage was as smooth as any trip goes. When they return back to South Africa, the cadets will go to their individual training institutions.”

The research started as soon as the scientists came on board in Port Louis. They conducted CTD operations for physical, chemical and biological studies to measure the conductivity, temperature, and pressure of the seawater. They also carried out Most Probable Number Dilution-Culture Method (MPN) operations for plankton studies (to measure the number of viable phytoplankton cells in a sample).
Also included in the studies were Fast Repetition Rate Fluorimetry Radiometer readings, collecting surface water for biological studies. A radiosonde balloon was also launched and the team is still using a Underway CTD oceanographic instrument every 15 NM to 57 degrees south, measuring regular atmospheric parameters; and recording greenhouses gas, water vapour and rainfall.
The cadets training on board the vessel consisted of general watch keeping, steering, towing and salvage, various projects as per training officers, engine room watch keeping, passage planning, morse code transmitting, and knots and splices training.[/restrict]
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ANADARKO’S ROVUMA BASIN NATURAL GAS PROJECT STILL UNDER EVALUATION

The president of the National Petroleum Institute (INP), Carlos Zacarias, says that the government is still evaluating the Rovuma basin natural gas project development plan presented by the American company Anadarko, reports Notícias.
The approval of this plan, which is expected to happen in the first half of this year, is considered crucial…[restrict] to the final investment decision of a project estimated to be worth approximately US$25 million.
In an interview with Notícias some days ago, Zacarias explained that the intention was to evaluate whether the plan was in compliance with the legislation in force and best industry practice.
“Anadarko has presented a development plan for its Dolphin Tuna project that is being analysed by the INP and other relevant entities in this area. I can say that we are currently in the process of approving this plan,” he said.
Unlike the Eni project designed to produce just 3.3 million tonnes, the Anadarko plan is expected to generate 12 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas, and requires a correspondingly larger investment.
Zacarias explained that to secure financing for the project it was first necessary to close long-term contracts, “which is what the US multinational is doing.”
As a result of this work, Anadarko already has a buyer – PTT of Thailand, one of the companies in Area 1 – and was in advanced discussions with buyers from Japan and other Asian countries.
Zacarias also spoke about the Eni project and recalled that this operator had already secured the necessary financing for the Coral-Sul gas liquefaction project.
“The construction of the floating platform in Coral-South has to begin this year, and, because the special legal and contractual regime applicable to liquefied natural gas projects allows the approval of multiple development plans, Eni is likely to submit other plans for the development of offshore and/or onshore projects,” he said.
Zacarias said that the government had been giving all necessary support so that Area 4 as well Area 1 projects were implemented according to schedule.
“We therefore believe that the production and export of gas from the Rovuma Basin will take place in late 2022 or early 2023,” he concluded. source: Notícias[/restrict]
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** INTERNATIONAL NEWS **
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BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE TO PROMOTE SOUTHEAST ASIA ECONOMY
According to a senior HSBC economist China’s Belt and Road Initiative has the potential to promote and advance Southeast Asia’s economy.
HSBC’s Frederic Neumann said the banking group had high expectations that China, whose economy grew 6.9 percent year on year in 2017, well above the official target of around 6.5 percent, will maintain the current pace of growth this year and even accelerate into 2019.
The 6.9-percent growth reading was higher than…[restrict] the 6.7-percent growth registered in 2016, and marked the first acceleration in annual growth pace since 2010.
Neumann, HSBC’s Asian Economics Research co-head, said that China’s Belt and Road Initiative would promote the Southeast Asia economy. The Belt and Road Initiative is about China working with partners and governments along the routes identifying projects that are “commercially viable”, he said.
Once the system is in place, other investors will be drawn in and kick-start local economy.
He described the Initiative as one way to address the infrastructure gap in Southeast Asia, which could amount to hundreds of billions of US dollars.
Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aiming at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of Silk Road. source: Xinhua[/restrict]
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WOMAN MISSING OVERBOARD FROM CARNIVAL CRUISE SHIP, ANOTHER DIES FROM FALL OFF BALCONY

