Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news 6 June 2021

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TODAY’S BULLETIN OF MARITIME NEWS

These news reports are updated on an ongoing basis. Check back regularly for the latest news as it develops – where necessary refresh your page at www.africaports.co.za

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FIRST VIEW:    BARRINGTON ISLAND

EARLIER NEWS CAN BE FOUND AT NEWS CATEGORIES…….

The Sunday masthead shows the Port of Cape Town
The Monday masthead shows the Port of Cape Town

The Tuesday masthead shows the Port of Cape Town from the V&A
The Wednesday mastehead shows the Port of East London, looking towards the West Bank
The Thursday masthead shows the Port of East London
The Friday masthead shows the Durban Container Terminal at night
The Saturday masthead shows the Port of Apapa in Nigeria
The Sunday masthead shows the Port of Tema (Ghana)

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FIRST VIEW:   BARRINGTON ISLAND

Barrington Island.   Picture by Trevor Jones and featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Barrington Island.   Picture by Trevor Jones
Barrington Island.   Picture by Trevor Jones featuring in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Barrington Island.   Picture by Trevor Jones

Busy ports such as Durban or Cape Town offer any shiplover and photographer a generous choice of variety when it comes to ship types and appearance, ranging from the ubiquitous fishing vessels coming from the fishing grounds to deposit their catches, often straight into refrigerated containers for delivery to destinations across the world, to the giant container ships or bulky RoRo car carrier vessels, each demanding immediate attention and hopefully a swift turnaround, to the seasonal cruise ships bringing glamour and glitz and tourists – pandemic permitting of course.

Then there’s another kind of seasonal shipping that attracts attention – the reefer vessels loading fruit at any of the Durban, Port Elizabeth or Cape Town fruit-handling terminals. Recently all three ports experienced a visit from the Cool Eagle, said to be the world’s largest reefer in current existence, and this was closely followed by the Cool Spirit which is the second largest and of a similar and rather unique design. In Durban these two vessels virtually crossed each other with one arriving as the other departed.

This past week it has been the turn of one of the older generation of reefer vessels, in Durban to load citrus at Durban’s Fresh Produce Terminal (FPT) on the T-Jetty, but equally as attractive in her own sleek way as her bigger younger cousins. BARRINGTON ISLAND (IMO 9059614) entered service in 1993 with an American company, Ecuadorian Line Inc, from the Danyard shipyard in Frederikshavn. Barrington Island’s listed owner is given as Cat Island Shipping, c/o the Ecuadorian Line Inc, who manages and operates the 14,061-gt vessel, with the ISM management in the hands of Trireme Vessel Management.

The 28-year old reefer has a length of 179 metres and a beam of 25m and a deadweight of 14,140 tons and is currently loading citrus at Durban’s O/P berth. She is flying the flag of the Bahamas, a haven for many a reefer vessel. Long may such ships remain in service. – trh

Pictures are by Trevor Jones

Added 30 May 2021

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Photographs of shipping and other maritime scenes involving any of the ports of South Africa or from the rest of the African continent, together with a short description, name of ship/s, ports etc are welome.

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WHARF TALK: A Cape Town facelift for MSC ship, GH Meltemi

MSC container ship, GH Meltemi. Picture: 'Dockrat', featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
MSC container ship, GH Meltemi in Cape Town harbnour. Picture: ‘Dockrat’

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’

A regular caller at Cape Town as one of the MSC vessels filling the rotation on the West Africa service, GH MELTEMI (IMO 9440306) arrived at the Cape Town anchorage on 26 May at 18h00. She remained out in the anchorage for four days and entered port on 30 May at 18h00.

However, rather than complete her onload prior to her next northbound sailing to West African ports, as per the schedule, she moved across to the Repair Quay in the Duncan Dock, seemingly devoid of any containers onboard. The reason for her transfer over to the Repair Quay became quite apparent on closer inspection. She had a crumpled starboard gunwale, crushed bulwarks and damaged hull plating around her bow area.

Workmen commence cutting away part of the damaged gunwale. Picture: 'Dockrat', featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Workmen commence cutting away part of the damaged gunwale. Picture: ‘Dockrat’

On 26 February at 07h00 GH Meltemi entered Lagos port on her regular South Africa-West Africa service run, arriving from Lomé, and she was due to berth at the MSC terminal in Lagos, which is the Fivestar Logistics Tincan Island Container Terminal.

A view of the bows of the container ship GH Meltemi, sowing the extent of the damage caused in the collision with another ship. Picture: 'Dockrat' and featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
A view of the bows of the container ship GH Meltemi, which suffered damage in the collision with another ship. Picture: ‘Dockrat’

During the berthing operation, GH Meltemi collided with the already berthed MSC CARMEN (IMO 9349813) which operates on the MSC Mediterranean-West Africa service and had arrived at Lagos on 22 February. No injuries or pollution resulted from the collision, but damage was done to both vessels. As she is Portuguese flagged, it is the Portuguese Maritime authorities are collating details of the event and conducting the investigation into the event.

Repair work to the container ship GH Meltemi. Picture: 'Dockrat' featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Repair work to the container ship shows part of the gunwale now cut away.  Picture: ‘Dockrat’

Built in 2010 by Wenchong Shipyard at Guangzhou in China, GH Meltemi is 213 metres in length, has a deadweight of 41,253 tons and has a container capacity of 2,796 TEU, including 506 reefer plugs. She is powered by a single Hudong Wärtsilä-Sulzer 8RT-Flex68D 8 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 34,044 bhp (25,040 kW) to give a service speed of 22.3 knots.

Nominally owned by GH Meltemi LLC, she is both managed and operated by Conbulk Shipmanagement Corporation of Athens, and is chartered to MSC. As is often the case with Greek owned vessels, the name of GH Meltemi is associated with the dry North wind that blows down the Aegean Sea in the summer months.

GH Meltemi was taken out of the South Africa - West Africa service temporarily in order to allow the repairs to be carried out. Picture: 'Dockrat' featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
GH Meltemi was deployed on the South Africa – West Africa service when the damage occured while in Lagos.  Picture: ‘Dockrat’

This visit to the Repair Quay, to cut out and replace the damage to her starboard bow section, is possibly the earliest opportunity she has had to be taken out of MSC service and replaced whilst she receives the necessary attention. As soon as the repairs are complete, it is expected that she will shift back to the Container Terminal, reload a new set of export containers and resume her MSC service run from South Africa to West Africa.

As with virtually all offshore oil and gas shipping that operates in West Africa, it is normally to Cape Town that damaged vessels proceed, in order to effect repairs and undertake remedial works, such as that which is underway on GH Meltemi. This is solely due to the fact that repair and engineering facilities throughout West Africa are considered to be either non-existent, or woefully inadequate for the needs of the vessel owners.

Added 3 June 2021

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Maersk FEW3 West Africa-Far East service includes call at DP World Cochin terminal

Kmarin Azur, operated by Maersk with its FEW3 service Wesrt Africa to Far East via India
Kmarin Azur, operated by Maersk with its FEW3 service Wesrt Africa to Far East via India

Maersk Line has recently added a new weekly Far East – West Africa – India Express service (FEW3) with a fixed weekly sailing deploying 13 vessels of 4,500 to 5,000 TEU capacity.

The service incorporates the DP World-operated International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) at Cochin on the southeats coast of India.

The new service offers direct connectivity from West Africa to Cochin Port and from Cochin Port to Far East Ports.

The service started with the maiden call of vessel KMARIN AZUR on 7 May 2021. Inclusion of this service will boost Cashew, Raw Cotton and Timber trade from Kerala and Tamil Nadu and with it customers can connect their cargo directly from Cochin to global markets instead of transshipping at Colombo Port, reducing the transit time by 7-10 days.

DP World says the terminal has registered remarkable 48% YTD volume growth, surpassing overall South India growth of 23% for the same period. This has led to increase in Cochin Port ranking to number 2 among all South Indian Terminals.

The Terminal achieved this growth by enhancing direct vessel connections and strengthening rail connectivity to hinterland markets. ICTT caters to a large number of customers across a vast hinterland including Coimbatore, Tirupur, Salem, Erode, and Mysore, all located in the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The Terminal has witnessed a 38% YTD growth in cargo coming from these states.

ICTT also offers excellent rail connectivity to Bangalore thereby supporting customers to connect cargo directly to mainline vessels at shorter transit time. The terminal continues to be highly efficient and productive with an average Gross Crane Rate (GCR) of 30+ moves per hour, which is at par with global standards.

“Our emphasis continues on improving direct connections and providing our customers with reliable, faster and cost-effective options to ship out of Cochin Port,” said Praveen Joseph, CEO, DP World Port Terminal Cochin.

He said ICTT remains committed to helping communities across India in the fight against Coronavirus. The terminal has facilitated the swift handing of critical oxygen shipments for the state of Kerala and has recently moved key rail consignments of over 260 MT of Oxygen. It has also handled over 1000 oxygen cylinders which arrived by ship for distribution across Kerala.

Added 3 June 2021

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UK Custom and Tax Freeports: A golden opportunity for trade and manufacturing
The view from Solent Gateway Ltd

 

The port of Felixstowe on England’s East Coast is one of nine ports whose potential change of status was approved in March. © www.hutchisonports.com, as featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
The port of Felixstowe on England’s East Coast is one of nine ports whose potential change of status was approved in March. © www.hutchisonports.com

Earlier this year it was announced that the UK Government had selected eight new freeports in England as a means to boost trade, jobs and investment across the country.

It is reported that special taxation and customs rules for the freeports will help businesses develop new facilities and operations to trade and manufacture goods more cost-effectively, countering the effects of other complications such as Brexit and Covid-19.

Early deliverability of opportunities for new businesses is key: Solent Gateway Ltd at Marchwood Port, Southampton will be leading the way with 64 hectares of new space starting to become available from Autumn 2022 (See computer generated images showing potential trades here).

Solent Quayside featuring in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news

What is a freeport?

A freeport is an economic zone, typically encompassing a freight seaport or airport, where typical VAT and customs rules do not apply. This makes it cheaper and easier for raw materials or components to be imported to manufacturers, processed into manufactured goods and then imported into the UK or exported.

They can also have simpler planning rules, helping businesses to quickly build or adapt premises in the area.

The locations of England’s eight new freeports announced by the Chancellor at the Budget in March 2021 were:

• Solent
• East Midlands Airport
• Felixstowe and Harwich
• Humber region
• Liverpool City Region
• Plymouth
• Thames
• Teesside

These eight freeports will, we are informed, create some 170,000 jobs in the coming five to ten years. Within the Solent Freeport, Marchwood Port operated by Solent Gateway Ltd has been designated as both a customs site and tax site.

Solent Gateway featuring in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news

What are the tax incentives of freeports?

Within a freeport customs site, there are two principal benefits: firstly, Customs Duty and Import VAT are only charged on goods if and when they are released from the freeport into the UK. This enables businesses to process, store and transport goods with greater flexibility, giving them a cash flow benefit.

Secondly, duty paid can be on the final product rather than component parts if lower, also reducing the tax paid as raw materials normally have a higher duty rate than manufactured or processed goods. Freeports can help businesses to improve processing time due to reduced transport.

Solent Gateway featuring in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news

Freeport tax sites will benefit from greater capital allowances when purchasing plant and machinery or building new structures.

Companies will be able to claim 100% enhanced capital allowances on the purchase of new and unused plant and machinery that is incurred for a trade being carried out at the freeport tax site.

Purchase will need to be incurred before 30 September 2026 for the item to qualify for this benefit. Plus, qualifying expenditure on structures and buildings within a freeport zone will qualify for Enhanced Structures and Buildings Allowance at 10% per year for ten years on expenditure incurred before 30 September 2026.

This is a significant increase on the current level of 3% per year for 33 years for non-freeport areas. There are also very appealing benefits around national insurance relief for up to three years per employee and business rates relief, with new or expanding business being able to claim up to 100% relief for five years.

Solent gateway Freeports featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news

Richard Parkinson, Port Director at Solent Gateway Ltd, comments: “The UK freeports plan is an excellent initiative to incentivise new businesses to set up new operations in freeports – it presents a truly golden opportunity for both UK and foreign businesses.

“Solent Gateway is unique in its offering as it is both a customs and tax site, with high quality logistic space starting to come available to new businesses from Autumn 2022.

“In terms of who will benefit most from operating in a customs and tax site such as ours, it is businesses that want to: (a) develop new facilities and operations, thereby benefitting from all the incentives to attract new business; (b) import goods and components to the UK;(c) store goods for as long as they want without facing customs duties after 90 days and (d)manufacture or assemble products as import duties are paid on final product or component parts when they leave the freeport, whichever is cheaper.

“If goods are exported after manufacture inside a freeport, no customs duties will be paid, so I have no doubt that freeports are very attractive to manufacturers.”

He continued: “Any organisation that wants to import, manufacture and export within a customs site will avoid all duties, so that is a great incentive. Any business that wants to store items for more than 90 days will also benefit.”

Solent Gateway is part of the Solent Freeport. Establishing the Solent Freeport will, it is claimed, create 52,000 new skilled and semi-skilled jobs, including 26,000 direct jobs in the Solent and 26,000 in the wider UK supply chain.

Covid-19 has widened the opportunity gap for these communities and a Solent Freeport provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reverse these trends, we learn.

In conclusion the Solent Freeport will also support levelling up across the UK – in particular in the UK’s industrial heartlands of the Midlands and North. The potential of significant government investment in freight links between Southampton and the Midlands will be realised through the connectivity to global markets that the Solent ports provide.

Chris Anderson, Head of Business Development at Solent Gateway Ltd, commented: “Solent Gateway Ltd, located at Marchwood Port, Southampton is one of a very few locations in the UK that is both a tax site and a customs site.

“We are therefore tailor-made for the development of new facilities for import, manufacturing, assembly, storage, export or delivery into the UK.

