TODAY’S BULLETIN OF MARITIME NEWS
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- First View : BOW CARDINAL
- Heavy rains dampen Vale Moçambique’s coal export production
- Lake Victoria’s MV Kalangala remains out of use
- CFM to resume railing coal from South Africa after 20-year disruption
- Construction of Bagamoyo port to commence next month
- Global initiative against plastic waste in Africa’s oceans takes shape in Port Elizabeth
- Ethiopia and Sudan agree to jointly develop Port Sudan
- FIFA World Cup restrictions on DG cargo handling in Russia
- UN Ambassador issues urgent call for action at Opening Oceans Conference
- Expected Ship Arrivals and Ships in Port
- Cruise News and Naval Activities
- Pics of the Day : MORSTON
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Odfjell tankers always look smart and have been regular callers at Durban for many years. The Norwegian company maintains a fleet of about 80 product tankers and has a number of its own terminals in certain ports across the world, providing a fully global service. In Durban Odfjell maintains an office in Durban stressing the importance of the South African trade to the company. BOW CARDINAL (IMO 9114244), seen here arriving in port this past week, is one of the older tankers in the fleet, having been built in 1997 but still looks as smart as her first day at sea. The 37,446-dwt tanker is 183 metres in length and 32.2m wide and was built at the STX Norway Floro shipyard in Floro, Norway. This picture is by Keith Betts
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HEAVY RAINS DAMPEN VALE MOÇAMBIQUE’S COAL EXPORT PRODUCTION
The heavy rains experienced in central and northern Mozambique has resulted in flooding that has cut production at Vale Moçambique’s two mines.
As a result Vale is taking a downward review of its production for 2018 from 16 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes.
“At the beginning of the year we had a forecast of 16 million tons, but in the meantime, there were heavy rains, both in the Nampula and Nacala regions, and in Tete, which greatly damaged our activity,” Mario Godoy, Vale chairman said.
Godoy pointed out that Vale will still have to consolidate the coal production process in Mozambique to fully explore the export capacity of 18 million tons of coal of the Nacala Logistics Corridor – which comprises a 912 kilometre railway line and the deep water port of Nacala.
Last year Vale produced 11.2 million tons of coal, compared to 5.6 million tons in 2016. This was largely as a result of increased production at the Moatize II mine, the company’s second mine in Tete province, central Mozambique.
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LAKE VICTORIA’S MV KALANGALA REMAINS OUT OF USE
The Lake Victoria passenger and cargo vessel, MV KALANGALA, which is the only official passenger vessel operating on the Kalangala Islands-Entebbe route, has remained unavailable ever since going to the repair dry dock for her regular survey and maintenance inspection.
The ship entered the Port Bell Luzira dry dock on 4 April for maintenance and a scheduled survey that was expected to take no more than 23 days. However, that timetable has now been exceeded.
Meanwhile, people wanting to travel between the Kalangala Islands and Entebbe remain stranded, unless…[restrict] they risk taking one of the smaller unofficial boats.
MV Kalangala is managed and operated by Nation Oil Distributors whose chief executive officer, Sadala Musoke, told the Ugandan newspaper The Monitor that heavy rains were responsible for the delay because, he said, the work has to be carried out in the open and has been disrupted.
He said that if everything went to plan the vessel should return to service later this week.
“We really apologise to our esteemed clients for not resuming operations on 26 April as earlier promised. There were things [the] engineers wanted to fix to guarantee its effectiveness and safety of travellers, but the rain has affected them because they carry out their work in an open space.”[/restrict]
OVERLOADED MOZAMBIQUE PASSENGER BOAT SINKS OFF CABO DELGADO
In northern Mozambique a heavily overcrowded boat has sunk off the coast of Cabo Delgado while making the crossing between Quirimba and Quissanga.
According to a report carried by…[restrict] Lusa, the boat had a capacity of 20 passengers but was carrying 62, of whom seven drowned. The remaining 57 were rescued without any serious injuries, but the report doesn’t mention how they were rescued.
The provincial government has organised counselling and medical support to the families of the victims, and is setting up an enquiry into the circumstances of the accident.[/restrict]
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CFM TO RESUME RAILING COAL FROM SOUTH AFRICA AFTER 20-YEAR DISRUPTION
Mozambique Railways (CFM) is to resume transporting coal from South Africa to the port of Matola after a 20-year interruption, a CFM source said.
