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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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- WHARF TALK: Leon Thevenin – Cape Town-based cable repair ship
- Cutty Sark remembered
- MSC Cruises cancels deployment to SA by MSC Lirica, MSC Musica cruises unaffected
- MSC Cruises to resume cruising from U.S. ports
- First citrus export leaves Durban for the Philippines
- TRADE NEWS: HHI orders ALS compressors for five LNG vessels
- OOPS, what went wrong? Durban pilot boat goes aground
- Coega Development Corporation to manage two Ngqura port infrastructural projects
- WHARF TALK: Rare visit to Cape Town by diamond mining vessel SS Nujoma
- Port of Luanda Sogester Container Terminal implements the Solvo.TOS system
- Lines divert from Yantian port as COVID-19 intensifies
- Yantian port delays worsen over COVID-19 outbreak, causing serious congestion
- Port of Nacala coal exports show 28% decrease in First Quarter
- REFLECTIONS: Ferreira – ex CUTTY SARK – Cape Town 1916
- Keel laid at Kisumu for Kenya’s new rail wagon ferry, Uhuru II
- WHARF TALK: Calypso 8, an unexpected VLCC arrival
- AIRFREIGHT: Kenya flower exports a bloomin’ success
- X-Press Pearl incident: Statement by Kitack Lim, Secretary-General, IMO
- IN CONVERSATION: Colonial ports, customs and censorship: tracking books from ship to shore
- The G7 Summit
- WHARF TALK: SANMAR SONGBIRD – a ‘song and a dance’ across the ocean
- World Ocean Day: 8 June 2021: One Ocean, One Climate, One Future – Together
- The Navigator: Summer 2021 issue: Unpeeling the layers of navigation
- WHARF TALK: Another day, another LR1 tanker – Bani Yas
- Unbelievable charter rate achieved for 5,000-TEU ship – $135,000 per day!
- CMA CGM reports $2.1 billion profit for Q1 2021
- International Day of the Seafarer: 25 June 2021 – The sounding of the horns
- WHARF TALK: Questioning why Saldanha doesn’t provide bunkers? Marigoula
- Watch dockside crane collapse on Durban ship and across containers
- NATO Exercise Formidable Shield
- PIRACY REPORT: Ship approached southwest of Lomé, not boarded
- Karmol LNGT Powership Africa arrives in Dakar to join Karpowership Ayşegul Sultan
- WHARF TALK: A Cape Town facelift for MSC ship, GH Meltemi
EARLIER NEWS CAN BE FOUND AT NEWS CATEGORIES…….
The Sunday masthead shows the Port of Tema
The Monday masthead shows the Port of Saldanha Bay
The Tuesday masthead shows the Port of Saldanha Iron Ore Terminal
The Wednesday masthead shows the Port of Richards Bay Coal Terminal
The Thursday masthead shows the Port of Richards Bay
The Friday masthead shows Port Harcourt (Nigeria)
The Saturday masthead shows the Port Elizabeth Manganese Terminal
The Sunday masthead shows the Port Elizabeth RoRo and Container Terminals
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The oil products tanker MAERSK MESSINA (IMO 9544592) arrives in Durban to discharge a cargo of oil products at the Island View complex, having loaded at the Sarroch oil terminal on the Italian island of Sardinia. The voyage from Sardinia lasted 29 days and 8 hours, with the vessel arriving off Durban at 05h40 on 29 May and going to anchor in the port’s outer anchorage. She entered port at 12h48 on Friday 4 June 2021.
Built at the Iwagi Zosen Co Ltd shipyard in Kamijima, Japan in 2009 as hull or yard number S-Z280, Maersk Messina has a length of 180 metres and a beam of 32m. Registered to Maersk Tankers Singapore PTE, the vessel is managed and operated by Moller AP in Copenhagen, Denmark. Prior to July 2014 the tanker carried the name Eastern Force.
The Handysize tanker deadweight of 48,056 tons and when arriving off Durban it was with a draught of 11.3 metres.
The ship flies the flag of Singapore.
These pictures are by Keith Betts
Added 6 June 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: Leon Thevenin – Cape Town-based cable repair ship

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Despite satellite technology, undersea communications cables still carry 97% of all intercontinental electronic communications. With South Africa being at the crossroads of continents, oceans, and shipping routes, it means that undersea communications cables play an important part in maintaining contact with the rest of the world via South Africa.
The importance is such that Cape Town is the home on the African continent to the only Cable Ship on permanent stand-by for cable laying and for cable repair intervention. On 8 June at 10h00 the Cable Ship LEON THEVENIN (IMO 8108676) arrived back at her home port of Cape Town from Walvis Bay in Namibia. She first berthed at the bunker berth on the Eastern Mole in the Duncan Dock to take on bunkers before shifting to her permanent standby berth at Pier 2 in the V&A Dock.
Built in 1983 at the Ateliers et Chantiers du Havre shipyard at Le Havre in France, Leon Thevenin is 108 metres in length with a deadweight of 3,220 tons. She is a diesel–electric vessel and is powered by three Crepelle 8PSN3L 8 cylinder 4 stroke engines producing 1,665 bhp (1,380 kW) providing two CGE-Alsthom motors of 1,420 kW, which drive two fixed pitch propellers for a service speed of 15 knots. Her auxiliary engines are three generators providing 250 kW each.
Owned by Orange Marine of Puteaux in France, who operate 15% of the world’s cable ship fleet, Leon Thevenin has three cable tanks capable of holding 770 m3 of undersea cables. She is able to operate in water depths as shallow as 10 metres, and as deep as 7,000 metres. Her shallow working record is 7.5 metres, and her deepest cable operation was at a depth of 5,500 metres.