“Marchwood Port is a very high-quality port-centric logistics hub with outstanding sea, rail and road connectivity, and will have 64.3 hectares of new space available for commercial use starting in autumn 2022.”

Solent Gateway Ltd (SGL) oversees the operation and development of one of the UK’s most exciting opportunities; the commercialisation of a strategically located port opening up much needed capacity to international business and shipping lines on Southampton Water. For more information readers are invited to see here: www.solentgateway.com

reported by Paul Ridgway, Lonodn on behalf of Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime mnews

 

Reported by Paul Ridgway
London

 

Added 3 June 2021

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Ethiopia completes over 2,700 kilometres of asphalted highways

Ethiopia's first expressway, between Addid Ababa and ASdama, has opened, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Ethiopia’s first expressway, between Addid Ababa and ASdama, has opened

Ethiopia has completed a total of 2,732 km of asphalted highways over the past three years. This includes an 85km of freeway section between Addis Ababa and Adama, Ethiopia’s first expressway.

The expressway between Addis Ababa and Adama forms part of Ethio-Djibouti transport corridor. Phase 2 of the Adama-Awash expressway project covering 70 km is already underway.

Ethiopia plans to construct four expressways to connect Addis Ababa with neighboring countries in the coming ten years.

With the development of a new harbour and terminal complex at Berbera in neighbouring Somaliland improvements to the road corridor to the Somaliland border can also be expected.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that focused investments in the transportation and logistics sector are part of the nation’s vision for prosperity.

He described the streamlining of Ethiopia’s transportation and logistics industry as imperative to national development and economic growth.

He said the government has, over the past three years, developed a national transportation policy, national logistics policy, national logistics strategy and non- motorised transport strategy in order to expedite the development of the industry.

It is in this respect that construction of national roads are going ahead, he said.

Abiy pointed out that Ethiopia’s imports and exports were the largest in the country’s trade history.

Added 3 June 2021

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A new figurehead for Cutty Sark

Cutty Sark sheathed as part of the 2012 restoration. Photo: National Maritime Museum © and featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Cutty Sark sheathed as part of the 2012 restoration. Photo: National Maritime Museum ©

reported by Paul Ridgway, Lonodn on behalf of Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime mnews

 

Reported by Paul Ridgway
London

News has been received from the Royal Museums Greenwich that on 11 June a new Nannie figurehead will be installed on the famous tea clipper ship, Cutty Sark.

In the perilous life of a ship at sea, figureheads were seen as lucky charms: they represented the spirit of the ship, protecting the crew from harsh seas and helping to guide them safely home.

Cutty Sark seen as part of the 2012 restoration and grand display. Photo: National Maritime Museum © featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Cutty Sark seen as part of the 2012 restoration and grand display. Photo: National Maritime Museum ©

Rabbie Burns

Nannie the figurehead is one of the most recognisable parts of Cutty Sark. The name ‘Nannie’ comes from Tam O’Shanter, a poem by Robert Burns. The poem also was the inspiration for the name of the ship, Cutty Sark. The poem tells the story of Tam the farmer, who encounters a group of witches in Alloway Kirk – including the beautiful witch Nannie. Nannie is scantily clad, dressed only in a ‘cutty sark’ – an archaic Scottish name for a short nightdress.

Anyone who passes by the ship can see her angry stare and the horse’s tail hanging from her hand. In the poem, the witches chase Tam after he calls out to them during a dance. He makes his escape on his horse Meg, but just as he reaches safety Nannie grabs the tail of his horse and pulls it clean off. Therefore, Cutty Sark’s figurehead is holding a horse’s tail.

The original figurehead, created by the legendary ship’s carver Frederick Hellyer, was damaged in a storm in the late 19th century. A new figurehead was installed in 1957 but this figurehead has now also suffered environmental damage and rot. Last year a new figurehead was commissioned, aiming to reflect the beauty of the original ship designs and celebrate the art of ship’s carving.

Carver Andy Peters has been tasked with bringing the new figurehead to life. One of only three in the UK, Andy Peters is a leading authority on the subject of figurehead carving. Inspired to enter his profession after visiting Cutty Sark as a small boy, Andy has since had a fascination with tall ships.

Nannie 3 - Nannie by carver Andy Peters. © @simonthompson and featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Nannie 3 – Nannie by carver Andy Peters. © @simonthompson

Using an original drawing

Inspiration for the new figurehead has been based on a drawing by the Cutty Sark’s original designer and builder, Hercules Linton, which was for the original design back in the 1860s. Using Linton’s drawing, the aim was to produce a figure of the period, capturing the spirit of the age in which the ship was built.

Andy Peters commented: “An important aspect of the commission was that it provided an opportunity for the art of the ship’s carver to be kept alive, ensuring that the skills inherent in the craft are not lost. It has been a pleasure to work with the team from the ship, for whom this has also been of paramount importance.”

Currently the figurehead is at the Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre, home to Royal Museums Greenwich’s stored collections and most modern conservation studios. Here Andy Peters is working with the team from Cutty Sark and looking at the fixing positions on the current figurehead, which has been taken off the ship to see that they tie up with those on the new figure.

On 11 June the figurehead will be taken to Cutty Sark and lifted by crane to be expertly fitted to the ship. Once in position the figurehead will undergo continuous maintenance under the care of the conservation team at the museum.

Cutty Sark at Falmouth where the ship was laid up in 1922, restored and prepared for her training role on the Thames in 1938. Photo: National Maritime Museum ©, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Cutty Sark at Falmouth where the ship was laid up in 1922, restored and prepared for her training role on the Thames in 1938. Photo: National Maritime Museum ©

About Cutty Sark

Cutty Sark is the last-surviving tea clipper and one of the world’s most famous ships. It reopened to the public in April 2012, marking a new chapter in its extraordinary life.

Visitors to this beautiful three-masted clipper can venture aboard and walk along the decks in the footsteps of the merchant seamen who sailed the ship over a century ago, explore the hold where precious cargo was stored on epic voyages, and view the elegant lines of the hull as they walk underneath in the dry berth of this 963-tonne ship.

Cutty Sark is part of Royal Museums Greenwich which also incorporates the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory and the 17th century Queen’s House. This unique collection of museums and heritage buildings, which form a key part of the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site, welcomes over two and a half million British and international visitors a year and is also a major centre of education and research.

Cutty Sark, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news

Added 3 June 2021

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AIRFREIGHT: African airlines resume flights

Air Seychelles resumes flights from Johannesburg, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Air Seychelles resumes flights from Johannesburg

African airlines are gradually resuming flights abandoned soon after the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Among these are Air Seychelles and Uganda Airlines.

It was announced this week that Air Seychelles would resume operations between the Seychelles and Johannesburg with flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays from OR Tambo International Airport (Johannesburg).

In addition the airline will re-commence a weekly Dubai service from 1 July 2021.

The Johannesburg flight will go to Seychelles and then on to the Maldives, commencing this month of June.

Air Seychelles weekly Dubai service commencing 1 July and extending to 24 July takes in the peak EID al-Adha period, using a narrow-body A320neo (new engine option) aircraft, with an additional flight operating on 18 July.

Uganda Ailines featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news

Uganda Airlines commenced a Johannesburg service beginning on Monday (31 May) and operating four times a week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday returning to Entebbe on the same days.

Uganda Airlines already flies to Nairobi, Mombasa, Juba, Bujumbura, Mogadishu, Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, and Kinshasa.

The airline has also taken delivery of its first wide-body aircraft, the A330neo also being the first Airbus in Uganda Airlines service. Airfreight capability will be improved as a result.

Added 3 June 2021

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WHARF TALK: Gruaud Larose – Fertiliser carried in a Chinese ship named for a Bordeaux wine estate

Gruaud Larose at berth in the Port of Cape Town. Picture: 'Dockrat' and featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Gruaud Larose at berth in the Port of Cape Town. Picture: ‘Dockrat’

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’

There are some very good reasons why so many bulk carriers are arriving in South African ports with cargoes of fertiliser at the moment. The fact that South Africa has, by far, the largest and most sophisticated commercial farming industry on the continent of Africa, and is a net exporter of agricultural produce are two good reasons.

Such intensive farming requires the land to be kept productive with each and every season, and introducing fertiliser into the soil on an annual basis goes a long way to achieving that export productivity.

The bow end of the Supramax bulker Gruaud Larose. Picture: 'Dockrat' featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
The bow end of the Supramax bulker Gruaud Larose. Picture: ‘Dockrat’

So it was that the Supramax bulk carrier GRUAUD LAROSE (IMO 95000807) arrived in Cape Town from Durban on 28 May at midnight, and proceeded to B berth in the Duncan Dock. She was carrying a cargo of fertiliser, not in loose bulk as with some recent arrivals, but bagged fertiliser ready loaded in 2 ton bags. Her journey had started in Tianjin in China where she had loaded, and her discharge ports included Dar es Salaam, Mombasa, Durban and her final port of call, Cape Town.

Built in 2011 by the Qingshan Shipyard at Wuhan in China, Gruaud Larose is 190 metres in length and has a deadweight of 59,729 tons. She is powered by a MAN-B&W 6S50MC-C 6 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 12,713 bhp (9,480 kW).

Gruaud Larose's cargo discharged at Cape Town consisted of bagged fertiliser. Picture: 'Dockrat'
Gruaud Larose’s cargo discharged at Cape Town consisted of bagged fertiliser. Picture: ‘Dockrat’

Owned by Ocean Leopard Shipping of Beijing, which is the shipping arm of Minsheng Financial Leasing, also of Beijing, Gruaud Larose is operated and managed by Ningbo Zrich Shipping of Ningbo in China.

Purchased by Minsheng Financial Leasing in 2019, Gruaud Larose was named after a Chateau and Wine Estate in the Bordeaux region of France. Other bulk carriers purchased at the same time by Minsheng were also given names associated with European Viticulture. Why a Chinese financial and shipping concern would want that association is open to suggestion.

Gruaud Larose across the water. Picture: 'Dockrat' as seen in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Gruaud Larose across the water. Picture: ‘Dockrat’

A good optic as to why so many fertiliser loaded bulk carriers continue to call at Cape Town, Durban and other South African ports is shown by a statistic released by the Fertiliser Association of South Africa (FERTASA). South Africa is a net importer of fertiliser, and in 2020 a total of 1,562,354 tons of fertiliser was imported into the country. That adds up to a lot of handy bulk carriers.

One final view this time of the starboard side of Gruaud Larose in Cape Ton. Picture: 'Dockrat' and featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
One final view this time of the starboard side of Gruaud Larose in Cape Town. Picture: ‘Dockrat’

Of that total, South Africa imports 100% of the required Potassium group fertilisers, and 70% of the required Nitrogen group fertilisers. This issue arises mainly because the country has no domestic supply of Potassium, and despite the huge import requirement, there is no complete domestic Urea production facility in South Africa.

As a result of the very changeable autumnal Cape weather, the offload of the bagged fertiliser from Gruaud Larose took place mainly from one hold at a time only. The offloaded bags of fertiliser are destined to be loaded into rail trucks and then they will be taken up country for distribution at some time in the very near future.

Added 3 June 2021

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ILLEGAL LOGGING: 66 Containers of Stolen Illegal Timber Return to Mozambique

Mozambique is Africa’s third largest exporter of logs. Between 2017 and 2020, Mozambique exported 2.6 million tons of logs, valued at US$900 million; 99 percent of these logs went to China. This trade persists in violation of Mozambique’s log export ban, in effect since 2017. Featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Mozambique is Africa’s third largest exporter of logs. Between 2017 and 2020, Mozambique exported 2.6 million tons of logs, valued at US$900 million; 99 percent of these logs went to China. This trade persists in violation of Mozambique’s log export ban, in effect since 2017

Where There is a Will There is a Way

On 16 May this year, 66 containers of logs that had been illegally harvested and shipped out of Mozambique returned to Pemba, some of them having sailed home on a journey of 20,000 kilometres. While positive outcomes to international illegal timber trafficking sagas are rare, this example demonstrates what is feasible and should set the bar for implementing routine efficient measures going forward, says the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) in Washington, DC.

Mozambique is Africa’s third largest exporter of logs. Between 2017 and 2020, Mozambique exported 2.6 million tons of logs, valued at US$900 million; 99 percent of these logs went to China. This trade persists in violation of Mozambique’s log export ban, in effect since 2017. It also violates additional actions taken by the government in 2018, prohibiting the logging of the principal species exported as logs. At that time, the Minister of the Environment, Mr Celso Correia, reportedly described the situation as being nothing short of a “war” against organised crime.

This case began in August 2020, when Mozambique authorities seized 82 containers of illegally harvested, Chinese-bound logs and detained them at the port of Pemba. Those containers were subsequently smuggled out from custody and exported in December 2020. The containers were still on international waters when Mozambique authorities launched a broad investigation to locate and bring back the stolen cargo. Five months later, after working with Maersk Line and United Africa Feeder Line, the two companies involved in the transport of the containers between Mozambique and China, 66 containers were returned to Mozambique’s Pemba port. An additional ten containers may be returned soon.

“This is a victory against traffickers and organised crime, but the war against illegal timber trade from Mozambique is not over,” said Octavio Zilo, chief prosecutor of Cabo Delgado province, of which Pemba is the capital. “Broader and deeper productive collaborations with shipping lines and demand side countries like China will be needed.”

For years shipping lines have minimised or denied their role in the illegal timber trade. In recent months, however, prominent shipping companies have made commitments to combat illegal timber trade. Significantly, in response to reports about timber trafficking from The Gambia, Compagnie Maritime d’Affrètement-Compagnie Générale Maritime (CMA CGM) announced an embargo on all timber from The Gambia and Maersk Line quickly followed suit.