A lack of resources meant that there were no CFM locomotives available from 1998 to bring coal from South Africa to the Matola Port terminal.
As a result the…[restrict] haulage of the coal trains was carried out by locomotives of South Africa’s Transnet Freight Rail.
However, the situation has now been addressed and as from Friday last week CFM locomotives have again been handling the coal trains to the ports of Maputo and Matola.
FM spokesman Adélio Dias told Lusa that the number of trains carrying coal was expected to increase from four to seven a day, carrying about 21,000 tons of coal per day on the Ressano Garcia line which connects Mozambique and South Africa.
Rehabilitation of the 88-kilometre line is under way to ensure it can carry the increased traffic. Two bridges are to be rebuilt and sleepers replaced along a 24-kilometre section.
The company forecasts that CFM will transport about seven million tons along the Ressano Garcia line annually, increasing revenues. source: Lusa[/restrict]
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CONSTRUCTION OF BAGAMOYO PORT TO COMMENCE NEXT MONTH
Construction of the US$10 billion Bagamoyo port is helping to fulfil Tanzania’s ambitious plan of having one of the most modern ports on the continent.
The development of the port seeks to unlock opportunities of Tanzania securing greater import and export cargo from the neighbouring states of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, DRC and Zambia.
The port is also to be positioned as a transhipment hub for the East African coastal region….[restrict]
Tanzania’s Minister for Works, Transport and Communication Makame Mbarawa addressed Parliament on the matter and said that they were in final talks with investors of China Merchants Holdings International Limited (CMHI) and the Oman government.
Meanwhile, the newspaper The East African reports that the issue of land compensation has been finalised with CMHI agreeing to fund the compensation of land owners, something the Tanzanian government was previously to undertake.
The funding model for Bagamoyo is quite unique and interesting with CMHI acting as the main contractor in exchange for running the Bagamoyo port as one of its overseas ports.
In return, Dar will dilute its equity stake in the project but benefit from taxes on the land and occupancy by the investors in the proposed special economic zones.
“The Bagamoyo project has been hit by delays as the talks took too long to be completed. We had to ensure that every project has wider impact to the economy,” Mr Mbarawa said.
The development of Bagamoyo includes the Bagamoyo Special Economic Zone, which will become a strategic investment zone in the region aimed at attracting more than 700 industries and establishing itself as the leading shipping and logistics centre for the region. Already some 190 industries have been earmarked for development within the SEZ.
According to CMHI the projects envisaged in the Zone include industrial parks worth $120 million, a $70 million tourism park, free port facilities that will cost $90 million, a $70 million free trade zone area, science and technology parks costing $50 million, a $70 million international business centre and industrial sheds costing $20 million.
While this development is being planned, in September last year, Tanzania signed a $154 million port expansion contract with the Chinese firm Harbour Engineering Company to expand its main port in Dar es Salaam, a short distance from Bagamoyo. The project aims at enabling the Dar es Salaam port to become a leading competitor in the region.
The project will see seven existing berths deepened to accommodate larger container ships and a Ro-Ro terminal. source: The East African[/restrict]
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GLOBAL INITIATIVE AGAINST PLASTIC WASTE IN AFRICA’S OCEANS TAKES SHAPE IN PORT ELIZABETH
An ambitious global initiative to turn decisively the tide against massive volumes of plastics waste entering the world’s oceans around the African continent is formally taking shape in South Africa under the aegis of the African Marine Waste Network (AMWN) based in Port Elizabeth.
The network was established in South Africa in 2016 with the support of government and high education institutions, and boasts no less than 42 member countries in the Africa region.
A year ago, it held its first African Marine Waste Conference in the country.
This year, boosted by new funding from the Norwegian government totalling just over a million rand a month ago, the AMWN has not only already established a scientific plastic waste academy launched in Port Elizabeth a week ago, but is also embarking on a three pronged strategy this month involving scientific research of plastic waste, the launch of a community outreach campaign involving both business and communities, as well establishment of an Africa Youth Network intended to engage particularly young people in an education campaign continent-wide against marine plastic waste and oceans pollution.
According to the Sustainable Seas Trust (SST) a leading partner of the AMWN initiative based in Port Elizabeth, the youth network “will enable the youth of Africa to communicate and inspire one another and engage with young people everywhere as well as influence adults, especially leaders.”
The formal launch of the Africa Youth Network is scheduled for June 2018 to also mark World Oceans Day on 8 June.