Responsible for a large area of ocean, Leon Thevenin operates on the Two Oceans Cable Maintenance Agreement (2OCMA) which covers all submarine cables within the entire eastern part of the South Atlantic Ocean, and the entire western part of the South Indian Ocean. She is permanently based at Cape Town and utilises the facilities of the SA Telkom depot. She arrived in Cape Town in September 2012 as the replacement vessel for the Cable Ship CHAMAREL which was wrecked off the coast of Namibia.
Over the last few years she has laid some significant subsea cables including METISS (South Africa- Madagascar- Reunion- Mauritius), LION 3 (Mayotte-Moroni), MAIN ONE (Senegal-Ivory Coast) and SACS (Angola-Brazil). Her last major cable laying operation was completed with her return to Cape Town from Walvis Bay, when she laid the ACE S4 (Congo-Angola-Namibia-South Africa) cable which links Africa with Continental Europe and is due into service on 21 June.
Her previous operation was to repair two separate subsea cables that had been badly damaged by the same event, thought to have been due to excess sediment flowing out of a flooding Congo River, and which resulted in slow internet speeds for South Africa. In February 2021 she set out to repair the WACS (West Africa Cable System), and the joined WASC (West Africa Submarine Cable) and SAT 3 (South Atlantic segment 3), off the coast of the Congo and Gabon, plus a further repair of the WACS cable off the coast of Ghana. All repairs were successfully completed and she returned to Cape Town by the end of March.
Not all of her operational calls have been linked to cable repairs. In November 2012, shortly after she arrived in Cape Town, she was tasked to go down into the sub-Antarctic South Indian Ocean and to assist the French Antarctic Territory supply ship MARION DEFRESNE, which had hit an uncharted rock pinnacle off the Crozet Islands, which resulted in a 25 metre gash in her bow.

Due to having over 90 berths available, Leon Thevenin was requested to take all non-essential personnel from Marion Dufresne who had been landed at the French Weather Station at Crozet and return them to Reunion Island. Once the transfer of personnel was complete, Marion Dufresne proceeded to Elgin Brown and Hamer at Durban where repairs were carried out between early December 2012 and were complete by the end of January 2013, whence Marion Dufresne returned to Reunion to continue her resupply missions into the Southern Ocean.
One mission Leon Thevenin undertook early in her career was probably the saddest and the most poignant. On 23 June 1985 Air India flight AI 182 was destroyed by a terrorist bomb, shortly after she cleared the Irish coast bound for the United States. [For the record: A reader has pointed out that the aircraft was flying from Montreal to London on route to India when the incident occurred.] Along with an accompanying Acoustic Survey Vessel which located the aircraft black boxes, Leon Thevenin was used to recover first the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) on 9 July, and then the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) on 10 July using her Remote Operating Vehicle (ROV).
The level of activity that Leon Thevenin is tasked to undertake can be quantified when out of 30 Cable Ships that are operating under the Atlantic Cable Maintenance Agreement Area (ACMA), which covers both the North and South Atlantic regions, Leon Thevenin performs around 25%, or one quarter, of all repairs undertaken in the Atlantic Ocean. That brings into stark relief the reason why a Cable Ship is considered necessary to be on permanent standby in Cape Town. Anyone having dinner at an outside restaurant at the V&A will have a grandstand view of her lying at her berth on Pier 2, if she is in port at the time.
Added 10 June 2021
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Reported by Paul Ridgway
London
On a personal note I first went aboard the ship as a youth in the late 1950s then travelled the globe to return to her editing a journal for the Maritime Trust, her owners before the ship’s transfer to the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. In time I edited a journal for the World Ship Trust whose trustees presented her with a Maritime Heritage Award in the year 2000.
Cutty Sark Memorial tablets
At the stern end of the dry dock in which Cutty Sark lies in Greenwich there were three plaques cast or cut in concrete and commemorating the sailing ship era, the benefactors who preserved the ship and the British Merchant Navy.
One plaque read:
Here to commemorate an era the Cutty Sark has been preserved as a tribute to the ships and men of the Merchant Navy in the days of sail.
They mark our passage as a race of men. Earth will not see such ships as these again.
The centre stone was laid on 3 June 1954 by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Patron of the Cutty Sark Preservation Society and acknowledged the generous public subscriptions from all over the world which enabled the berth to be constructed on land made available by the London County Council.
The third plaque read:
In memory of those whose service in the Merchant Navy helped to enlarge the livelihood of Britain and protect the Freedom of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
A new commemorative plaque to the Merchant Navy is now in the dry dock floor under the ship and is based on the original memorial.
The Log of the Cutty Sark
At 340 pages this is by Basil Lubbock (1876-1944) and published by Brown, Son & Ferguson of Glasgow, priced at £24.00, to which should be added postage at the rate on application to the publisher via : info@skipper.co.uk
It is listed in Brown, Son & Ferguson’s catalogue here: www.skipper.co.uk ISBN 978 085174 115 4. It was first published in 1924 and reprinted in 1974, 1994 and 2004.
Here is a history of the famous tea and wool clipper, Cutty Sark, one of the most interesting sailing ships and considered to have been the fastest of all the clippers.
The book is compiled from her log books, her captain’s abstracts and information received from those who served aboard her, and from those who served aboard her rivals, or were connected with her in some way.
One chapter, A Hell-Ship Voyage, is full of dramatic incident as might have been written about by Joseph Conrad.
Illustrations, of which there are many, are mostly taken from old photographs. The scale plans of her lines, midship section and sail area should enable a model enthusiast to construct a correct representation of the famous ship.
In the appendix will be found not only the scantlings of Cutty Sark and her great rival Thermopylae, but the spar measurements of such well-known clippers as Ariel, Titania, Spindthrift, Hallowe’en and Normancourt. Sizes of the Cutty Sark’s standing, running and stunsail rigging are given.
This is the well-known volume that brought the famous clipper and her celebrated master to the notice of the sea-loving public.
Added 10 June 2021
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MSC Cruises cancels deployment to SA by MSC Lirica, MSC Musica cruises unaffected