The CMA CGM Group, the fourth largest shipping line in the world, has announced a total moratorium on the transport of wood from The Gambia, as well as the creation of a global blacklist of shippers involved in illegal trade of protected and endangered species. Picture courtesy Shipspotting, Marco Schoone amnd featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
The CMA CGM Group, the fourth largest shipping line in the world, has announced a total moratorium on the transport of wood from The Gambia, as well as the creation of a global blacklist of shippers involved in illegal trade of protected and endangered species. Picture courtesy Shipspotting, Marco Schoone

Lisa Handy, Director of Forest Campaigns at EIA, said: “While some key players are acknowledging the industry’s role in the illegal timber trade and starting to take concrete measures, others continue looking the other way or shielding themselves behind hollow commitments. EIA is committed to exposing these illegalities, and finding impactful solutions to end such damaging trade.”

The Mozambique case is a learning opportunity and EIA calls on all shipping lines to improve transparency and undertake adequate screening procedures to combat the illegal timber trade. For instance, systematic and targeted screening procedures can be put in place to prevent logs from departing countries that have log export bans, like Mozambique. EIA estimated that between 2014 and 2018, over US$6 billion in logs left African countries with total or partial log export bans. This trade continues to devastate local communities, ecosystems, and economies across the African continent.

Main timber demand-side countries have both a responsibility and a major role to play. For example, in the United States, the Lacey Act needs much stronger and strategic enforcement; and in China, reform of the forestry laws could dramatically reduce the entry of illegal timber. As the world slowly emerges from the coronavirus pandemic in search of a “new normal,” building a renewed, transparent, global timber trade system and stopping illegal timber trafficking is not a choice but a necessity, says the EIA.

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Al Mawashi given green light to ship more livestock from East London during mid summer

The Al Mawashi livestock carrier Al Messilah on which approx 56,000 sheep were exported from East London harbour to Kuwait and Oman. Picture courtesy: Shipspotting, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
The Al Mawashi livestock carrier Al Messilah on which approx 56,000 sheep were exported from East London harbour to Kuwait and Oman. Picture courtesy: Shipspotting

The National Council of SPCA’s (NSPCA) announced Tuesday night that the South African Government has, in NSPCA’s, once again joined hands with Al Mawashi to export thousands of South African animals, of which the majority is unlikely to come from small scale farmers, to the Middle East for slaughter in June this year.

Al Mawashi is a locally registered Kuwaiti company that imports livestock into the Middle East from several locations around the world, apparently without regard to what time of the year it is when the animals will be confined to crowded conditions on board ship. The company has partnered with local farmers in South Africa to ship tens of thousands of sheep and other animals and several consignments have been delivered.

The Port of East London is the only port in South Africa that handles this type of commodity, which appear not to be welcome at the other ports.

The NSPCA says that since 2019 it has been fighting for the countless animals that were, and still continue to be, subjected to the inherently cruel trade of exporting live animals by sea.

Recently, the South African Government released draft guidelines regarding the welfare of live animals being exported by sea. In these guidelines, the Government fully acknowledges and opposes the export of live animals by sea during May to August, which are the hottest months of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. In 2020, the Government Director responsible for Animal Welfare matters at DALRRD recommended that, “As the country, we should not allow exportation of livestock to the Middle East during the months of May until end of August of every year”.

Considering that this was just a mere recommendation and not an instruction, Al Mawashi’s shipment went ahead last year.

The NSPCA says it is shameful that the same Government that drafted the guidelines in 2021 and recommended that export does not take place between May and August, has given the green light to Al Mawashi to ship South Africa’s animals north of the equator in one of the hottest months of the year again!

“It is notable to mention that Australia’s ban on live export begins in June and our Government is fully aware that Al Mawashi has been exporting sheep and cattle from Australia on back to back journeys before their ban comes into effect. Al Mawashi’s subsidiary has stated that they will do as many shipments in Australia as possible and once their ban comes into play, Al Mawashi will come for South Africa’s animals.

“Unlike the Australian Government, who have taken a stand for their animals, our Government appears to be powerless against Al Mawashi.”

The Port of East London, which appears to be the only South African port that handles livestock exports, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
The Port of East London, which appears to be the only South African port that handles livestock exports

According to the NSPCA, there is a plethora of reasons as to why the export of live animals by sea is cruel. There is rarely a journey on any vessel at any time of the year, where many sheep are not discovered to be green/purple and bloated among their penmates.

It is safe to say that such sheep did not die instantaneously, but were ill/injured and were only discovered long after their deaths. Inanition (exhaustion caused by lack of nourishment), pneumonia, compaction, being crushed alive, infectious diseases etc. are just part of this torturous journey.

“While the captain is sitting in his air-conditioned cabin, some of these helpless animals will end up being cooked alive on the vessel as temperatures reach unendurable heights (according to uncontroversial scientific literature and observation).

“The NSPCA has been in and out of court, moving from a normal magistrates court all the way to the constitutional court, fighting to protect our animals. It is frustrating that while we wait for our day to stand up and prove why live export should be completely banned, thousands of our animals are being allowed to slip through the Government’s fingers and onto Al Mawashi’s vessels.”

The NSPCA has called on the public for financial support as it fights to protect the animals and tries to put an end to live export in this country. “These innocent creatures depend on us all to act in their best interests.”

NSPCA banking details are: Account: SPCA National Council of SA – Bank: Standard Bank – Account No.: 220 639 744 – Branch Code: 051 001 – Reference: LIVE EXPORT – Swift code for international EFTs: SBZAZAJJ

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WHARF TALK: Distant water tuna fishing vessel Kao Fong 372

Kao Fonga No.372 on the berth in Cape Town harbour. Picture by 'Dockrat' and featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Kao Fong No.372 on the berth in Cape Town harbour. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’

The distant water tuna fishing fleets of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are well known in South African ports. For decades they have used Durban and Cape Town as their repair havens, supply depots, crew repatriation harbours and cargo export ports.

In Cape Town harbour it is a rare sight not to see a tuna longliner of one of these three nations sitting high and dry on the Synchrolift, receiving annual maintenance or a much needed repair. One such vessel is the Taiwan flagged fishing vessel KAO FONG No.372 (IMO 8749377), a non-descript longliner that would not attract a second glance by anybody.

This container came alongside to deliver the vessel's bair, brought all the way to Cape Town from Taiwan. Picture by 'Dockrat'
This container came alongside to deliver the vessel’s bait, brought all the way to Cape Town from Taiwan. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

She has been utilising Cape Town as her home from home for over ten years, and operates on a regular 3 weeks alongside on repairs and resupply, followed by either 3 or 5 months out in the South Atlantic ocean hunting down her valuable prey. As required by her state flag regulator, once a year Kao Fong No.372 is taken out of the water and given a good hull clean, scrape and paint, and undergoes a major maintenance session, prior to returning to the fishing grounds to continue her owner’s remit.

Arriving back in Cape Town on 17 April at 12h00, Kao Fong No.372 discharged her precious cargo in to the waiting reefer MEITA MARU, before proceeding to the Synchrolift where she was lifted out of the water for her long awaited annual overhaul.

Crew who are being repatriated home are preparing their documentation on board the Kao Fong 372. Pictures by ‘Dockrat’

Picture by 'Dockrat'appearing in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A regular occurrence of these vessels whilst on the synchrolift is that the crew continues to live onboard, and are used as part of the maintenance team undertaking essential roles such as hull painters and fitters. All of which must be a major cost saving for the vessel owner back in Taiwan.

Built in 2000 by the Fong Kuo Shipyard at Kaohsiung in Taiwan, Kao Fong No.372 is 51 metres in length, has a gross weight of 421 tons and is powered by a Hanshin diesel engine. She is owned by Kao Jeng Fishery Co. Ltd of Kaohsiung.

Kao Fong 372 on the Synchrolift at Cape Town. Picture by 'Dockrat' appearing in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Kao Fong 372 on the Synchrolift at Cape Town. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

After completion of her refit, she was shifted to the Landing Wall to complete any minor works, and to complete her restoring and preparations for another 3 to 5 months at sea.

Local ship chandlers provide almost everything that a Taiwanese fishing vessel and crew can possibly want from local suppliers, but not quite everything. Just prior to sailing, a 40 ton ‘Evergreen Lines’ reefer container was delivered to the quayside next to Kao Fong No.372 and within it was a full cargo of what she requires as bait for her tuna fishing operation. Despite South Africa having Sardines and other similar bait fish available, boxes of imported frozen Pacific Saury (Sea Pike) were loaded onto the vessel as her supply of bait. She sailed for the tuna grounds on 21 May 21 at 09h00.

Crew live aboard the vessel while on the Synchrolift and assist with repairs and maintenance. Picture by 'Dockrat' as featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Crew live aboard the vessel while on the Synchrolift and assist with repairs and maintenance. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

One of 58 Taiwan flagged longliners licensed to fish for tuna in the South Atlantic Ocean for 2021, Kao Fong No.372 is registered to catch only Swordfish and Bonito Tuna in the ICCAT and CCSBT Atlantic Ocean areas of responsibility. She is not licensed to fish in the IOTC Indian Ocean area.

Under ICCAT and CCSBT regulations, Cape Town is the only port in which she is allowed to land her catch, and where the catch can be checked by South African Fisheries Inspectors, who have been ICCAT members since 2004. Any of her catch that is transshipped to another vessel, such as that which was transshipped into the Meita Maru, can only be offloaded in Kaohsiung.

That includes painting after the vessel's hull and rudder have been fully cleansed. Picture by 'Dockrat' and appearing in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
That includes painting after the vessel’s hull and rudder have been fully cleansed. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

There are those who believe that the United Nations are politically compromised, and it is interesting that under the UN Fisheries and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Kao Fong No.372 is listed as being flagged under ‘Taiwan, Province of China’. Other organisations such as ICCAT or CCSBT have her as being flagged under ‘Chinese Taipei’ or ‘Fishing Entity of Taiwan’, and AIS sites have her being flagged under, simply, ‘Taiwan’.

As with most vessels today, even Kao Fong No.372 has a multi-national crew. On her previous call into Cape Town in October 2020, she had four members of her crew whose contract had expired and needed to be repatriated back to their homeland of Indonesia.

Due to the strict Coronavirus restrictions in force at the time, all crew were required to first quarantine for 14 days aboard the vessel. The Indonesian Consulate General in Cape Town took responsibility for the four crew members to have their PCR tests, and then arranged all the necessary paperwork for them, and personally escorted them from the vessel directly to Cape Town International Airport, where they were all flown home to Djakarta, via Doha.

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IN CONVERSATION: How illegal fishing harms Nigeria and what to do about it

Illegal fishing increases food and economic insecurities in Nigeria.   Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images

Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood, University of St Andrews and Sayra van den Berg Bhagwandas, University of St Andrews

Like most countries in West Africa, Nigeria’s coastal waters contain diverse species of fish, which contribute to the food and economic security of its people.

Small-scale fishing operations contribute 80% of locally produced fish and support the livelihoods of 24 million Nigerians. Seventy three percent of those involved in fisheries in Nigeria are women.

The overall GDP contribution from fishing – small scale and industrial – was 0.84% in 2019 and 1.09% in 2020.

The fisheries sector is therefore a route to socioeconomic development in Nigeria. But it also faces threats.

One of these is environmental pollution, primarily from the oil industry. Pollution degrades the maritime environment, destroys fish stocks and reduces the catch.

Another threat is illegal fishing, as our previous research has found. Our current research continues to explore how women, in particular, are affected by and responding to these threats.

The first step is to understand the scale and complexity of illegal fishing and associated crime, and why it is happening.

Scale and costs

Recently, the Nigerian House of Representatives noted that the country loses $70 million each year to illegal fishing. This includes loss of licence fees, revenue from taxation and the value that could have been accrued from legitimate fishing by local vessels.

Other sources estimate the cost of illegal fishing in Nigeria as much higher, citing anywhere between $600 million and $800 million each year.

The variation in these figures reveals the difficulties in calculating the costs of clandestine activity. It’s also a result of budgetary neglect of the Nigerian Federal Fisheries Department. The department lacks the capacity to monitor, survey and control vessels operating in Nigeria.

Vessels from China, the European Union, and Belize are notable for illegally exploiting Nigerian waters.

Despite varying estimates, all sources agree that the economic losses caused by illegal fishing in Nigeria are high. But the figures alone paint a superficial picture of the true costs of illegal fishing. Illegal fishing does not occur in isolation.

Fisheries crime

Fisheries crime denotes a vast and diverse category of illegality and criminality that aids or accompanies illegal fishing. Such crimes can include corruption, customs fraud, human and drugs trafficking and piracy. Illegal fishing and fisheries crime also threaten human rights.

Our previous research found that illegal fishing was undermining people’s livelihoods. The lack of government support to address illegal fishing and protect livelihoods within fishing communities further pushes people into poverty. This makes them vulnerable to criminal networks.

Fisherfolks may end up participating in, and being victimised by, fisheries crime as a result. This is evidenced in increasing criminality through rising incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea throughout Nigeria’s coastal communities.

Maritime insecurity also has a gender dimension. Women in West African fisheries face unique challenges and risks such as poor access to capital, growing competition for access to depleting fish stocks, and policy exclusion.

Neglect and poor regulations

Despite the important contribution that fishing makes to the livelihoods of Nigerians, government neglects this sector. This is evident in the marginal budgetary allocation the sector receives yearly.

The Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Department of Nigeria’s Federal Fisheries Department is critical to managing Nigeria’s fisheries. Yet no budgetary allocation has been made to it in the last 15 years.

The Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Department lacks patrol vessels, and is therefore unable to monitor the activities of vessels operating in Nigeria. In 2017, the government announced plans to purchase patrol vessels, but it hasn’t done so yet.

The sector doesn’t receive enough funding to function effectively. Nigeria’s Fisheries Department operates within the country’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which was allocated less than 2% of the national budget in 2019.

Existing fisheries regulation is also inadequate. Nigeria’s fisheries are governed by the Sea Fisheries Act of 1992. These regulations are outdated and ill-equipped to address the current scale and severity of growing fisheries crime.