A woman who fell overboard from the cruise ship CARNIVAL TRIUMPH is still missing and is thought to have drowned.
A spokesman from Carnival Cruises said the 44-year old woman was ‘seen going overboard’ on Sunday night as the ship cruised in the Gulf of Mexico.
Although rescue efforts commenced almost immediately, no trace of the woman has been found.
Carnival Triumph was on the second day of a five-day cruise out of New Orleans when the accident occurred.
Carnival said its CARE team has been providing support and assistance to the passenger’s family. The spokesman said the Mexican Navy was leading the search and rescue operation by sea and air.
This tragedy came four days after another woman passenger fell to her death from a cabin’s balcony on another Carnival ship, CARNIVAL ELATION. She landed on the deck several levels below, which killed her instantly.
Carnival Elation had sailed from Jacksonville in Florida and was en route to the Bahamas
The CARE team was called into action to give support to the woman’s family and to fellow passengers who witnessed the accident.
In October last year an eight-year old female child fell from deck 5 of the cruise ship Carnival Glory, as the ship was berthed alongside in the port of Miami. She fell the height of two decks and died from her injuries. It seemed that sudden crowding on the deck may have contributed to the girl being pushed through the railing.
Carnival Elation was the scene of yet another fatal ‘man overboard’ tragedy when a 24-year old man from Georgia, USA fell overboard and into the sea from deck 11 as the ship cruised off the Bahamas. His body was never recovered despite an intensive 1,300 square mile search by the US Coast Guard.
Some publicity has been given to the fact of a significant number of deaths involving passengers on board cruise ships over the past year, the number is somewhere in the 30s – these include falling overboard or from a balcony, people killed while on shore excursions – a bus crash in Mexico claimed the lives of 11 cruise passengers in December last year – and at least one murder on board a cruise ship.
Others can be described as natural deaths and even the statistic may be considered as something to be expected considering the large number of passengers who are elderly, although the average age on board these ships is dropping. With almost 25 million people taking a cruise last year, the number is actually quite insignificant. It is more a case that anything considered unusual and involving a cruise ship or cruise passengers is seen as worthy of media attention.
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LIBERIA OPENS STATE-OF-THE-ART MARITIME TRAINING INSTITUTE

Liberia’s outgoing President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf officially opened the Liberia Maritime Training Institute (LMTI) at an inauguration ceremony in Marshall City, Liberia, earlier in January. The state-of-the-art facility is named after John G Bestman, former Liberian finance minister and a member of the board of governors of the Central Bank of Liberia.
Under the management of the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR), LMTI has undergone a massive renovation and facility modernisation programme over the past two years, resulting in…[restrict] the creation of a new campus and state-of-the-art facilities. There are currently 24 full-time cadet-students – selected after an exhaustive nationwide programme of interviews and examinations – studying mechanical and electrical engineering on campus at LMTI.
President Johnson-Sirleaf toured the 17.3-acre facility, which includes a newly constructed hi-tech workshop accommodating a machinery shop, a welding and gascutting shop, an electrical lab, an electronics lab, a machining shop, and a seamanship shop.
Other facilities include a computer lab, ship simulators, airconditioned classrooms, a training swimming pool, and a state-of-the-art gymnasium.
LISCR managing director and chairman of the board for LMTI, Avi Zaidenberg says, “The Liberian government solicited LISCR to restore and operate LMTI, to facilitate first-rate education and to produce certified high-quality seafarers, in keeping with Liberia’s rich maritime heritage. The training is also designed to develop and nurture skills which can be used ashore in local markets for the advancement of the Liberian economy, and to support the expansion of the domestic maritime sector. Our overall objective is to enhance the capacity and quality of Liberia’s next-generation workforce.”
The Liberian Registry is the world’s most technologically advanced maritime administration. It has a long-established track record of combining the highest standards of safety for vessels and crews with the highest levels of responsive and innovative service to owners. Moreover, it has a well-deserved reputation for supporting international legislation designed to maintain and improve the safety and effectiveness of the shipping industry and protection of the marine environment.
Find out more at www.liscr.com[/restrict]
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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.
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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.
PICS OF THE DAY : NAVIGATOR CERES

The liquid gas tanker NAVIGATOR CERES (IMO 9704518) seen heading out from Durban, having completed cargo working at Island View on the Bluff. Owned by British interests and operated by Navigator Gas LLC of London, the 160-metre long, 25m wide tanker of 16,672-dwt was built in 2015. This picture is by Keith Betts
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
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– S.A. Sachs
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