MSC Cruises South Africa has confirmed that they have had to cancel the deployment of MSC LIRICA to South Africa for the upcoming 2021/2022 cruise season.
The cruise company said a large portion of the ship’s deployment in South Africa was dependent on its ability to call at the ports of Walvis Bay and Lüderitz in Namibia.
“Unfortunately, as of now we have no certainty that these destinations will be open in time to welcome our guests and our ship.”
MSC Lirica was to have been homeported at Cape Town for most of the coming season.
MSC MUSICA will however service the local South African season homeporting in Durban and is advertising a selection of cruises to Portuguese Island, Maputo and Pomene in Mozambique, as well as the end of year 14-day cruise to Nosy Be in Madagascar, Mauritius and Reunion, and coastal cruises to Cape Town.
These are subject to government approval based on the situation involving the Covid-19 pandemic at the time.
Added 10 June 2021
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MSC Cruises to resume cruising from U.S. ports
MSC Cruises, now the world’s third largest and fastest-growing cruise brand — announced its restart plans this week for cruising from U.S. ports beginning this August, which replaces a previously-announced programme. The announcement follows CDC (Centers for Disease Control) approval of the Swiss-based company’s Phase 2A Port Agreements for PortMiami and Port Canaveral as well as the provisional approval of its request to conduct a simulation cruise, to be held on MSC Meraviglia from PortMiami on 17 July 2021.
MSC Meraviglia will kick off MSC Cruises’ restart starting 2 August 2021, with 3- and 4-night cruises from Miami to the Bahamas and featuring MSC Cruises’ exclusive new private island destination, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.
From 18 September 2021, MSC Meraviglia will add 7-night cruises from Miami to The Bahamas and Caribbean, including Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve. MSC Divina will resume cruising from Orlando (Port Canaveral) on 16 September 2021, offering 3-, 4- and 7-night cruise options to the Bahamas and Caribbean, also including stops at Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.
“With our vast experience cruising in Europe since August 2020 along with our industry-leading health and safety protocol, our U.S. guests can book with confidence knowing we are well prepared for a successful restart in that market,” said Gianni Onorato, CEO of MSC Cruises.
“To ensure the safest experience for our guests, we previously announced a fleet-wide vaccination program for all crew, and we expect that the majority of our guests booking a cruise this summer will plan to be vaccinated prior to sail. The rapid distribution of vaccines in the U.S. has been a positive step toward helping vacationers get back to traveling, and we encourage our guests to take advantage of this added layer of protection when resuming travel this summer.”
These arrangements replace existing and now cancelled U.S.-based cruises involving three ships – MSC Divina scheduled to sail from Port Canaveral, and MSC Meraviglia and MSC Armonia scheduled to sail from PortMiami.
Added 10 June 2021
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First citrus export leaves Durban for the Philippines

The first shipment of South Africa citrus fruit left Durban this week destined for markets in the Philippines, seen off by a delegation from the Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA), the third visit to the port in a month by people from the organisation – the previous two involving shipping citrus on the world’s biggest reefer vessel, Cool Eagle.
The success in reaching this point has taken 12 years of negotiations aimed at SA’s breaking into the Philippine market, with what is described as a landmark workplan being signed between the Department Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and the Philippines Bureau of Plant and Industry (BPI) at the end of last year.
With an export potential of 20 000 tons of citrus fruit annually, representing export earnings of close to R205 million, the deal will translate into much needed job opportunities – at a time where Covid-19 continues to devastate many other industries and the loss of millions of job.
According to Justin Chadwick, CEO of the CGA, the opening of the Philippines market comes at a time when the South African citrus industry is expected to grow by a further 500,000 tons over the next 3 to 5 years. “Expanding access to new overseas markets is crucial if we want to avoid an oversupply of the region’s exports to our existing markets,” he said.
“When it comes to the current export season, the soft citrus-producing regions are expected to show the most significant growth (up 29% from last year) with mandarins expecting to grow by 42% within this category.”
He said it is therefore encouraging that this category makes up the biggest volumes of citrus imported by the Philippines, with over 80,000 tons imported between 2016 and 2018 – out of a total of 117,000 tons of citrus imported over that period.
“Up to now, Argentina and Australia have been the largest exporters of mandarins from the Southern Hemisphere to the Philippines. However, we hope that our local citrus industry will surpass these countries as the main supplier of soft citrus to the Philippines over the next few years.”
Added 10 June 2021
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TRADE NEWS: HHI orders ALS compressors for five LNG vessels

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has contracted TMC Compressors (TMC) to deliver marine air lubrication system (ALS) compressors to five LNG carriers the Korean shipbuilder is constructing for three different shipowners.
ALS – or air lubrication system – is a method used to reduce the resistance between the ship’s hull and seawater by using air bubbles. The air bubble distribution across the hull surface reduces the frictional resistance working on the ship’s hull, creating desired energy-saving effects.
TMC has developed a range of marine compressors for use in combination with air lubrication systems to help ships further reduce fuel consumption and emissions to air. For these five LNG carriers, TMC’s ALS compressors will be coupled with Hyundai Heavy Industries’ self-developed Hi-ALS air lubrication system on all five vessels.
According to Hyundai Heavy Industries, its Hi-ALS system can cut fuel consumption by…
Read the rest of this report in the TRADE NEWS section available by CLICKING HERE
Added 10 June 2021
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OOPS, what went wrong? Durban pilot boat goes aground

We don’t know what caused one of the Durban pilot boats, LUFAFA, to go aground in the Maydon/Esplanade Channel on Tuesday morning (8 June) although it seems the pilot missed the marker buoys and grounded the vessel on the central sandbank, which is exposed at low tide but underwater during highs.
TNPA was asked for an explanation and the response advised “Port of Durban pilot boat safely rescued”.
As could be seen by onlookers at the nearby Wilson’s Wharf and from the yacht clubs, the TNPA statement included the information that the pilot boat had run aground with port crew members on board.
“All members are safe and sustained no injuries during the incident.
“The pilot boat was re-floated and proceeded on her own steam to the Ports Workshop 24 for structural inspections
and further investigation into the occurred incident.”
The matter is under investigation, said TNPA.
Added 9 June 2021
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Coega Development Corporation to manage two Ngqura port infrastructural projects

Transnet SOC Ltd announced today (Wednesday 9 June 2021) that the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) has been appointed by Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) as the implementing agent for the migration of the manganese terminal and the liquid bulk terminal from the Port of Port Elizabeth to the Port of Ngqura.
CDC will also have responsibility for the construction and operationalisation of both projects.
Last year Oiltanking Grindrod Calulo (Pty) Ltd walked away from executing the project of completing the development of the liquid bulk terminal in the Port of Ngqura, due, it said, to insufficient customer commitment.
According to a statement by Transnet, the CDC is “the infrastructure implementing agent of choice in South Africa, working closely with government and state-owned companies to enhance the State’s capacity in the implementation of complex and mega infrastructure programmes. Currently, the CDC manages portfolios for itself and various public sector clients, with a portfolio of infrastructure projects to the value of approximately R5.3 billion.”
The statement earlier today said that CDC and TNPA are working to implement the terminal relocation projects from the Port of Port Elizabeth in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), within appropriate and realistic timelines.
“These facilities would be developed under the purview of Transnet, to assist and support their operationalisation. The CDC’s role will include the review of the design and scope of work, to ensure that modern, state-of-the-art terminals that are designed to operate in accordance with world-class environmental standards and ensure their sustainability, in response to market needs.”
The current locations of the tank farm and the manganese terminal at the Port of Port Elizabeth are in areas that in future will be part of the Phase 2 of the proposed Waterfront Development, as well as an Automotive Terminal which aligns with the Ford SA R15.8 billion investment.