For example, in June 2020, a vessel, Hai Lu Feng 11, was fined ₦3 million (under $7,300) for switching off its Vessel Monitoring System while in Nigeria’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Vessel Monitoring System is designed to provide estimates of fishing activity in near real time. Switching the system off suggests an intent to evade detection by the authorities. But this fine is tiny when considering the millions of dollars that illegal fishing costs the Nigerian economy each year.

Solutions to illegal fishing

Solving the problem of illegal fishing in Nigeria requires that the Federal Department of Fisheries is supported to operate effectively. As the agency charged to ensure the sustainable exploitation of Nigeria’s fisheries, it must be adequately funded.

Current fisheries regulations must also be updated to reflect the current realities and impacts of fisheries crime.

A holistic and collaborative approach is critical to addressing fisheries crime. A national maritime security strategy is needed to guide and facilitate inter-agency and regional cooperation. The strategy should include the establishment of an information-sharing platform.

The capture of the pirates that targeted Hai Lu Feng 11 vessel by the Nigeria navy was supported by the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea. This was through the regional online communications platform established under the West Africa Task Force.

This shows that cooperation between fisheries agencies and other maritime enforcement agencies is critical to stemming the tide of illegal fishing – and other crime at sea.The Conversation

Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood, Lecturer, University of St Andrews and Sayra van den Berg Bhagwandas, Postdoctoral researcher, University of St Andrews

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Iranian Navy ship Kharg catches fire & sinks in Gulf of Oman

Iran Navy replenishment ship Kharg which caught fire and sank earlier today, Wednesday 2 June 2021, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Iran Navy replenishment ship Kharg which caught fire and sank earlier today, Wednesday 2 June 2021

The Iran Navy replenishment vessel IRIS KHARG 431 caught fire in the early hours of this morning (Wednesday) while operating in the Gulf of Oman this week and has sunk, Iran media is reporting.

Iran’s largest naval ship, which was built in the UK by Swan Hunter in 1977 and delivered to Iran in 1984, the Kharg caught fire and sank earlier today (Wednesday 2 June) while heading for the port of Jask on a training mission. The crew safely evacuated the vessel with no injuries being reported.

“All efforts to save the vessel were unsuccessful and it sank,” the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

The cause of the fire that led to the sinking is not immediately known.

In recent months tensions between Iran and Israel have heightened with reports of ships from both Middle Eastern countries coming under attack, with limpet mines and other devices reportedly used.

Immediate thoughts will now turn to whether the fire on board IRIS Kharg was deliberate or an accident. Neither country is likely to admit to being responsible, if that is the case.

A statement by the Iran Navy however said the fire had started in one of the ship’s systems, which seems a rather obvious thing to say.

IRIS Kharg burning on the horison, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
IRIS Kharg burning on the horison

Built as a sister vessel to the Ol-class replenishment ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Kharg’s original installed machinery included a pair of two-drum boilers built by Babcock & Wilcox, that rotated two Westinghouse geared turbine sets. The system was designed to generate 7,000 kW of electricity,[4] and to provide 26,870 horsepower (20.04 MW) for her single shaft coupled with the propeller. The ship was capable of reaching a nominal top speed of 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h).[4][5]

Her original navigation radar was manufactured by Decca Radar, a Decca 1229 model working on I-band, while the installed tactical air navigation system was a U.S.-made URN 20. She was also fitted with Inmarsat.

She was armed with an OTO Melara 76 mm/62 compact gun on her forecastle, as it was designed. The planned armament included two 40mm AA guns, one on the helo deck and the other on the forecastle pedestal, that were never installed. She was equipped with four USSR 23mm/80 anti-aircraft autocannons arranged in two twin mounts, as well as two 12.7mm heavy machine guns.

The ship’s crew consisted of 248 officers and men. Kharg had a helipad with twin hangars, giving her sufficient capacity to embark three helicopters. Technical info courtesy Wikipedia Commons.

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Passenger boat sinks in River Niger, 92 confirmed dead

A fairly typical ferry along the Niger River, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
AMap of Nigeria with Kebbi State highlighted.   Wikipedia

 

At least 92 bodies have been recovered or accounted for following the sinking of a passenger-carrying vessel on the Niger River in northern Nigeria.

While details about the vessel involved are unavailable, it appears the boat was carrying about 200 passengers, described as mostly traders from Loko in Niger State to a market in Kebbi State when it capsized in the Niger river.

A fairly typical passenger-carrying ferry on the Niger River, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
A fairly typical passenger-carrying ferry on the Niger River

According to one villager at Warra along the river, some of the bodies recovered were so decomposed that they had to be buried immediately in the river, using rope tied around the bodies and attached to weights to force them to sink.

Because of poor roads and the availability of the navigable Niger and other rivers, people frequently use the rivers as a means of travelling long distances to market or for other reasons.

Unfortunately, overloading of the ferries and boats is an ongoing problem that has led to numerous tragedies on the river systems.

One government official was quoted in the Nigerian media as calling on relevant authorities to step up supervision and more vigorous monitoring of inland water transportation in the country so as to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.

Added 2 June 2021

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PIRACY: Gulf of Guinea pirates attack fishing vessel IRIS S – 5 crew kidnapped

Jolly Roger pirate flag, appearing in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
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Dryad Global reports that another fishing vessel has been attacked and boarded by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, with five of the crew abducted and taken away for ransoming.

The attack on IRIS S (IMO8210493) occurred on Monday, 31 May 2021 in position 04° 33.8 N 002° 32,2 E, 109 nautical miles south of Cotonou, Benin. The attack happened at 19h30 UTC that day.

Armed pirates on two speedboats approached and boarded the 62-metre long, 12m wide vessel, taking the crew and sip before they could make their escape.

According to Dryad the pirates stole crew property before kidnapping five of the crew and departing the ship.

The kidnapped crew are understood to be the following:

Captain; Chief Officer; Second Officer; Chief Engineer – all South Koreans; Engineer – a Filipino.

This latest attack follows a recent threat warning issued by MDAT-GoG indicating a HEIGHTENED risk from piracy within the following areas:

05°00’N – 002°30’E

05°00’N – 005°00’E

02°30’N – 005°00’E

02°30’N – 002°30’E

The 662-dwt Iris S is registered in Tema, Ghana. She was built in 1982.

So far in 2021 there have been 61 personnel kidnapped across six incidents from vessels operating within the Gulf of Guinea.

Dryad Global reports that trends across the past 18 months have indicated a broadening of the piratical footprint within the Gulf of Guiana, beyond the traditional heartland of the Nigerian EEZ.

Incidents of kidnapping throughout the Gulf of Guinea are currently tracking below 2020 volumes when 11 incidents were recorded. Despite this, the number of seafarers kidnapped shows a slight increase with 61 seafarers kidnapped in 2021 against 57 across the same time frame in 2020.

Added 1 June 2021

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WHARF TALK: Surprising caller of LPG tanker Clipper Moon

The LPG tanker Clipper Moon was an unusual if not surprising caller at Cape Town last week, with the mist doing its part to shroud the tanker as if in secrecy. Picture by 'Dockrat' as featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
The LPG tanker Clipper Moon was an unusual if not surprising caller at Cape Town last week, with the mist doing its part to shroud the tanker as if in secrecy. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’

There are some vessels that you never expect to see in port, or are considered as ‘surprising arrivals’. These are mainly because due to that particular vessel having to land a sick crewmember, seeking a port of refuge due to poor weather, requiring urgent maintenance or engineering support, due to a catastrophic event, or it is a specialised vessel for which the port has no loading or discharge facilities.

So it is with the LPG tanker CLIPPER MOON (IMO 9253820) which arrived at Cape Town on 29 May at 16h00 and was berthed on the Landing Wall in the Duncan Dock. She had been on a voyage from Mombasa and was destined ‘For Orders’, commonly meaning the owner or charterer has not yet fixed a cargo, or is not yet sure where a loaded cargo is to be discharged. She had also spent 12 days at the Port Elizabeth anchorage prior to sailing to Cape Town, possibly whilst ‘awaiting orders’.

The tanker arrived from Mombasa, in ballast and with a draught of only 7 metres. Picture by 'Dockrat'featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
The tanker arrived from Mombasa, in ballast and with a draught of only 7 metres. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

With an advertised fully laden draught of 12 metres, it was clear that she was in ballast, as she had an arrival draught of 7 metres, and must have been heading for a loading port. Previously, her cargo of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) had been loaded at Beaumont in Texas, for discharge in Kenya. As Cape Town has no facilities for export LPG operations, and the Landing Wall is normally reserved for vessels that require a ‘quick fix’ of some problem or other, then Clipper Moon was likely a ‘surprising arrival’.

Built in 2003 by Kawasaki Heavy Industries at Sakaide in Japan, Clipper Moon is 205 metres in length with a deadweight of 44,822 tons. She is powered by a Kawasaki MAN-B&W 5S60MC-C 5 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 15,120 bhp (11,275 kW) to provide a service speed of 16.2 knots. Her engines are designed to run on the ‘boil off’ gas from her cargo tanks.

Her auxiliary engines include two MAN-B&W Holeby 8L23/30H generators producing 1,470 kW each, and one MAN-B&W Holeby 5L23/30 generator providing 1,050 kW. She also has an emergency generator providing 200 kW.

With the mist having cleared the tanker Clipper Moon was now in full view. Picture by 'Dockrat' and featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
With the mist having cleared the tanker Clipper Moon was now in full view. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

Classed as a Large Gas Carrier, Clipper Moon has four cargo tanks with a capacity of 59,300 m3 of liquid gas, and she normally transports 34,938 metric tons of liquid Butane, or 33,860 metric tons of liquid Propane, or 39,611 metric tons of liquid Ammonia (NH3). All cargoes are carried at a temperature of minus fifty degrees centigrade (-50C).

Owned by Clipper Shipping of Stavanger in Norway, Clipper Moon is both operated and managed by Solvang ASA, also of Stavanger. In operation since 1936, Solvang are a leading transporter of LPG and petrochemical gases, and currently own a fleet of 27 LPG and Ethylene tankers. One of the striking aspects of her design is her perfectly straight stem, with no flare or curve.

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Mammoet launches two floating drydocks via float-off operation in Saudi Arabia

The first floating dock with installed keel blocks and fenders, being transported to the Saudi Arabian site. All pictures courtesy of Mammoet, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
The first floating dock with installed keel blocks and fenders, being transported to the Saudi Arabian site. All pictures courtesy of Mammoet

Two floating drydocks, built at Zamil Shipyard in the port of Dammam, and intended for maintenance and repair works of naval crafts in Saudi Arabia, are being commissioned by Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN), a French naval ship design and construction company.

Mammoet’s Saudi Arabia branch was contracted by CMN to launch the drydocks via float-off operation. Using its wide expertise in marine load-out and float-off operations, Mammoet undertook all engineering, procurement, logistics and execution for the successful float-off of the drydocks.

One of the 1,450t drydocks being transported from the fabrication facility to the quayside. Featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
One of the 1,450t drydocks being transported from the fabrication facility to the quayside.

In the concept stage, the team proposed a solution for the float-off that has never been performed in the Kingdom before. The solution entailed the use of a large floating dock with the capability to perform float-off directly at the jetty. The use of the proposed dock eliminated the traditional offshore float-off and related logistics. This gave the client a commercial advantage that in addition to the costs, saved a significant amount of time.

After a thorough transport and marine engineering, multiple risk assessments and warranty surveys were performed to ensure safe and efficient execution, the floating dock, mooring and ballasting equipment were mobilised from UAE along with a specialised team to execute the operation.

The CMN drydock loaded out onto the floating dock, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
The CMN drydock loaded out onto the floating dock

It was performed in accordance with the requirements of the client, warranty surveyors, shipyard and port authorities and environmental regulations.

Each drydock, weighing 1,450t and measuring 85m long, 34m wide and 11m high, was safely transported from the fabrication facility to the quayside, then loaded out onto the floating dock using 96 axle lines of Self-Propelled Modular Transporter (SPMT), before being floated off successfully at the right time and tide.

Successful float-off at destination and featured at Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Successful float-off at destination

Commenting on the operation, CMN’s Transfer of Technology Manager said congratulations were due to the entire Mammoet team and its subcontractors that worked so hard on the project.

“The temperatures were high and some were fasting during Ramadan – yet, the float-off operation has been accomplished with great professionalism. We have been planning this operation together for some time but due to the COVID-19 pandemic we had to be inventive and find solutions and avoid delays.”

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WHARF TALK: MUR Shipping’s African Avocet

The Ultramax bulk carrier African Avocet at the A berth in the Port of Cape Town. Picture by 'Dockrat', featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
The Ultramax bulk carrier African Avocet at the A berth in the Port of Cape Town. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’

The sight of a regular stream of reefers arriving in South African ports to pick up the export fruit crops for distribution the world over, is a sign that autumn in South Africa has arrived. Already the agricultural sector is preparing the land for next year’s harvest. The major requirement for the activity of land preparation is fertiliser, and Cape Town has been seeing plenty of bulk carriers recently arriving to discharge large quantities of both bulk and bagged fertiliser for the industry.

One such vessel is AFRICAN AVOCET (IMO 9738870) which arrived from Durban on 26 May at 10h00 and proceeded to A Berth in the Duncan Dock to discharge the remains of her cargo of bulk fertiliser. The cargo discharge is an ‘on-off’ affair due to the frequent rain showers that were affecting Cape Town, causing cargo operations to be regularly suspended.

Built in 2015 by the I-S shipyard at Imabari in Japan, African Avocet is an Ultramax bulk carrier of 200 metres in length and has a deadweight of 61,328 tons. She is powered by a single Hitachi MAN-B&W 6S50ME-B9 6 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 11,077 bhp (8,260 kW). She has four generators producing 1,950 kVA, and she has a single Muira vertical composite boiler. She is owned by Mur Shipping BV of Amsterdam and is managed by the Mur Group subsidiary, Dockendale Ship Management of Mumbai.