This latter initiative will be preceded by a number of activities among which will be a ‘plastic industries’ workshop in Port Elizabeth on 10 May 2018. The aim according to a statement by the SST is to extract information that will be used to develop an Education Resource Book for sharing among among schools and similar education institutions throughout the African continent.
“Issues of plastics in the environment and human health are relatively new and have not yet entered education systems as they should have, so the need to build capacity in Africa is an imperative we aim to meet.
“There is no existing curriculum on plastics in African schools or governments. Thus we will be developing curricula and educational output in the form of an Education Resource Book. The Resource Book will be all encompassing of plastics, from A to Z, from raw materials to final product and after use processes. This will include the roles of producers, distributors, retailers, consumers and municipalities.
“We will develop the book in an all-inclusive manner, where we have planned workshops with the plastic industry and education and curriculum experts to help guide us. We shall host the initial workshops in May to promote sharing of ideas and collaboration between different organizations.
“The first will be on plastics industries, where our plan is to gather as much information as we can about the plastics industry. Thereafter we shall host a teacher’s workshop, inviting teachers and education stakeholders from across South Africa and Africa,” said the SST in a statement this past week.
The AMWN marine plastic waste initiative in the Nelson Mandela Bay region (Port Elizabeth) – a city settled to the east of South Africa on the southern part of the Indian Ocean and fast developing into a significant shipping services hub – will also involve the clean up of a major river estuary cutting across the city to the Indian Ocean.
The major plastic waste clean up campaign of the Swartkops River estuary is scheduled to start in the spring, from 15 September 2018.
The idea, according to AMWN, is to establish the region as a centre of excellence through ensuring that it is pristine clean of marine plastic waste in five years, thereby demonstrating the viability and importance of the Africa marine plastic waste reduction initiative.
“By 2021, we (the Nelson Mandela Bay region) can be the cleanest in Africa, the most active, best informed communities,” says the AWMN.
Meanwhile, the British government has heaped praise on both the initiative and the supportive roles played by both the Norwegian government as well as the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, the latter which has taken the lead in oceans studies inclusive of scientific research into environmental management of the oceans surrounding the southern tip of the African continent; the Indian Ocean to the east, the Southern Oceans to the Antarctica region as well as the Atlantic Ocean to the west.
Speaking during the formal launch of the AMWN Academy in Port Elizabeth a week ago, British High Commissioner to South Africa, Dr John Wade-Smith said the combination of scientific research, community engagement and business opportunities development was a strategy that provided opportunity for all members of society to engage.
He had particular praise for the Nelson Mandela University for its involvement in the AMWN initiatives. He also shared insights into how Britain was contributing to the global campaign against plastic waste polluting the world’s oceans. source: SAMSA
See the report in our Monday edition African Marine Waste Network joins global war against marine plastic pollution
For Dr Wade-Smith’s full remarks, click on the video below. [13:58]
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ETHIOPIA AND SUDAN AGREE TO JOINTLY DEVELOP PORT SUDAN
Ever anxious to secure its access to the sea, Ethiopia has entered into an agreement with Sudan to jointly develop and administer Port Sudan to facilitate Ethiopia’s access to the port.
Ethiopian Premier Abiy Ahmed, who was on an official working visit to Sudan, has discussed with the Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on a range of bilateral and regional issues.
Among these was the matter of Ethiopia’s access to…[restrict] Port Sudan. At present Ethiopia is almost completely dependent on port facilities at Djibouti, and something between 90 and 95% of all its seaborne trade, imports and exports, goes through that small country. A standard gauge railway connecting the two countries was recently completed. Djibouti has also agreed on Ethiopia holding a stake in its port.
Ethiopia has likewise been exploring and entering into an agreement to make use of the Somaliland port of Berbera by taking a 19% stake in that port, which sparked an outcry from Somalia which considers that it holds sovereignty over the semi-autonomous Somaliland and therefore Berbera.
However, Ethiopia has continued using Port Sudan albeit in a small way, but is now seeking a larger influence and access by way of the latest agreement.
The two leaders also agreed to make the western Ethiopian city of Asosa the commercial centre in which Ethiopia and Sudan traders and business persons meet and converse on joint development issues. They also reached consensus on the need for a railway connecting the two countries.[/restrict]
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Hapag-Lloyd is advising that Russian authorities have placed restrictions on Dangerous Goods (DG) cargo handling between period of 25 May and 25 July 2018.
These restrictions are based on Presidential Decree No. 202 and the Order of the Captain of the Seaport St Petersburg No. 02 / kp-2220 (RULED).