This requires the export of Fully Built Automotive Units (FBUs) through the Port of Port Elizabeth from the Tshwane Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which is currently under construction near Pretoria. The SEZ project is also being implemented by the CDC, which according to Transnet demonstrates the capability of the organisation in solving complex national projects.
Transnet says that these much-anticipated developments in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality will contribute towards the facilitation of economic transformation through job creation and SMME development, as well as adding to South Africa’s strategic intent to position itself as a world-class investment destination.
The Implementing Agent Agreement with the CDC will see TNPA also receive technical support, delivery services and systems for the overall delivery of port infrastructure.
The collaboration will also assist to develop other National Strategic projects including the Gas-to-Power project, Slops Operations, Bio-Fuels manufacturing and related logistics solutions, says Transnet.
“This mutually beneficial agreement between Transnet and the CDC is expected to have a notable multiplier effect on the economy of the country, for the benefit of the local community, society and the business sector at large.”
These joint projects involving the CDC and TNPA come within less than a year since the former CEO of the Coega Development Corporation, Mr Pepi Silinga, left the CDC to join Transnet National Ports Authority [TNPA] as its Chief Executive. Within months of his arrival in Johannesburg it was announced that the TNPA Head office and its satellite Head Office in Durban would be relocating to Ngqura adjacent to the CDC.
Added 9 June 2021
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WHARF TALK: Rare visit to Cape Town by diamond mining vessel SS Nujoma

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
It is infrequent that the regular ship spotter in Cape Town gets to see a diamond mining vessel calling into Cape Town. They are designed to stay out at sea for a number of months, even years, with the crews changing over by air via fixed wing aircraft into Oranjemund airport, and then helicopter transfer out to the vessel.
They only get to be seen when they return from their mining duties north of the Orange River mouth for either a routine drydocking, or for heavy maintenance. As far back as 20 April the newest of the Debmarine Namibia fleet of mining vessels, SS NUJOMA (IMO 9761918) arrived back into Cape Town to undertake what was to be her first major drydocking since she had entered service.

Built in 2016 by the Kleven Werft shipyard at Ulsteinvik in Norway, to a MT6022 standard design, SS Nujoma is 113 metres in length and had a deadweight of 5,155 tons. She is diesel-electric powered and has five Wärtsilä 9L26 engines, connected to ABB generators providing 2,810 kW each. Her propulsion comes from two Rolls Royce Azimuth propellers to give her a service speed of 12.5 knots. She also has an auxiliary Caterpillar C18 ACERT emergency generator producing 500 kW.

Owned and operated by Debmarine Namibia, which is subsidiary of Anglo American, and a 50/50 joint venture between the De Beers Group and the Namibian Government, SS Nujoma cost US$157 million (ZAR2.13 billion) to build and is one of a fleet of six diamond mining vessels currently operating for the company off the Southern Namibian coast.

The SS in her name is not to be confused with steamships such as SS United States or SS Normandie. The SS stands for Sam Shafiishuna Nujoma, the first President of Namibia, who attended the inauguration of the ship that bears his name. The ceremony was held in Walvis Bay back in June 2017* after SS Nujoma had completed five months of sea trials after delivery from the shipyard in Norway, and her outfitting in Cape Town.

She is the first Debmarine vessel to be utilised for both exploration and sampling, and operates in water depths between 90 metres and 150 metres. Her subsea sampling system and treatment plant were designed and fitted by the De Beers Group in Cape Town, and SS Nujoma is capable of sampling at more than double the speed of any other vessel in the fleet.
After completing her long drydocking in Cape Town on 4 June, she took on bunkers at the Eastern Mole, prior to heading out into Table Bay on 5 June to conduct further sea trials over a three day period. She is now lying at the De Beer berth in the Duncan Dock, completing her maintenance period, before she heads back north to continue her diamond mining role in Namibian waters. She may not be back into Cape Town for a while.
* See our report of 19 June 2017 by CLICKING HERE
Added 9 June 2021
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Port of Luanda Sogester Container Terminal implements the Solvo.TOS system