African Avocet was carrying a cargo of fertiliser that was discharged partly at Durban and the rremainder at Cape Town. Picture by 'Dockrat' and featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
African Avocet was carrying a cargo of fertiliser that was discharged partly at Durban and the rremainder at Cape Town. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

The voyage of African Avocet started in the port of Sitrah in Bahrain, where she loaded her cargo of bulk fertiliser, first for partial discharge in Durban, and then Cape Town to discharge the final parcel of her cargo. Sitrah is the site of one of the largest fertiliser production plants in the gulf region. Owned by the Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC), the plant produces Ammonia, Urea and Methanol chemical fertiliser at a rate of 1.6 million tons per year, or 4,500 tons per day. The chemical fertiliser production comes from a feedstock of natural gas being piped directly to the plants from the Bahrain offshore natural gasfields.

The Mur Shipping Group have a long history of involvement with African shipping logistics, hence their fleet nomenclature of African Birds, and to support growth in both Eastern and Southern African ports, a new Port Operations Centre was opened in Durban in June 2018, which complements a permanent Chartering Operations office that they also maintain in Johannesburg. Only last month, her MUR sistership African Egret delivered another cargo of 17,000 tons of bulk fertiliser to Cape Town.

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The Future is Now: IMO and Autonomous ships: Regulatory scoping exercise completed

Autonomous shipping joint venture between ASKO, Kongsberg Maritime and Massterly (Kongsberg/Wilhelmsen joint venture) 2 Fully Electric ships will replace 2 million kilometres of truck transport, saving 5,000 tonnes of CO2 every year. Images kindly provided by www.imo.org IMO ©, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Autonomous shipping joint venture between ASKO, Kongsberg Maritime and Massterly (Kongsberg/Wilhelmsen joint venture). Two Fully Electric ships will replace 2 million kilometres of truck transport, saving 5,000 tonnes of CO2 every year. Image kindly provided by www.imo.org IMO ©

At IMO the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) at its 103rd session in May completed a regulatory scoping exercise to analyse relevant ship safety treaties, in order to assess how Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) could be regulated.

Completion of the scoping exercise represents an all important first step, paving the way to focused discussions to ensure that regulation will keep pace with technological developments.

This was initiated in 2017 to determine how safe, secure and environmentally sound MASS operations might be addressed in IMO instruments.

Assessment of IMO instruments…

It is understood that the exercise involved assessing a substantial number of IMO treaty instruments under the remit of the MSC and identifying provisions which applied to MASS and prevented MASS operations; or applied to MASS and do not prevent MASS operations and require no actions; or applied to MASS and do not prevent MASS operations but may need to be amended or clarified, and/or may contain gaps; or have no application to MASS operations.

Varying degrees of autonomy were considered: crewed ship with automated processes and decision support (Degree One); remotely controlled ship with seafarers on board (Degree Two); remotely controlled ship without seafarers on board (Degree Three); and fully autonomous ship (Degree Four).

…and safety treaties

The safety treaties assessed include the SOLAS Convention and various codes made mandatory under SOLAS (Casualty Investigation, Enhanced Survey Programme (ESP), Fire Safety Systems (FSS), Fire Test Procedures (FTP), Bulk Chemical (IBC), Gas Carrier (IGC), Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC), Dangerous Goods (IMDG), Carriage of Irradiated Nuclear Fuel (INF), Intact Stability, International Safety Management (ISM), Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS), Grain, Polar, Recognized Organizations (RO)); Collision Regulations (COLREG); Load Lines Convention and 1988 Protocol; Convention on Safe Containers (CSC); STCW Convention and Code, as well as STCW-F Convention; search and rescue (1979 SAR Convention); tonnage measurement (Tonnage 1969) and the Code of Safe Practice for Cargo Stowage and Securing (CSS Code) and IMO Instruments Implementation Code (III Code).

Outcome of the regulatory scoping exercise was discussed and completed by the MASS Working Group which met during MSC 103.

For each provision, the exercise identified whether MASS could potentially be regulated by: equivalences as provided for by the instruments or developing interpretations; and/or amending existing instruments; and/or developing a new instrument; or none of the above as a result of the analysis.

IMO went on to report that the outcome highlights a number of high-priority issues, cutting across several instruments, that would need to be addressed at a policy level to determine future work.

IMO image featuring in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Image kindly provided by www.imo.org IMO ©

Development of MASS terminology and definitions

These involve the development of MASS terminology and definitions, including an internationally agreed definition of MASS and clarifying the meaning of the term “master”, “crew” or “responsible person”, particularly in Degrees Three (remotely controlled ship) and Four (fully autonomous ship).

Other key issues include addressing the functional and operational requirements of the remote-control station/centre and the possible designation of a remote operator as seafarer.

Further common potential gaps and themes identified across several safety treaties related to provisions containing manual operations and alarms on the bridge; provisions related to actions by personnel (such as firefighting, cargoes stowage and securing and maintenance); watchkeeping; implications for search and rescue; and information required to be on board for safe operation.

The way forward

The Committee noted that the best way forward to address MASS in the IMO regulatory framework could, preferably, be in a holistic manner through the development of a goal-based MASS instrument. Such an instrument could take the form of a “MASS Code”, with goal(s), functional requirements and corresponding regulations, suitable for all four degrees of autonomy, and addressing the various gaps and themes identified by the RSE.

The Committee invited Member States to submit proposals on how to achieve the best way forward to a future session of the MSC.

By the end of May IMO’s Legal and Facilitation Committees were in the process of conducting regulatory scoping exercises on conventions under their purview.

reported by Paul Ridgway, Lonodn on behalf of Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime mnews

 

Reported by Paul Ridgway
London

 

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TRADE NEWS: Ocean Infinity selects DNV’s ShipManager for innovative robotic vessels

Ocean Infinity robotic autonomous ships, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Ocean Infinity robotic autonomous ships

Ocean Infinity, a leading marine robotics and deep sea data acquisition company, is implementing ShipManager fleet management software for 17 new robotic ships and additional autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).

Ocean Infinity will implement ShipManager’s modules for planned maintenance, procurement and business intelligence for its advanced fleet of uncrewed, low-emission vessels for capturing ocean data.

Securing reliability

“As part of our efforts to secure the reliability of our fleet of robotic ships and AUVs, we…

Read the rest of this report in the TRADE NEWS section available by CLICKING HERE

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NSPCA up in arms over needless death of another 43 cattle at sea

UAE-owned livestock carrier LSS Success - hardly a successful voyage from East London. Picture: Fleetmon, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
UAE-owned livestock carrier LSS Success – hardly a successful voyage from East London. Picture: Fleetmon

The National Council of SPCA’s (NSPCA) says that 43 cattle being transported by sea aboard the livestock carrier LSS SUCCESS (IMO 6927092) have lost their lives while being shipped from the Port of East London to Mauritius.

The livestock carrier sailed from the East London port in mid-April this year, after loading 512 live South African cattle for slaughter in Mauritius. While sailing on the approximately 13 to 14 day voyage to Port Louis the ship encountered a storm which led to the deaths of 43 of what the NSPCA called ‘innocent lives’.

The NSPCA approached Dr P Beeharry (the Principal Agricultural Officer in the Mauritian Ministry of Agriculture), the owner of the LSS Success, as well as the Mauritian importers and South African exporters for an explanation for the death of the animals.

The NSPCA says it received a single response from the Captain of the LSS Success stating that the vessel encountered a storm en route to Mauritius, which caused the animals to experience ‘seasickness’ and as a result of that 42 cattle had died on board the vessel.

The NSPCA then made contact with the importer in Mauritius and found out that another cow was slaughtered during offloading because the animal was in terrible condition upon arrival, bringing the total mortality to 43.

According to the NSPCA, seasickness and storms cannot be an acceptable reason for animals to die at sea. “For as long as live export is legal, the vessels used to conduct this atrocious act should, at the very least, be equipped to withstand storms (which regularly occur) in a manner that protects the animals from the effects of the storm.”

The NSPCA says it is of the opinion that the vessel, which is 51 years old, was simply not appropriate for this voyage. “Those animals were probably crushed to death on the vessel during the storm which would have been excruciating to say the least. The bodies of these animals were thrown overboard, therefore making it impossible for experts to ascertain the exact cause of death.

“The NSPCA is certainly disappointed by this incident but we are not surprised. We have stated time and time again that the export of live animals by sea is undeniably cruel for a number of reasons. The NSPCA recognises the helplessness of these sentient beings and hopes that we will be able to continue to fight for them through the support of the public.”

LSS Success

The livestock carrier LSS Success has a deadweight of 996 tons and a gross tonnage of 1370t. The ship is owned by a company registered as LSS Sinbad Shipping Inc, c/o RTSS Maritime Services LLC of Dubai, UAE. RTSS Maritime Services LLC is also the ship manager, commercial manager and ISM manager, all of the same address in Dubai.

LSS Sinbad has owned the vessel since 2012.

The ship flies the flag of Panama and was built in 1970, with a length of 69 metres with a width of 12 metres.

Since the voyage described above, LSS Success has returned to East London from Port Louis, taking 13 days for the voyage, to load another cargo of livestock.

On 13 June 2020 shortly after arriving in Port Louis, Mauritius from Cape Town and Luanda, customs and drug enforcement officers went on board and discovered drugs in the form of 39 kg of cannabis on board the ship, including two kg of resin and one kg of paste. Five crew members were arrested, including four Indian nationals and one Tanzanian.

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GB’s national flagship proposal: To promote British businesses around the world

HMQ Britannia.  Picture per www.royalyachtbritannis.co.uk ©, featuring in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
HMY Britannia.  Picture per www.royalyachtbritannis.co.uk ©

The Office of the Prime Minister, No 10, announced on 30 May that a proposed national flagship will showcase advanced British design, engineering and green technology while boosting trade and driving investment.

It was reported that the ship will be the first of its kind constructed in the UK, creating jobs and reinvigorating the shipbuilding industry.

Once built, the flagship will host trade events and promote UK interests around the world. British businesses will be given a new global platform to promote their products through a new national flagship announced by the Prime Minister on 30 May.

A typical six month itinerary for the flagship might include docking at a port in a country where a British Prime Ministerial visit is taking place to accommodate parallel discussions between British and local businesses, hosting trade fairs to sell British products to an emerging market and providing the venue for an international ministerial summit or major trade negotiations between the UK and another government.

A distinct role anticipated

The ship, the name of which will be announced in due course, will be the first national flagship since 1997 when the HMY Britannia (pictured) was decommissioned. However, its role will be distinct from that of any previous national flagship, reflecting the UK’s new status as an independent trading nation and helping us to seize the opportunities that status presents.

As well as being a resource for British firms looking to export globally, the ship will also be a tangible manifestation of British ingenuity and shipbuilding expertise. The Government’s intention is to build the ship in the UK. This will create jobs, help drive a renaissance in the UK’s shipbuilding industry and showcase the best of British engineering around the world.

The Prime Minister said: “This new national flagship will be the first vessel of its kind in the world, reflecting the UK’s burgeoning status as a great, independent maritime trading nation.

“Every aspect of the ship, from its build to the businesses it showcases on board, will represent and promote the best of British – a clear and powerful symbol of our commitment to be an active player on the world stage.

“As well as promoting trade, it is expected that the flagship will play an important role in achieving the UK’s foreign policy and security objectives, including by hosting summits and other diplomatic talks.

“Construction of the ship is expected to begin as soon as next year and the ship will enter service within the next four years. The tendering process for the design and construction of the ship will launch shortly, with an emphasis on building a vessel which reflects British design expertise and the latest innovations in green technology.

“The ship will be crewed by the Royal Navy and is expected to be in service for around 30 years.

“Costs for the construction and operation of the ship will be confirmed following the completion of a competitive tendering process.”

reported by Paul Ridgway, Lonodn on behalf of Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime mnews

 

Reported by Paul Ridgway
London

 

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IN CONVERSATION: Africa’s free trade area offers great promise. But only if risks are managed with resolve

Citrus orchards in South Africa. Kenyans buying South African oranges pay a heavy price due to import duties.   Shutterstock

John Luiz, University of Cape Town

For all its stutters and missteps, there can be little argument that the European Union (EU) has largely lived up to its ambitious billing: to create stability and growth on a continent that, for a period, was dangerously prone to nationalism and conflict.

The question facing Africa is whether the continent’s free trade area can likewise mitigate conflict and forge a prospering Africa.

The African Continental Free Trade Area is a project of the African Union (AU). Founded in 2018, it’s described as a framework through which to deliver “inclusive and sustainable growth”. By July 2019, 54 of the AU’s 55 member states had signed the agreement, with Eritrea the only holdout. While negotiations are still ongoing, the trade agreement officially commenced on 1 January this year. The idea is that it will be rolled out over three phases.

The World Bank imagines it as a means “to lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty”.

But will it?

The experience of the EU could help show the way both in terms of the upside, as well as potential pitfalls.

Lessons and pitfalls

In terms of success, the EU has contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe. It has also promoted economic convergence between its wealthier and poorer constituent parts.

When the EU was awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize the committee argued that “through well-aimed efforts and by building up mutual confidence, historical enemies can become close partners”. It highlighted a number of achievements including the EU’s contribution to the introduction of democracy in Greece, Spain and Portugal, the strengthening of democracy in Eastern Europe and overcoming the division between East and West as well as ethnically based national conflicts.

In terms of pitfalls, the EU has seen its fair share of detractors and crises.

For example, questions were asked about its heavy-handed response during the Greek debt crisis and more recently about its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

But the EU has shown great resilience even in the face of losing one of its largest members, the UK, through Brexit.

It’s easy to aspire to such integration without recognising the careful construction and staging of successively deeper integration that preceded the EU. Before becoming full members of the EU, candidate countries have had to meet strict criteria in terms of governance and economic conditions amongst other factors. Its exclusivity is part of the reason for its success.