While the full scope and some details of the restrictions remain open, currently all IMO classes are banned for loading or discharging in the Port of St. Petersburg (RULED), without any exception.
Hapag-Lloyd says it will continue booking-stop for all dangerous goods declared cargo during this period to/from the port of St. Petersburg (RULED).
For the Port of Ust Luga (RUULU) all restrictions have been lifted as World Cup games are not being played in the area. Hapag-Lloyd says it therefore again accepts DG declared bookings to that port.
In Kaliningrad (RUKGD) restrictions have been lifted, except IMO classes 1 and 6.1 and DG declared bookings from all other IMO classes are accepted.
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UN AMBASSADOR ISSUES URGENT CALL FOR ACTION AT OPENING OCEAN CONFERENCE
Peter Thomson, the United Nations Special Envoy for the Oceans, has used the first Opening Oceans Conference (OOC) in Copenhagen to highlight the desperate plight of the oceans and the need for a sustained, universal push from the maritime industry to help halt, and hopefully reverse, their decline.
Speaking to an audience of over 300 key executives from the shipping and ocean industries, Ambassador Thomson highlighted issues such as widespread plastic pollution, ocean acidification, deoxygenation, warming, and sea level rise, noting their “dire consequences for the future of many marine and terrestrial species, including humankind.”
He stressed: “The Ocean’s decline is an existential threat to us all. Think only of the fact that every second breath we take comes from the oxygen created by phytoplankton and other marine plants. And yet we allow the decline to continue.”
The Ambassador railed against “short-sighted naysayers” within industry and the international community and stressed that a joined-up approach was imperative to realign global production and consumption to create a more sustainable system. As an architect of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14 – Life Below Water) he said adhering to it, and the wider SDGs and Paris Agreement, is “demanded by us all.”
He expanded: “Getting the balance right between protection and production is the ultimate scale upon which the Sustainable Blue Economy rests. Get it wrong and we will kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Get it right, and we will have given our children the future we want, the one they have every right to expect.”
Ambassador Thomson was, however, optimistic that change was possible, noting “human problems contain within them human solutions.”
He applauded OOC organisers Nor-Shipping, and key supporters the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association and Danish Shipping, for acting to enable sustainable ocean development, the theme of the conference, while urging the shipping industry to play its part in reversing a damaging tide.
The greening of the maritime sector – through greater use of renewable energy, improved designs and optimization, and potentially fixing sensors to hulls to “enhance global data collection systems to deliver the scientific evidence we need to progress” – could have transformative impacts, he commented, noting:
“Green shipping and the Sustainable Blue Economy are vital to SDG14’s success… the international community looks to the shipping industry, and of course to IMO, to diligently contribute to that good future we want – a cleaner, greener future in which our relationship with our mother, the Ocean, is restored to a righteous balance between protection and production.”
Ambassador Thomson was one of over 50 guest speakers addressing an international audience of c-level executives, governmental and NGO representatives, and other key ocean stakeholders at OOC, Nor-Shipping’s first event outside its Norwegian home.
Speaking of the success of the initiative, which took place on 2 and 3 May, Nor-Shipping Director Per Martin Tanggaard comments: “OOC was conceived to determine how maritime and ocean industry leaders can work together to responsibly unlock the vast commercial potential of the ocean space and ensure sustainable development.
“The insights from Ambassador Thomson, and all of our high level speakers, suggest this can be done if we work across industries, sharing expertise (and, crucially, data) and utilize one another’s competences to pave a collective path forwards. This is far too important of an issue to address in isolation, and we’re delighted that OOC has succeeded in bringing people, companies and partners together to initiate positive change.”
OOC is a new event organised by Nor-Shipping. Nor-Shipping 2019, Your Arena for Ocean Solutions, takes place in Oslo and Lillestrøm, Norway, from 4 to 7 June 2019.
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CRUISE NEWS AND NAVAL ACTIVITIES
QM2 in Cape Town. Picture by Ian Shiffman
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Naval News
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The LPG tanker MORSTON (IMO 9608300) makes an impressive sight as she heads on out from Durban where the 54,901-dwt ship had taken on bunkers. The 225-metre long, 36.6m wide Morston is owned by Singapore interests and managed by Anglo Eastern Shipmanagement of Singapore. The tanker was built by the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard at Ulsan in South Korea in 2013. These pictures are by Trevor Jones
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
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