Sogester, a joint venture between APM Terminals (APMT) and Gestor de Fundos of Angola, has implemented the Solvo.TOS multipurpose and container terminal automation system at its Luanda terminal.
The implementation of the Solvo TOS (Terminal Operating System) will help improve communication between its storage terminals on land and bonded warehouses inside ports, Sogester says.
The Sogester Container Terminal, a joint venture between APM Terminals (51%) and Sociedade Gestore de Terminais (49%), has been managed and operated since 5 November 2007 when Sogester took over the management of Container Terminal II, following the signing of a 20-year concession contract.
Dry Ports and Namibe MPT
Sogester also operates two dry port terminals 35km from the Luanda port and a maritime multi-purpose terminal at the Port of Namibe in the south of the country.
Previously, each terminal made use of documentation management systems and old operating systems which did not fulfill all the company’s needs, while the technical support provided by a manufacturer located in a different time zone did not always prove satisfactory.
The lack of an automatic cargo control and the automatic cargo management systems was another factor leading to the Solvo TOS being introduced.
According to Frans Jol, CEO of Sogester, as the company began to expand a need for a unified infrastructure became apparent. “We studied the TOS market and settled on the Solvo.TOS,” he said.
At the terminal in the port of Namibe, which handles 35,000 TEU annually, the main cargo is granite blocks brought by rail from the Lubango region. However, during stuffing, containers can be damaged by the weight of the granite.
The Solvo.TOS version 7.1 system has taken control of all cargo management at the terminal, which now features a vessel planner module and a railway module to automate cargo handling operations. See video below.
It also covers shunting operations, loading and unloading of containers, inspections and repairs of containers, managing rules and strategies for container placement, empty container depot management and container selection for loading.
Solvo’s system was installed at the Namibe terminal in early 2021 as part of a pilot project, uniting all software products previously installed on the terminal, as well as working equipment and additional financial system IFS-10.
The software developer’s team is currently working on the automation of the terminal in Luanda, which has a turnover of 350,000 TEU per year, utilising three Liebherr mobile harbour cranes.
Previous system inadequate
The TOS will integrate with the RTE monitoring system, which allows the operator to remotely monitor and control reefer assets, optimising the safety and efficiency of reefer operation.
“The previous system did not provide monitoring of refrigerated trucks, general cargo and other important directions,” Jol explained. “We now expect the Solvo.TOS system to fulfil these tasks.”
It is planned that the system will integrate all the Sogester terminals into a single infrastructure, with a complete billing module to automate services, settlements and reconciliations. This will include remote access to the system for terminal clients.
“We expect these innovations to make our terminals even more efficient when dealing with high cargo traffic,” he said.
Watch a YouTube video involving Sogester’s handling of granite blocks at the port of Namibe [8:47]
Added 9 June 2021
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Lines divert from Yantian port as COVID-19 intensifies
Shipping lines are increasingly diverting from Shenzhen’s Yantian terminal as the COVID-19 crisis there intensifies.
One of these lines is Japanese carrier Ocean Network Express (ONE) which says it will skip 13 calls at Yantian on its transpacific, Europe and intra-Asia services up to 13 June. Several vessels have been diverted to Nansha.
Similarly, CMA CGM issued an advisory saying it would omit Yantian on 13 of its sailings through to 17 June, diverting five of these to Shekou and three to Nansha.
MSC is another shipping line omitting a number of calls at the Yantian port in order to minimise the impact on its vessel schedules, while Maersk says the situation at Yantian is getting worse and resulting in delays of up to two weeks. It appears Maersk is also skipping some calls here.
West Terminal closed
At Yantian the three-berth west terminal remains closed while the east terminal is operating at less than one third of normal productivity with significant numbers of dock workers either quarantined or having to work in smaller gangs (teams).
Chinese health officials are meanwhile reporting an increase in the number of Covid infections, mainly in the Yantian district.
In 2020 Yantian had a container throughput of 13.3 million TEU and it is estimated the port is currently unable to handle over 25,000 TEU each day that the port has been affected by the latest surge of COVID-19. This has led to a comparison being made with the March Suez Canal blockage involving the Ever Given, when an average of 55,000 TEU a day was held up for six days. The Yantian crisis has lasted 14 days already and counting.
Added 9 June 2021
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Yantian port delays worsen over COVID-19 outbreak, causing serious congestion

Vessel delays at the Yantian Port, a deepwater port in Shenzhen, China, has been worsening over the last week and the port is expected to remain congested throughout the month, based on project44’s latest container dwell time data. The congestion at Yantian is due to tight controls over a detected COVID-19 outbreak on May 25, 2021, amongst port workers, resulting in container liners sending out client advisories on blank sailings.
By 7 June, project44 reports that it found that minimum dwell times at YICT as a port of loading was one day, while median dwell times were at most 18 days. While minimum dwell times at YICT as the port of discharge was also a day, median dwell times were far higher at 18 days. The Yantian Port kept its container yard open to vessels from 31 May to 6 June and the Shekou Port (another port facility in Shenzhen) is accepting vessels within an ETA of five days from 1 June.
COVID-19 outbreak
The COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread as authorities in Guangzhou, the industrial city northwest of Shenzhen, have also imposed restrictions on business activity. The Nansha Port, one of the fastest-growing terminals from Guangzhou, will also feel the impact of these restrictions, further increasing congestion issues in Yantian.
Port congestion in the South China Sea surrounding Yantian has been severe. As of 7 June, 47 vessels are approaching the port with upcoming ETAs of which 22 vessels with ETAs already in the past. With roughly 32% of all vessels approaching Yantian delayed already, the congestion is expected to exacerbate over the next few weeks. Several container lines have announced rerouting their vessels away from the Shenzhen port cluster to preserve their schedule reliability.
“The recent rise in COVID-19 cases in China has resulted in a shutdown that may add to the already record cost of shipping goods out of China. The delays have already resulted in pressurising soaring shipping prices within China due to a lack of containers and increased export demand. These high shipping costs are just one factor that may contribute to an additional looming threat to global inflation,” said Josh Brazil, the vice president of marketing at project44.
Interruptions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak have reduced container supply further, even as demand for Chinese goods remains at record highs. In the last year, freight costs between China and the US West Coast have gone up by 156%, while China to the US East Coast trade lane saw an increase of 162%. Freight prices between China and North Europe gained the most, witnessing a 535% increase. These elevated prices reflect the costs incurred with high demand, reduced capacity, and increased dwell time across the Chinese coast.
Additional blank sailings
The obstruction will mean additional blank sailings in June from Yantian to Hong Kong to the US West Coast. Container capacity may reduce by roughly 50% from the port, and there could be restrictions on the carriers allowed to release premium shipping containers. For Asia-Europe trade lanes, carriers have announced blank sails from northern ports like Tianjin and Quindao, citing congestion issues.
According to project44, importers from the US and Europe must remain wary of the overall deterioration of maritime trade lanes originating from China and plan their freight operations accordingly. It is not clear how the trade lanes between China and Africa are affected.
Visit www.project44.com for more details.
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Port of Nacala coal exports show 28% decrease in First Quarter

It has been reported that coal exports through the Mozambique Port of Nacala have shown a 28% decrease on budget in the first quarter of 2021.
That’s according to a statement issued by Nacala Logistics on Monday.
The statement said the shipping of coal along the Nacala rail corridor and through the port reached a total of 1.1 million tons for the quarter, as opposed to the 1.5 million tons that had been expected.
“A difference of 28 per cent,” pointed out the statement.
According to Fábio Iwanaga, financial manager at Nacala Logistics, “operations in both businesses, coal and general cargo, continue to face challenges.”