The promise

The main objectives of Africa’s free trade area are to “to create a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of businesspersons and investments”. Its remit is sweeping: from the reduction of tariffs among member countries to introducing regulatory measures such as sanitary standards and removing technical barriers to trade.

There are tantalising opportunities for the plucking. Currently, a massively underperforming Africa accounts for just 2% of global trade. And only 17% of African exports are intended for other countries on the continent, well below intra-continental trade in Asia (59%) and Europe (68%).

As the largest free trade area in the world when measured by number of participating countries, the potential for the African Continental Free Trade Area to nudge those numbers in the right direction is significant.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)suggests that, if the trade pact is fully implemented, the GDP of most African countries could rise by 1% to 3% once all tariffs are removed.

The World Bank estimates the pact will boost regional income by 7%, or $450 billion, speed up wage growth for women, and lift wages by 10.3% for unskilled workers and 9.8% for skilled workers.

The caveats

Some thorny issues still need to be thrashed out. These include bringing down existing tariffs. For example, oranges imported from South Africa for sale in a supermarket in Kenya currently attract a 25% tariff. Non-tariff barriers, such as sanitory rules, also need to be tackled.

Another unresolved issue is finding consensus over ‘rules of origin’. This requires getting agreement on what tariffs, if any, will apply to goods that one country buys cheaply in Asia, for example, and wishes to trade in Africa.

Vested interests often make it hard to deal with these issues. Again the example of the EU is instructive, as the clear benefits from membership seemingly outweigh costs.

Africa needs to overcome some other challenges too.

African countries rate poorly for ease of doing business. Only two – Mauritius and Rwanda – rank among the global top 50 countries in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 report where business can be conducted with ease.

Trying to implement a project of this nature among 54 countries with sometimes vastly disparate economies and infrastructure will stretch systems and patience. There are also challenges associated with marrying the free trade deal with existing regional agreements, as well as with bilateral trade agreements with non-African countries.

In the case of the EU, candidate countries had to implement various economic reforms as part of the price of membership.

Risks and pitfalls

There is the danger that this could be yet another bold African declaration that is stillborn or badly implemented. The fallout could mean that the continent simply reverts back to the status quo. But some countries could be hurt more than others.

There is also a danger that the deal results in winners and losers. It’s therefore important to accept from the outset that not all countries will benefit equally. Countries with larger manufacturing bases and more developed transport infrastructure and with more diversified economies are likely to benefit more.

If the agreement deepens inequality between countries, it could raise tensions, and potentially spark conflict. Here, lessons gleaned from the EU could help. Under its arrangement wealthier countries support poorer nations within the block through various transfers.

The difficulty in Africa is that it has countries at vastly disparate levels of development facing different challenges and so each step in the process is going to be highly contested.

One possible solution for down the line would be put in place a mechanism that offers both carrot and stick. This could be done, for example, through the establishment of a solidarity fund where future gains get “taxed” with a levy to redistribute between countries to promote convergence.

Rewards

In 1946, Winston Churchill espoused the notion of a “United States of Europe”, of the need to

re-create the European family, or as much of it as we can, and to provide it with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom.

That is the role the African Continental Free Trade Area can play for the continent.

To make it work, however, African leaders need to commit to a full implementation of the agreement. This will mean that they must avoid turning inward, and buy into the notion that a united and co-ordinated front presents opportunities for the continent as a whole.

They must also get buy-in from citizens. As the UK’s exit from the EU showed, people will want to opt out if they can’t feel – or understand – the benefits.

The free trade deal won’t solve all of Africa’s woes. But it does have the potential to increase economic participation and lift citizens out of poverty.The Conversation

John Luiz, Professor of International Business Strategy & Emerging Markets at the University of Sussex and the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, University of Cape Town

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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WHARF TALK: The Russians are coming! SCF Pearl

SCF Pearl in Cape Town harbour, with the Shell Transport and Shipping Company's Pacific Sarah across on the oher side of Duncan Dock. Picture by 'Dockrat', as featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
SCF Pearl at left in Cape Town harbour, with the Shell Transport and Shipping Company’s Pacific Sarah across the waters of Duncan Dock. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’

The Russians are coming! There was a time when the only Russian vessel you would see in any South African Port was connected to the Soviet Union Antarctic Expedition, and generally in port, usually Cape Town, for bunkers and stores only and berthed discreetly in the far reaches of the port away from prying eyes. Despite the world changing out of all recognition since 1994, it is still an unusual occurrence to see a Russian ship in a South African port, even one registered in Liberia.

On 14 May at 03h00 the LR1 tanker SCF PEARL (IMO 9577109) arrived at the Cape Town anchorage after a voyage from Mangalore in India. She remained at anchor for five days whilst awaiting the LR berth in the harbour to become vacant. On 19 May she came alongside the tanker berth to begin her discharge.

SCF Pearl in Cape Town harbour, with the Shell Transport and Shipping Company's Pacific Sarah across on the oher side of Duncan Dock. Picture by 'Dockrat', as featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
A different view of both ships – you can read about Pacific Sarah in an earlier edition by  CLICKING HERE. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

Built in 2011 by the Hyundai Mipo Shipyard at Ulsan in South Korea, SCF Pearl is 229 metres in length with a deadweight of 74,552 tons. She is powered by a HHI MAN-B&W 6S60MC-C 6 cylinder 2 stroke engine providing 18,184 bhp (13,560 kW), driving a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 15 knots. Her auxiliary power comes from three Hyundai 6H21/32 generators providing 800 kW each, with a Cummins 6CT83DM emergency generator. She has a single oil fired Kangrim Boiler, and a single composite Donghwa Pneumatic boiler. She has 12 cargo tanks with a capacity of 82,360 m3.

SCF Pearl in Cape Town harbour. Picture by 'Dockrat' and featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
SCF Pearl in Cape Town harbour. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

Owned by Sovcomflot of St Petersburg in Russia and managed by SCF Management Services in Dubai, SCF Pearl completed her offload on 21 May and, rather than sail, she was shifted down to the Eastern Mole where she took on bunkers from the Cape Town based bunker tanker Al Safa. This freed up the LR tanker berth to allow another LR tanker, Pacific Sarah to berth, thus bringing about the rare sight of two LR1 tankers in port at the same time.

Sailing at midnight on 22 May, SCF Pearl sailed to off port limits and remained there for the next 24 hours, showing no intent to continue on her voyage, and with no destination apparent.

Vessels with acronyms as part of their name are usually identifiable with a specific company, or charterer, and so it is with SCF Pearl. SCF is an acronym for SovComFlot, where Sov is not short for Soviet, as you might think, but rather for Sovremenniy which means ‘Modern’. Com and Flot stand for Commercial and Fleet. The company specialises in the transportation of energy products. The company also uses the company initials as a message on their vessels accommodation where SCF Pearl has the letters SCF painted above the words ‘Safety Comes First’. A very apt logo and public message for a tanker company.

SCF Pearlt at Cape Town featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS. Picture is by Dockrat
Picture by ‘Dockrat’

The company was founded by the Soviet Union government in 1988, as the country was in the throes of collapse, and was in order to create a shipping company that could buy new and second hand foreign vessels, for use in the charter world as a way of earning hard currency.

Still very much Russian State owned, Sovcomflot is always headed by executives taken from within the Presidential Administration of Russia. With the current worldwide scramble for refined fuel products to be fixed for the South African market, SCF Pearl is not likely to be the last Russian tanker to appear in a South African port in the next few months.

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Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado crisis: SA says send troops; Tanzania says no troops, instead negotiate, develop

President Emmanuel Macron of France and South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa meet to discuss regional matters. Image: SA Govt, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
President Emmanuel Macron of France and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa meet on Friday 21 May 2021 to discuss regional matters. Image: SA Govt

South Africa is pressing for urgent military intervention in Cabo Delgado, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor told Reuters (21 May) in a telephone interview. Since 2008 SADC has had a regional defence pact that allows military intervention to prevent the spread of conflict.

“We support the use of the defence pact. It’s never been really been utilised in the region, but we believe this is the time, this is a threat to the region,” Pandor said.

Tanzania will not send troops to Mozambique to counter insurgents in Cabo Delgado, Minister of Foreign Affairs Liberata Mulamula said Wednesday 26 May in Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania government has, instead, emphasised on the need for talks as a means of promoting peace and tranquility in Mozambique, calling on the international community to help the country by sending development aid. (Citizen 27 May)

A SADC evaluation proposed 3000 troops and equipment including a submarine [presumably South African Navy]. The SADC summit scheduled to discuss this was postponed from April to 27 May, and the summit simply postponed the issue until a new summit on 20 June. President Filipe Nyusi’s longstanding opposition to a multi-lateral force and the opposition of some countries such as Tanzania suggest the SADC force will never happen.

Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi, fearturing in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi

At the Frelimo Central Committee on 22-23 May, President Filipe Nyusi made clear he wanted foreign troops. But in his closing speech, he stressed the “concentration on bilateral efforts to combat terrorism in Cabo Delgado”. It is a point he has stressed in private talks with diplomats for more than a year, that he does not want international forces – SADC, EU or UN. Instead he wants agreements with individual governments and the ability to move and assign foreign troops to particular zones or tasks. SADC or UN troops would have their own external commanders, but Frelimo will only accept foreign troops that it controls – which means private military companies (PMCs) or bilateral arrangements with governments.

Will Rwandan troops create the Total security zone?

Rwandan troops may play a central role in creating the security zone around the Palma-Afungi natural gas area. Rwanda has become a major participant in peacekeeping missions and has had troops or police in Central African Republic, Mali, Sudan, South Sudan and other countries. But more three-way discussions will be needed between France, Rwanda, and Mozambique.

On 28 April Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi flew to Rwanda for talks with President Paul Kagame. Just 10 days later a reconnaissance team of Rwandan officers was in Cabo Delgado. Nyusi and Kagame were in Paris for the French Africa summit 17-18 May; both met President Emmanuel Macron and Cabo Delgado was discussed. Last week Marcon was in Rwanda and South Africa to meet their presidents on 27 and 28 May. Again, Cabo Delgado was discussed, although not top of the agenda. source: Joseph Hanlon’s “Mozambique News Reports and Clippings”. Republished by permission.

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Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado crisis: Who will be top dog?

French patrol frigate FS Nivose based at Reunion, which regularly patrols in the Mozambique Channel. Picture: Clinton Wyness, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
French patrol frigate FS Nivose shown here arriving at Durban in February this year, is based at Reunion and regularly patrols in the Mozambique Channel. Picture: Clinton Wyness

An increasing number of countries want part of the action, and there is a quiet struggle as to who will be top dog [in Cabo Delgado]. On the ground Portugal has 60 soldiers doing training, the US just finished its first training mission, Rwanda has a military investigation team, and South Africa has had private military companies and sent in soldiers to rescue its civilians after the Palma attack.

Off shore, France and South Africa have regular naval patrols and the United States and India have had less frequent patrols.

French President Emmanuel Macron travelled to Africa and met Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Thursday 26 May and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday, 28 May. In both countries, the Cabo Delgado war was on the agenda. In South Africa Macron said France is available to assist the Mozambican military, but only in the “context of a political solution”. And any help “should be an African response at the request of Mozambique and coordinated with the neighbouring countries,” he said. The interest of both Rwanda and South Africa is that France and the EU pay for their intervention.

Macron particularly stressed that France already has a regional presence in its island territories of Mayotte and Reunion, and stood ready to offer naval assistance. “We have frigates and some other vessels in the region and on a regular basis organise operations. So we could be available, and very quickly so, if requested,” he said.

Map of Cabo Delgado in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Map of Cabo Delgado

Meanwhile EU foreign policy head Josep Borrell said on 28 May that the EU could have a military training mission in Mozambique in months. “The problem will be to look for capacities. Apart from Portugal, who else is going to contribute?”

Saudi Arabia is working with SADC to support the Mozambican military fight the insurgents, Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman said on 20 May. There is a certain irony in this, as many Mozambicans have been trained in Saudi Arabia in fundamentalist Islam.

The United States is now beefing up the embassy’s security advisory team with the help of private military contractors (PMCs). A new adviser to head up the counter-terrorism programme will be provided by one of the Pentagon subcontractors bidding for the contract, reports Africa Intelligence (28 May), a Paris based newsletter which backs Paris in its confrontation with Washington. The US has been strongly critical of the use by Mozambique of PMCs, despite their being extensively used by the US in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Difficult negotiations are ahead as Mozambique desperately tries to keep support fractured and in pieces it can control, and at least four countries want to be top dog:

United States: Wants a base in southern Africa and has long coveted Nacala, with its big airport and deep water port that would be good for submarines. Mozambique could be its new base for the war against Islamic State. Mozambique could be the new Afghanistan or Libya.
France: Wants control of the gas zone but appears willing to accept Rwandan fighters. But will expect to control coastal security.
South Africa: Wants to assert itself as the regional power but has been cutting the military budget, so hoping the EU will pay.
Portugal: The military of the former colonial power want to return and prove their ex-colony still needs them. They are using their position as president of the EU to gain EU backing for their operation.

None of these four has won a recent war against a guerrilla insurgency. Frelimo won a guerrilla independence war 47 years ago, but has never beaten a guerrilla force.

source: Joseph Hanlon’s “Mozambique News Reports and Clippings”. Republished by permission. See archive on http://bit.ly/Mozamb

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Transnet meets Richards Bay stakeholders to share Port Master Plan

Richards Bay terminals handling bulk ore commodities, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Richards Bay terminals handling bulk ore commodities

A delegation of senior Transnet management headed by the Group Chief Executive of Transnet SOC Ltd, Ms Portia Derby, visited the Zululand Port of Richards Bay last Friday (21 May 2021) to share details of the proposed port master plan with local stakeholders, including the mayor of Umhlathuze, the business community and ten traditional leaders in the municipality and surrounding district.

The Port of Richards Bay, which lies 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of the Port of Durban and 460 kilometres (288 miles) south of the Port of Maputo in neighbouring Mozambique, remains a strategic industrial port, designed originally for the export of coal, and now responsible for exporting commodities such as coal, chrome and magnetite among others.

The Port of Richards Bay has been identified as one of the three ports to support Transnet’s Natural Gas strategy, which seeks to provide storage and import facilities for the growing natural gas sector in the country. In the short-to-medium term, the port will support the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) power generation facilities and in the longer-term, LNG import facilities.

Transnet Group Chief Executive, Ms Portia Derby, featuring in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Transnet Group Chief Executive, Ms Portia Derby

In addition, to support the Port of Durban’s transformation into a regional water container hub port, Transnet says it plans to relocate its liquid bulk operations from the Port of the Durban to the Port of Richards Bay.

According to Transnet, Richards Bay port is already well-equipped and located to take advantage of the migrated volumes. Liquid bulk lease sites and berths have already been identified in the South Dune precinct in the port for the relocation of the liquid bulk terminal from Island View at Durban.

Regarding coal exports, the Port of Richards Bay remains the primary coal export channel in South Africa for geographic reasons and existing infrastructure, including the important Richards Bay railway coal line from Mpumalanga Province.

Transnet says it aims to maintain export coal targets, while working to realise its carbon neutral targets over time.

The transport company also plans to increase capacity for the handling of chrome ore and magnetite in the Richards Bay port. It remains the primary port of export for these commodities which is complemented by the Port of Maputo as a secondary export channel.

Transnet said in a statement following the Richards Bay meeting that it will continue to engage with stakeholders, for the growth and development of Richards Bay and its local communities.

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IN CONVERSATION: Delay in sending regional forces to Mozambique could exact a high price

Some of the thousands of people displaced by the killings in the Cabo Delgado province.  EFE-EPA/Joas Relvas

Francois Vreÿ, Stellenbosch University

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is poised to intervene militarily on the side of the Mozambican government to stop the emerging deadly Islamist insurgency in the Cabo Delgado Province, in the north of the country.

This comes after the regional body of 16-nation states sent a technical team to verify events in the area and advise its heads of state forum on the way forward.

The technical team has recommended that SADC deploys a 3 000-strong robust intervention force comprised of land, air and naval assets to help quell the insurgency.

The decision to intervene militarily is a clear indicator that the deadly insurgency, which began in earnest in October 2017, has long passed the stage where it can be seen as a purely domestic problem to be addressed by Mozambique as a sovereign state.

Having failed to act to prevent the insurgency escalating, SADC and Mozambique are now in the difficult position of having to react after extensive damage has already been done. They will thus have to help stop the insurgency as well as embark on post-conflict rebuilding. These two responses are more complicated, expensive and more dangerous than prevention.

SADC’s late entry into the fray raises the need to deal with its own array of bureaucratic and other pitfalls that make it less than agile. Its overcautious and sluggish response has resulted in the loss of initiative and opportunities to prevent the insurgency escalating.

But, the problem is not purely of its own making. The African Union took too long to designate it as the preferred regional actor to address the Mozambican insurgency problem in a timely way.

Intervention in Cabo Delgado is a potentially dangerous move with far-reaching consequences for SADC if its efforts fail, or it becomes a protracted intervention.

The basis of intervention

The SADC response to events in Mozambique is in line with the United Nation’s “responsibility to protect principle” to prevent human catastrophe.

The principle has three elements. These are to prevent conflict, to react once conflict has started with a view to stopping the violence, and to rebuild in the aftermath of the conflict.

The SADC intervention fits in with the commitment by African leaders to find “African solutions for African problems”. It is underpinned by SADC’s peace and security protocol and its Standby Force and SADC Brigade to guide and execute decisions.

SADC is also guided by its 2003 Mutual Defence Pact regulating responses to armed attacks on a fellow SADC member state. The pact outlines the type of responses to be undertaken to defend a member state under attack.

The Protocol on Politics Defence and Security Cooperation stipulates that a member state under siege should invite SADC to intervene.




Read more:
Offshore gas finds offered major promise for Mozambique: what went wrong


Mozambique has been slow to invite SADC to intervene. A final decision is likely at a meeting of SADC and Mozambique set for the end of May.

In terms of SADC protocols and the report of the technical team following its visit to Mozambique, military support is recommended as an instrument to assist the Mozambique government. The recommendation points to assembling a military contingent with mixed military capabilities. That aligns with the following functions under the SADC Protocol on politics, defence and security cooperation.

  • Observation and monitoring missions such as peace support missions,
  • Interventions for peace and security restoration at the request of a member state, and
  • Actions to prevent the spread of conflict to neighbouring states, or the resurgence of violence after agreements have been reached.

Dangers and vulnerabilities

At the moment, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) provides an example of ongoing military intervention in a fellow SADC member country. SADC member states – South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi – are actively involved in a UN peacekeeping mission, MUNOSCO, in the country.

It is the largest ongoing UN mission and dates back to 2010. Elements from SADC are now largely concentrated in the Force Intervention Brigade to pursue armed groups in the east and help the DRC government regain control of its territory.

The operation in Mozambique will be different as SADC will be operating without the cover of the UN. This places it in a precarious position. It will have to take full responsibility for any fall-out resulting from failure.

There’s no precedent for an intervention of this kind. In 1998 South Africa and Botswana sent troops into Lesotho. In the same year Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe intervened in the DRC. In both cases the interventions were controversial and messy. SADC authorisation came after deployment and placed great strain on relationships within the regional body.

SADC’s decision to intervene in Mozambique comes with its own set of difficulties. Chief among these is to get member states to commit resources to establish an intervention brigade to deploy against the insurgents.

The size of the final force will be depend on how extensive the armed conflict has become, and what level of intervention the Mozambican government is willing to accept from SADC.




Read more:
Why South Africa has a keen interest in extremist violence in northern Mozambique


To succeed, SADCS’s intervention in Mozambique will require extensive investment in time, human resources and money. The extent of this investment will, of course, be determined by the speed with which it contains – or even defeats – the insurgents.

Military action will need to entail a parallel process of rebuilding physical infrastructure and assisting with returning people to their normal life. Most of all, it must help the Mozambique government prevent a resurgence of the violence.

The violence has had a devastating effect on security and rule of law. The impact spilled offshore as gas companies placed extensive foreign infrastructure development for the energy sector on hold.

Rebuilding the confidence needed for the gas industry to resume activities is a major incentive to get the insurgency under control.

Costly and dangerous mission ahead

Success in turning the tide against militants in Cabo Delgado could give SADC’s image a major boost. Failure, however, could tarnish its image of protecting a fellow member country and the region for years to come.

In essence, Cabo Delgado shows how a slow and over-cautious approach to a potentially explosive security situation can allow matters to deteriorate to such an extent that deadly violence can’t be prevented.

The scene is now set for a military response that leaves SADC facing an expensive and dangerous intervention, and rebuilding costs that a poor country such as Mozambique can ill afford.The Conversation

Francois Vreÿ, Research Coordinator, Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa, Stellenbosch University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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New SGTM ferry from Austal Vietnam to operate among the Comoros Islands

'Maria Galanta Express' was constructed by Austal Vietnam and accommodates 400 passengers and 20 tonnes of cargo over 2 decks. Picture courtesy Austal Vietnam, featuring in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
‘Maria Galanta Express’ was constructed by Austal Vietnam and accommodates 400 passengers and 20 tonnes of cargo over 2 decks. Picture courtesy Austal Vietnam

Austal Vietnam has delivered Hull 424, the MARIA GALANTA EXPRESS, to Oceanoi Limited of Mauritius.

However, the 41 metre long, high-speed catamaran ferry will be operated by Société de Gestion et de Transport Maritime (SGTM) in the Comoros Islands, situated in the northern end of the Mozambique Channel.

Austal was awarded the US$10.7 million contract to design and construct the vessel in January 2020 and construction commenced at the company’s Vietnam shipyard in Vung Tau in March that year.

Interior view of the new Comoros ferry, Maria Galanta Express. Picture by Austal Vietnam and featuring in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Interior view of the new Comoros ferry, Maria Galanta Express. Picture by Austal Vietnam

Austal Chief Executive Officer Paddy Gregg said the delivery was a significant milestone in the company’s newest shipyard.

“This new ship for SGTM, is the second vessel we have delivered out of the Vietnam shipyard and highlights the tremendous productivity and efficiency of the local team, who have effectively delivered two vessels in two years, he said.

“It’s also very pleasing to see another customised variant of our popular, high-speed catamaran ferry design being delivered to yet another new customer, and I offer my warmest congratulations to SGTM Director, Michel Labourdere, on the delivery of his latest addition to their fleet.

“Austal has now delivered over 80 vessels in this key, 40 to 50 metre catamaran ferry market since the early 1990s and we continue to receive great interest in our proven designs.”

The Austal ‘Passenger Express 41’ catamaran features a length overall (LOA) of 41.2 metres, beam of 10.9 metres and draft of 2.0 metres. Over two decks, the vessel can accommodate 400 passengers and mixed cargo of up to 20 tonnes, loaded via two ramps.

MARIA GALANTA EXPRESS H424 Hero Exterior Stern Austal Vietnam featuring in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news

Fitted with Austal’s Motion Control System (including active interceptors and T-foils), four MTU-12V2000 M72 engines, and four KaMeWa 56A3 waterjets, the new catamaran achieved 31.9 knots at 100% Maximum Continuous Rating (MCR) during sea trials and has a range of approximately 370 nautical miles.

Established in 2004, SGTM is The Comoros’ leading ferry company, operating three passenger ships and two freight transport ships between the islands of Mayotte, Anjouan and Great Comoros, carrying more than 100,000 passengers annually.

With the delivery of Maria Galanta Express, SGTM is now operating two Austal built vessels, joining Marine View (Austal Hull 58) acquired from Japan in 2013.

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Hapag-Lloyd further expands its container fleet: 60,000 TEU ordered

Hapag-Lloyd is expanding its container fleet by 60,000 TEU ordered. Picture per Hapag-Lloyd, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Hapag-Lloyd is expanding its container fleet by 60,000 TEU ordered. Picture per Hapag-Lloyd

It has been proven that the sharp increase in demand has led to a shortage of containers across the world.

Severe imbalances – such as with exports from Asia, but also owing to congestion in ports and delays in hinterland transport – are causing containers to be tied up in transit for considerably longer periods. More boxes are currently needed overall to manage the same transport volume.

For this reason, Hapag-Lloyd has once again invested in its container fleet and ordered an additional 60,000 TEU of standard containers from China. The first boxes will supplement those currently being produced and are scheduled to be delivered to Hapag-Lloyd in July and integrated into the existing fleet. The majority will be subsequently delivered in the third quarter.

Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd commented: “Demand continues to be very high, and the supply of container equipment is currently one of our industry’s biggest challenges and demands our full attention.

“To counteract the container shortage – but, most importantly, to offer our customers a better service – we have repeatedly invested in our container fleet since the beginning of the pandemic.”

In April of this year, Hapag-Lloyd announced orders for a total of around 150,000 TEU of standard and reefer containers to be delivered over the course of 2021. The company had also invested in its container fleet at the beginning of the pandemic.

Hapag-Lloyd's headquarter building in Hamburg, Germany, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Hapag-Lloyd’s headquarter building in Hamburg, Germany

2021 Q1 results

Revenues increased in the first quarter of 2021 by around 33%, to roughly $ 4.9 billion (approximately €4.1 billion), particularly due to a higher average freight rate, which increased by approximately 38% to reach 1,509 US$/TEU (Q1 2020: 1,094 USD/TEU).

It is understood that due to the demand-related congestion of port and hinterland infrastructures in many places as well as to a resulting shortage of freely available ships and containers, the transport volume was slightly below the level of the same quarter of the previous year, at roughly 3.0 million TEU (Q1 2020: approximately 3.1 million TEU), or minus 2.6%.

An estimated 27% lower average bunker consumption price, which amounted to $384 per tonne in the first three months of the 2021 financial year (Q1 2020: $523 per tonne), had a positive impact on earnings.

Hapag-Lloyd

From Hapag-Lloyd’s HQ in Hamburg (illustrated) we learn that with a fleet of 241 modern container ships and a total transport capacity of 1.7 million TEU, Hapag-Lloyd is one of the world’s leading liner shipping companies. The company has around 13,300 employees and 395 offices in 131 countries. Hapag-Lloyd has a container capacity of approximately 2.8 million TEU – including one of the largest and most modern fleets of reefer containers.

A total of 121 liner services worldwide ensure fast and reliable connections between more than 600 ports on all the continents. Hapag-Lloyd is one of the leading operators in the Transatlantic, Middle East, Latin America and Intra-America trades.

reported by Paul Ridgway, Lonodn on behalf of Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime mnews

 

Reported by Paul Ridgway
London

 

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WHARF TALK: Where does an old ship go to die? Lobelia R.I.P.

Lobelia at sea. Picture Johan Victor / MarineTraffic, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Lobelia at sea.    Picture Johan Victor / MarineTraffic

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’

Where does an old ship go to die? If you are governed by EU rules it might be Belfast in the UK or Aliaga in Turkey, but if you are not then it is likely to be Gadani Beach in Pakistan, Alang in India or Chittagong in Bangladesh.

Political correct yuckspeak now has them referred to as Recycling Facilities, as opposed to a good old fashioned Scrap Yard. In South Africa, some of the smaller vessels never leave their shores and are dismantled where they lie. Once such vessel that is meeting such a local fate is LOBELIA (IMO 7020346).