Factors affecting the slowdown include the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the world economy, including the slowdown in Asian markets that are the main customers for Mozambican coal.
Coal is Mozambique’s main export product.
It was pointed out that the slowdown also meant that the company has had fewer expenses.
Nacala Logistics’ gross profit before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) increased 6% in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of 2020. This is a result of expenditure being lower than expected.
“The growth in gross profit was due to operating expenses below expectations,” the statement said.
The Nacala Railway Corridor extends for over 1600 kilometres in length, from the Vale coal mine at Moatize in Tete province, through the country of Malawi and back into Mozambique to the port at Nacala-à-Velha. Nacala Logistics carries the responsibility and management and operation of this corridor and railway. source: Lusa
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REFLECTIONS: Ferreira – ex CUTTY SARK – Cape Town 1916

by Jay Gates
Last week on 3 June, in Africa PORTS and SHIPS, there was a magnificent article about the CUTTY SARK, probably the most famous of all the great tea clipper ships. A great educational read.
All maritime buffs know all about the era of the great clipper ships, and of the annual great tea races from China back to England between the mid-1860s and the mid-1870s. The greatest race being the 1866 race, where the tea clipper Taeping beat the tea clipper Ariel, who left port together on the same tide with three other clippers, and who arrived in London a mere 28 minutes ahead of her rival, after a race of 99 days over 14,000 nautical miles from Foochow in China to London.
The sparring partners were in sight of each other for almost the entire journey. Spare a thought for the poor Serica, another great tea clipper, which arrived in London only 75 minutes after the Ariel but whose name is forgotten by just about all who know the story of the great race of 1866.
The next great race that history remembers is that between the Thermopylae and the great Cutty Sark in 1872. Despite being 400 miles ahead of Thermopylae by the time that they reached the coast of South Africa on 15 August, Cutty Sark lost her rudder in a violent storm whilst south of East London. By 20 August, rather than head for Port Elizabeth or Cape Town for repairs, she had fashioned a jury rudder and on 22 August she rounded Cape Agulhas. By 1 September she was well to the northwest of Cape Town and heading for London.
She lost the race due to her misfortune off the South African coast, but as a ‘plucky loser’ she went down in history as the most famous clipper of them all. Throughout this period no clipper ships purposely stopped at Cape Town, or any other South African port for that matter, as the requirement was to get back to London as fast as you could with your cargo of tea. Certainly none of the famous clippers were known to have called in. But who knew that the Cutty Sark did actually call at Cape Town later in her career?
Built in 1869, the year the Suez Canal opened, by Scott Linton and finished by Dennys of Dumbarton on the River Clyde, Cutty Sark continued trading with her owners, John Willis, until 1895 when she was sold to Joachim Antunes Ferreira of Lisbon, and renamed Ferreira for service between Portugal and the colonies of the Portuguese Empire.
In October 1915 Portugal declared war on Germany, and entered the First World War on the side of the Allies. In October 1915 Ferreira had arrived at Lourenço Marques in Mozambique to load a cargo of coal for Mocamedes in Angola. The Portuguese authorities immediately conscripted most of the ship’s crew for wartime service in the Portuguese Navy.
It took almost six months for the Master of Ferreira to find sufficient crew to man the ship for her voyage to Angola. Despite only having a depleted crew of eighteen, mostly landlubbers, she finally set sail in April 1916 with 1,000 tons of coal for Mocamedes.

On 1 May 1916 when between Port Elizabeth and East London, in a position similar to where she had lost her rudder 44 years earlier, Ferreira encountered a force 10 storm that caused her cargo to shift, and for her to list with parts of her yards and rigging underwater. Despite attempts to re-trim the vessel the crew, over a period of five days, eventually had to cut away the mainmast, the mizzen topmast and the fore topmast and heave them over the side in order to right the ship.
Continuing to drift south towards Cape Agulhas until 12 May, the second vessel who came across her, the SS Indraghiri, finally took her in tow and they arrived in Cape Town on 14 May 1916, where she was berthed on the South Arm in the V&A dock. There Ferreira stayed for the next 19 months. The Cutty Sark had finally arrived at a South African port.
The problem that arose was that the First World War was in full swing, and suitable timber for Ferreira was going towards the war effort, and was simply not available to repair the ship. She was in a bad state and estimates to bring her back to being fully ship masted and rigged was GBP2,250 which was way beyond her insurance cover of GBP700. The only solution was for her to be rerigged and converted into a barquentine, which required less timber to achieve. This took almost eighteen months to complete.

For those unsure of the difference between a ship and a barquentine, a ship has three masts of which all three are square rigged with yardarms. A barquentine has three masts of which only the foremast is square rigged, with the mainmast and the mizzenmast being ‘fore and aft’ rigged, similar to a schooner. It also means less crew are required to sail her.
Despite her predicament, Ferreira became a famous landmark in Cape Town, as it became known that she was the great Cutty Sark and large crowds of people visited her, where the crew supplemented their meagre income by giving guided tours to the visitors throughout her enforced stay. Once repairs were completed, Ferreira was finally ready for sea and towed into Table Bay. She finally sailed from Cape Town in early January 1918.
She remained under the Portuguese flag until 1922 when she was purchased by Captain Wilfred Dowman of England, and she was renamed Cutty Sark once more. She served as a training ship from 1923 to 1954, at which point she was retired. After a refurbishment back to her original design, Cutty Sark was gifted to the British nation and in 1957 she moved to a permanent drydock at Greenwich in London and was opened to the public. The rest, as they say, is history.
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Keel laid at Kisumu for Kenya’s new rail wagon ferry, Uhuru II

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta last week played an important role at the Lake Victoria port of Kisumu when he officially laid the keel of a new 100-metre long lake rail wagon ferry, to be named UHURU II, which is to join the lakeside operations currently carried out by Kenya’s refurbished wagon ferry, UHURU I.
The new ferry is being built at the state-owned Kenya Shipyards Limited (KSL), which is managed and run by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and which provides refits, maintenance and repair of all vessels operating on Lake Victoria.
KSL completed the refurbishment of Uhuru (I) during 2020.

President Kenyatta described the development of the shipyard as a milestone in reviving lake transport throughout the East Africa region, which he said would create job opportunities and assist the resuscitation of the steel industry.
The port of Kisumu, Kenya’s only major port on Lake Victoria, recently underwent a refurbishment of the quayside and dredging of the water area ahead of a drive to bring back the once extensive lake transportation activity.
The new wagon ferry under construction will be able to carry 24 loaded rail wagons at a time and will mainly operate between Kisumu and Uganda’s Port Bell. Kisumu is connected by the metre gauge Rift Valley Railway with the standard gauge railway from Mombasa that terminates near Naivasha, north-west of Nairobi.
Construction of Uhuru II will include technical support from Dutch shipbuilder, Damen Shipyards.
Speaking at the function at Kisumu last week, President Kenyatta said the refurbished ferry Uhuru (II) has transported over 50 million litres of fuel from Kisumu to Uganda since returning to service last year. The ferry had been out of service for 13 years prior to receiving this maintenance at the hands of KSL.
Kenyatta said that construction of the new ferry and phase 2 involving construction of the dry dock and slipway at Kisumu would lead to the creation of over 1000 jobs.
“These vessels will complete railway transport by shipping cargo wagons through the lake. I urge countries to revive farming and industrial activities,” he said.
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WHARF TALK: Calypso 8, an unexpected VLCC arrival

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) tankers do not, as a rule, call at South African ports, and generally they are only seen offshore Durban on the SBM. So when one enters port it is for a reason other than discharging crude oil, the only cargo for which they were built to transport.
On Monday 7 June at 11h00 the VLCC tanker CALYPSO 8 (IMO 9227479) arrived off Cape Town and, as opposed to the normal routine of arriving VLCCs standing off port limits to receive stores and supplies, she was brought into harbour and berthed at the Landing Wall in the Duncan Dock.
Although all AIS sites indicate that she arrived from her previous port of Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia, she departed that port two months ago on 7 April and, in any case, she arrived in ballast at Cape Town and not with a crude oil cargo aboard. Her whereabouts over the last 8 weeks are, thus, a mystery.

Her reason for being in Cape Town is the same as all VLCC callers, and Calypso 8 has arrived to receive maintenance support for an engineering problem. She is due to have her engine turbochargers repaired and overhauled. Turbochargers on a vessel this size are commensurate with the size of engine that is needed to move her around the oceans at a brisk maximum speed of 16.4 knots, and they weigh in at a colossal 12,500 kg each.
Built in 2001 by Daewoo Shipbuilders at Geoje in South Korea, Calypso 8 is 332 metres in length, which takes up pretty much the full length of one side of the Landing Wall, and has a deadweight of 306,317 tons. She is powered by a Hyundai MAN-B&W 6S90MC-C 6 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 39,453 bhp (29,420 kW) to give her a service speed of 15 knots. She has a cargo carrying capacity of 331,711 m3.
She is owned by Sino Pacific Tankers of Hong Kong, a company that was only incorporated in Hong Kong on 30 March 2021, and she is managed by Golden Ships Management, also of Hong Kong. She was purchased by her present owners from the Angelicoussis Shipping Group of Athens in March 2021 for a selling price of US$23.7 million (ZAR320.2 million). Her previous name of Maran Cygnus, and her previous managers of Maran Tankers Management (MTM) are still visible on her hull and her funnel.

Just over one year ago, as Maran Cygnus, Calypso 8 was accused with being involved with breaking United States sanctions on the sale of Venezuelan crude oil. Between 16 and 19 April 2020, she was involved in the ship to ship (STS) of crude oil from another Greek owned VLCC who had loaded a full cargo of crude oil in Venezuela. The STS operation took place offshore Singapore, and the crude oil cargo was suspected, by the American authorities, of being bound for China.
Vessels accused of being involved in busting oil sanctions from Venezuela are at risk of being banned from trading from US ports, and from basing commercial transactions on the US Dollar. The export of crude oil from Venezuela is only allowed as debt repayment on behalf of the Venezuelan government, and cannot be exported for commercial profit. Under this ruling, Maran Cygnus had previously taken cargoes of Venezuelan crude oil to the Russian Rosneft-owned Vadinar refinery in India in January 2020.
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AIFREIGHT: Kenya flower exports a bloomin’ success

Kenya, which has become one of the leading flower producers in the world and the third-largest exporter of cut flowers, is making a success of the use of e-commerce platforms and direct sales in order to diversify and grow its market while lessening dependence on the European market.
Kenya has previously relied almost entirely on the long-established Dutch auctions to move its crop of flowers, which it is able to generate all-year round thanks to an all-year growing climate (being situated on the equator helps).
Currently Kenya sends flowers to Aalsmeer in the Netherlands via 42 floral cargo flights a week in order to participate in the multi-million dollar global market, which however has left Kenya growers reliant on second parties.
E-commerce platforms are now reducing that dependency on countries such as Kenya together with the improvement in cold chain logistics, and important markets in Asia – India and China in particular – are now available and within reach of the Kenya’s flower exports. source: Logistics Update Africa
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X-Press Pearl incident:
Statement by Kitack Lim, Secretary-General, IMO