Lobelia on the Cape Town synchrolift being cut up for scrap. Picture by 'Dockrat' featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Lobelia on the Cape Town synchrolift being cut up for scrap. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

In 1970 South Africa’s oldest and largest deepsea fishing company, Irvin and Johnson (I&J) of Cape Town, set out to modernise their fleet by building a dozen state of the art demersal stern trawlers, and replacing all of their old sidewinder steam trawlers. All of these vessels were to be built between 1970 and 1973 and all would be named after indigenous South African flower species.

Seven of the near sisters were to be built at the famous Hall Russell shipyard at Aberdeen in the UK, where such great ships as the RMS St. Helena was built. These ships were Anemone (IMO 7029603), Azalea (IMO 7109051), Gilia (IMO 7214870), Godetia (IMO 7224825), Protea (IMO 7009859), Salvia (IMO 7227114) and Stevia (IMO 7233773). All entered service between 1970 and 1973.

Lobelia on the synchrolift. Picture by 'Dockrat' and featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Lobelia on the synchrolift. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

The other five sisters would be built at the James Brown and Hamer shipyard in Durban. They included Afrikaner (IMO 7015690), Aloe (IMO 7126841), Crassula (IMO 7039282), Verbena (IMO 7214246) and, of course, ‘Lobelia’. All Durban built vessels entered service between 1970 and 1972 and all spent almost all of their entire working lives fishing out of Cape Town.

Built in 1971 as the third of the Durban built vessels, ‘Lobelia’ was 61 metres in length with a gross tonnage of 1,052 tons. She was powered by a Krupp-MaK 6M453C 6 cylinder 4 stroke engine producing 1,801 bhp (1,343 kW). Unlike most of her sisters that entered service with I&J either as freezer trawlers or wetfish trawlers, ‘Lobelia’ was a hybrid and operated as both a freezer and wetfish trawler.

Picture by 'Dockrat' Featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news

Finally retired in 2018, ‘Lobelia’ was laid up in Cape Town pending disposal. She was sold on to JLT Scrap in October 2019, and whilst ship breaking was not permitted by Transnet in any South African ports, the vessel was first reduced alongside by removing all fuels, oils, equipment and machinery.

Once this aspect was completed then the masts, bridge and accommodation sections were cut away and in May 2021, permission having been granted for her to be reduced completely, she was lifted out of the water and up onto the synchrolift where the acetylene torches could complete the job of cutting up her hull.

Workmen wielding the cutting torch, making short work of a once proud locally built vessel, Picture by 'Dockrat' , featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Workmen wielding the cutting torch, making short work of a once proud locally built vessel, Picture by ‘Dockrat’

All of her sisters also completed long and profitable operational lives and most were retired in the ten years from 2000 onwards. Most were either scrapped or deliberately sunk as offshore reefs, with the Gilia meeting her end after only one year of service when she sank after a collision off Cape Town in 1973. At least one of the sisters, Aloe, is still sailing for another owner.

I&J had hoped to sell ‘Lobelia’ way back in 2001 for ZAR7.75 million to a newcomer to the deepwater hake fishery, Bato Star fishing, but her sale fell through as a result of hake allocation issues at the time. So she continued on in the deepwater hake fishery for I&J until she was finally retired.

That's another section of plate down. Pictures are by 'Dockrat' and featured in Africa ORTS & SHIPS maritime news
That’s another section of plate down. Pictures are by ‘Dockrat’

Not all of the career of ‘Lobelia’ was based on all work and no play. In 2015 she was chosen by I&J, and volunteered for use as the cultural platform for the V&A Ocean Festival, where the Beatenburg Band played to the gathered musical throng in the V&A Dock from the decks of the vessel.

After a long career with I&J spent out at sea, in all weathers catching deepwater hake and providing sustenance to the population of South Africa and beyond, ‘Lobelia’ has finally met her end after almost exactly 50 years in existence, and she is sadly no more.

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Phase-out of Santa Rosa from SAECS service: Maersk Luz becomes last-minute replacement

Maersk Luz enters the port of Durban, in this Vesselfinder picture., featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Maersk Luz enters the port of Durban, in this Vesselfinder picture.

The detention of a container ship, SANTA CRUZ after crew on board test positive for COVID-19, has resulted in the MAERSK LUZ swapping positions with Santa Cruz to cover onward voyage to South Africa.

This change of vessel comes about after SANTA ROSA on voyage 211N phases out of the South Africa Europe Service (SAECS) in Algeciras on 3 June 2021, after discharging her import cargo.

It has been revealed that the scheduled replacement vessel, Santa Cruz has unfortunately been detained by the authorities after the crew onboard tested positive for COVID-19. Santa Cruz is scheduled to be released on Monday 31 May 2021.

In order to maintain its schedule, M/V Maersk Luz v.212S will therefore swap positions with the Santa Cruz and cover the onward voyage to South Africa.

Resulting from these changes, the latest European schedules are as follows (subject to further changes):

Santa Rosa v. 211N:

PORT                            ARRIVAL          DEPARTURE
London Gateway         26 May 2021     27 May 2021
Bremerhaven               30 May 2021      30 May 2021
Algeciras (APMT)           3 June 2021        3 June 2021

Maersk Luz v. 212S:

PORT                          ARRIVAL           DEPARTURE
Rotterdam (import)   28 May 2021      29 May 2021
London Gateway       29 May 2021      30 May 2021
Bremerhaven             31 May 2021          1 June 2021
Rotterdam (export)    3 June 2021         4 June 2021
Algeciras (TTI)             7 June 2021          8 June 2021
Algeciras (APMT)        8 June 2021          9 June 2021

Santa Cruz v. 212S:

PORT                         ARRIVAL            DEPARTURE
London Gateway        1  June 2021         2 June 2021
Bremerhaven              3 June 2021          4 June 2021
Rotterdam (export)    6 June 2021         7 June 2021
Algeciras (TTI)            10 June 2021        11 June 2021
Algeciras (APMT)       11 June 2021         12 June 2021

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The Honourable Company of Master Mariners’ New Master 2021-2022

Lieutenant Commander Les Chapman CMM, FNI, RN

Wellington with St Paul's Cathedral beyond and featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
HQS Wellington, floating livery hall of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners. with St Paul’s Cathedral beyond.   Pictures per The Honourable Company of Master Mariners ©  www.hcmm.org.uk 

Les Chapman was born in June 1956 in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada and is a direct descendant of William and Mary Chapman from Hawnby, in North Yorkshire, who immigrated to Nova Scotia in 1774.

He attended Amherst Regional High School and was selected for training at the Royal Military College of Canada, joining the Royal Canadian Navy in 1974.

Service as an Officer Cadet followed in destroyer escorts and mine hunters before graduating from RMC as a Sub Lieutenant with a BChemEng(Nuc) in 1978. He gained his Officer-of-the-Watch Certificate in a destroyer on the West Coast of Canada in 1979 and then volunteered for submarines in Halifax, Nova Scotia gaining his Dolphins in 1980 serving in HMCS Onondaga.

He volunteered to go on exchange with the Royal Navy Submarine Service in 1981 serving in HMS Opossum and transferred to the Royal Navy in 1983 living in Portsmouth until 2014. Chapman served in a number of submarines and passed the Submarine Command Course (the Perisher) in 1988. He had a number of command appointments including the acceptance of HMS Vanguard, standing by build for Victorious and conducting first firing and patrol. After 24 years in the RCN and RN he voluntarily retired in 1997.

After the Royal Navy he spent three years as marine operations manager at one of the UK’s major ports and gained an MBA in 1999.

From 2000 he has been in marine consultancy with various companies in London and overseas including eight years as COO of an international accident investigation and expert witness company.

Lieutenant Commander Les Chapman, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Lieutenant Commander Les Chapman, New Master of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners’  for 2021-2022

With more than 45 years’ experience in the maritime environment, he has spoken and written articles on a wide range of topics from business risk and contingency planning to government and agency policy on security and maritime matters.

Les Chapman is currently Chairman of Margaret Black Ltd and for the past 13 years has been a volunteer Director at the London Shipping Law Centre. He is also Chair of Governors at George Greens’ School and a Trustee of George Green’s School Trust Funds on behalf of the London-based Honourable Company of Master Mariners (HCMM).

He joined the Honourable Company in 2001 and became a Liveryman in 2014. He was elected to the Court of Assistants in 2013 and 2016 and elected as Warden in 2017. He is also a Director of Seahorse Hospitality Ltd, the in-house caterer for HCMM, and is Friend of the Wellington Trust. He is a Fellow of the Nautical Institute, a Younger Brother of Trinity House and Chair of the South East Regional Grants Committee, Trustee of the Hill Trust and Greenwich Sea Cadets, Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, Past Chairman of London Branch of the Nautical Institute and Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management.

In October 2018 Lieutenant Commander Les Chapman was awarded his Chartered Master Mariner status and has recently been appointed as Vice President of Tunbridge Wells Sea Cadets.

reported by Paul Ridgway, Lonodn on behalf of Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime mnews

 

Reported by Paul Ridgway
London

 

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CMA CGM takes delivery of latest 23,000-TEU ship, CMA CGM Trocadero

CMA CGM Trocadero shortly after the naming ceremony last week. Picture courtesy CSSC Jiangnan, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
CMA CGM Trocadero shortly after the naming ceremony last week. Picture courtesy CSSC Jiangnan

On Wednesday, 19 May 2021, at the Shanghai CSSC Jiangnan Shipyard in China, French shipping line CMA CGM took delivery of its latest mega container ship, CMA CGM TROCADERO (IMO IMO 9839167)

With an overall length of 400 metres and a width of 61m, CMA CGM Trocadero is the eighth of nine ships in this size and series having been built at this compaby across two CSSC shipyards – one at Jiannan and the other at Hudong-Zhongyu Shipbuilding.

The final vessel being built at the Hudong yard will be named CMA CGM Sorbonne.

As with her sisters, Trocadero is dual powered to operate with liquefied natural gas (LNG) as her main power source. The ship will have a speed of 22 knots and is able to carry almost 220,000 tonnes of cargo.

CMA CGM Trocadero, featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news

After loading cargo the ship sailed for Europe on Saturday, 29 May 2021 to operate on CMA CGM’s Asia-Northern Europe service.

The design of these ships, which are equipped with GTT’s 18,600cbm fuel tank as well as WinGD’s dual-fuel propulsion, incorporate straight bows and cohesive bulbs, rudders and refined propellers to enhance hydrdynamics, thus reducing consumption of energy.

The French company has also placed orders with the same two yards for 12 LNG-powered container ships – six 13,000-TEU vessel from Huding and six 15,ppp-TEI from Jiangnan for delivery by mid-2024.

That’s in addition to ten conventionally powered 5,500 TEU vessels, which CSSC says is the largest single containership order it has received.

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WHARF TALK: Granada – one of Cape Town’s ‘long-stayers’

On 24 May at 14h00 Granada, one of Cape Town's previously detained vessels, sailed for Luanda in Angola. Picture by 'Dockrat', featuring in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
On 24 May at 14h00 Granada, one of Cape Town’s previously detained vessels, sailed for Luanda in Angola. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’ (and Fleetmon)

On 19 December 2020 at 14h00, GRANADA (IMO 9294695) arrived at Cape Town from Mombasa in Kenya. Since that date, she has remained languishing in a far corner of the Duncan Dock, until earlier in May. Cape Town harbour has many ‘long stayers’ berthed around the port. Some lingering here for well known reasons, and others lingering here for completely unknown reasons. So it was with Granada.

The reason for her detention in Cape Town, for detention is what it was, are shrouded in mystery but, whatever the reason, her owners had obviously satisfied the Admiralty Court that the detention could be lifted and activity started around the vessel in late April. On 25 April Granada took bunkers direct from the bunker tanker AL SAFA, and on 26 April she was shifted across to the Landing Wall, where any required maintenance could take place to prepare her, once more, to return to commercial sea service.

Granada is no stranger to South African ports, as shown here with this March 2017 photograph of the ship departing from Durban, with the telltale Bluff as her backdrop. Picture: Fleetmon, as featured in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Granada is no stranger to South African ports, as shown here with this March 2017 photograph of the ship arriving in Durban, with the telltale Bluff as her backdrop. On that occasion, however, the ship’s name was Thorco Crystal.   Picture: Fleetmon

Built in 2004, but unusually in two parts, with her hull constructed by the Okean Shipyard at Nikolaev in Ukraine, which is owned by Damen, which was then towed for completion at the Damen Shipyard at Hoogezand in Holland. At 146 metres in length, and with a deadweight of 10,508 tons, Granada has a container capacity of 679 TEU.

She is powered by a Caterpillar-MaK 9M32C 9 cylinder 4 stroke engine providing 5,793 bhp (4,320 kW) which drives a controllable pitch propeller for a service speed of 14 knots. Her auxiliary engines include three Caterpillar 3412 DITA generators producing 259 kW each, and a Valmet 620 DSG emergency generator.

Operated and managed by Aswan Shipping of Istanbul, Granada is a truly versatile design of vessel, and can be utilised for the transport of containers, break bulk, dry bulk, project freight and heavylift cargoes. She has a continuous deck, with two moveable hold bulkheads, 60 reefer plug points and has two 80 ton Liebherr cranes, capable of a tandem lift of 160 tons.

Free at last, and the open sea beckoning as the general cargo vessel Granada heads out into the South Atlantic. Picture by 'Dockrat' featuring in Africa PORTS & SHIPS maritime news
Free at last, and the open sea beckoning as the general cargo vessel Granada heads out into the South Atlantic. Picture by ‘Dockrat’

After completion of her maintenance period at the Landing Wall and, presumably, the clearance of any outstanding legal hurdles, and after 156 days alongside, Granada sailed, light ship in ballast, from Cape Town on 24 May at 14h00. Interestingly, over 48 hours after sailing in a northward direction, and just south of Walvis Bay, her destination remained unknown as her AIS was still transmitting that she is bound for Cape Town with an ETA of 19 December 2020.

Her AIS transmission was later updated showing her destination to be Luanda in Angola, ETA today (30 May 2020).

Added 30 May 2021

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