Reported by Paul Ridgway
London
On 7 June, IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim issued the following statement:
“I express my deep concern to all impacted by the incident involving the container vessel X-Press Pearl, which caught fire whilst at anchor near Colombo, Sri Lanka in May.
“I wholeheartedly appreciate the efforts of the Sri Lankan and Indian authorities, for their successful rescue of the crew, bringing them to safety. I also thank the salvors for their efforts.
“We are closely monitoring the situation as it evolves, including reports of chemical pollution, debris coming ashore in the form of plastic pellets, and the potential for oil pollution.
“I commend the Sri Lankan and Indian authorities, including the Department of Fisheries, the Marine Environment Protection Authority, the Navy, and the Coast Guard, who are responding to the incident at sea and onshore.
“IMO is liaising with its UN partners (UNEP and OCHA) and with the South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP), the regional organisation for South Asia, with regards to possible assistance. IMO is also in communication with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Environment (MEPA) for any specific technical assistance that IMO may provide.
“I look forward to receiving the investigation report into this incident in due course.”
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IN CONVERSATION: Colonial ports, customs and censorship: tracking books from ship to shore
Isabel Hofmeyr, University of the Witwatersrand
Some years back, I wrote a book about Mahatma Gandhi’s work as a printer and publisher in South Africa, from 1893 to 1914. The man who was to become the great anti-colonial figure had arrived in Durban as a nervous young lawyer and had been rapidly drawn into defending Indian rights. Towards this end, he established a printing press and newspaper. One minor theme in the book was his steadfast opposition to copyright, which he thought hindered the free flow of ideas. Having completed the book, I wanted to investigate this thread further.
Was Gandhi’s position unusual, or not? What was the situation when it came to colonial copyright?
Rather surprisingly this search led me – figuratively – to the dockside and the Custom House. As I discovered, it was the Custom House that from the mid-19th century had overseen copyright in most British settler colonies. Printed matter coming from outside these colonies had to be funnelled through port cities, where Customs officials checked to see that the material was not pirated, seditious or obscene. Customs became the part of the colonial state that oversaw both copyright and censorship.
My exploration of this system has produced another book, Dockside Reading: Hydrocolonialism and the Custom House, which will be out in 2022. It unfolds alongside the ocean, in the colonial port cities of late 19th and early 20th-century southern Africa, with glimpses toward other parts of the British empire.
Researching the book
I sought out the Customs archives in South Africa with some trepidation, expecting dry and tedious reports on taxation and tariffs. Instead I found a fascinating archive teeming with objects, in some cases actual ones like swatches of fabric, labels of tinned condensed milk and packets of seeds.
The documents themselves were filled with arguments about what these items actually were: was a substance butter or margarine? Was there a difference between tea and medicinal herbs? Was a young pilchard the same as a sardine? The Custom House was far more intriguing than I had anticipated.
Had I done this project 10 or 15 years ago, I would no doubt have written a “drier” book, focusing only on the print culture implications of copyright and censorship in the Custom House without considering its location – the shore.
Though the first book, Gandhi’s Printing Press, was in the field of Indian Ocean studies, there was not much actual sea involved. Like much scholarship on the maritime world, the ocean featured as a backdrop for human movement. But over the last decade, climate change has had a powerful impact on oceanic studies, which now grapple with the physical and biological reality of the marine world as well as its history.
Dockside Reading is an attempt to embed print culture in the field of oceanic studies, to put water and paper closer together. This move immerses print culture in the ecological setting of the port city and extends how we think about print and reading beyond the predictable contexts of the library, the class room, the home, and religious organisations.
Paper trails from ship to shore
The book tracks printed matter from ship to shore and through the regulatory regimes of the southern African colonial Custom House.
It traces how dockside protocols shaped understandings of copyright and censorship. Rather than an institution associated with the rights of the author, copyright became conflated with cargo and commodity markings, especially mark of origin (such as “made in Australia”). British copyright became a token that a book had been made in Britain and was implicitly “white” and safe to admit. Colonial copyright was hence construed as a racial trademark and logistical inscription (a sign that aided the movement of an object).
As regards censorship, material was not read so much as treated like other forms of cargo, scanned for markings and sampled for traces of offensive material. Tax collectors at heart, customs officials were not keen readers. Instead, when dealing with a suspicious book, they applied the same techniques as they did to other suspect cargo: they sampled, counted, measured and touched.
Rather than reading them, they inspected books as objects. Books were judged by their covers, their language or script (French was suspect, non-Roman script dangerous). Inspectors focused on outward information like title, copyright and publisher rather than content. Like other suspect cargo, objectionable books became potential carriers of contamination.
The “reading” methods of the Custom House were to feed into subsequent apartheid censorship practices in South Africa.
The literary consequences of the Custom House eddied outward from the dockside – at times onto and under the water. Customs inspectors dumped unclaimed, smuggled or banned items into the ocean, as did passengers approaching those ports where pirated reprints of copyrighted works were not permitted.
Hydrocolonialism
The term that I use to encompass these dockside protocols is “hydrocolonialism”, a concept that links sea and land, empire and environment. This concept could be used to talk about a wide range of ideas. They include colonisation by way of water (maritime imperialism), colonisation of water (occupation of land with water resources, political and military control of waters), a colony on (or in) water (the ship as a miniature colony, or a penal island), colonisation through water (flooding of occupied land) and colonisation of the idea of water (as a private resource).

This story is part of Oceans 21
Our series on the global ocean opened with five in-depth profiles. Look out for new articles on the state of our oceans in the lead up to the UN’s next climate conference, COP26. The series is brought to you by The Conversation’s international network.
The concept of hydrocolonialism is useful for thinking about all forms of water in relation to colonisation and empire. It challenges the way colonisation has shaped what’s considered to be important knowledge. It also looks at the knowledge created by people before they were colonised and highlights the rich pre-colonial understandings of water as a sacred resource, often inhabited by spirits, ancestors and deities.
The Custom House provides a useful vantage point from which to trace how water is colonised. We tend to think of the elements like air, water and ice as uncolonisable, because they cannot be settled or occupied. But these elements are colonised as resources to be extracted, or as dumping grounds for waste.
The long-term effectiveness of these strategies is apparent today if we turn to the ocean. From its sea bed to its surface it has been prospected, militarised, mined and claimed.
In southern Africa, coastal waters around port cities were colonised, most obviously through the extension of land into the sea through reclamation and submarine infrastructure. Another strategy of claiming the ocean was to extend land-based methods of governance over the ocean: claiming sovereignty, regulating the intertidal zone, declaring quarantine stations over areas around ships.
The practice of dumping goods in the ocean served to define the ocean as a rubbish dump, a space to be colonised by human waste. We might describe the Custom House as a “hydrocracy”, ruling by and from the water’s edge rather than from the desk of bureaucracy.
Dockside Reading demonstrates one site in which hydrocolonialism can be used to illuminate cultural and literary histories. The term, and others like it, is being explored in different areas. Examples include a special issue of the journal English Language Notes on “Hydro-criticism” and work by graduate students on the Oceanic Humanities for the Global South project, which explores pre-colonial and creolized ideas of water, and how black intellectual traditions engage with the ocean.
Isabel Hofmeyr, Professor of African Literature, University of the Witwatersrand
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Reported by Paul Ridgway
London
The G7 Summit will take place in Carbis Bay, North Cornwall, in England’s SW from 11 to 13 June.
Leaders of the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US will attend the Summit alongside the EU and European Commission Presidents.
SA attends
On 12 June they will be joined by leaders from Australia, South Africa, Republic of Korea and the UN Secretary General. Leaders of international organisations and the Indian Prime Minister will also attend the Summit virtually from that day.
It is reported that Prime Minister Johnston will use Summit in Cornwall next week to ask world leaders to come together to end the coronavirus pandemic
* World’s leading democracies will discuss ways to increase vaccine supply and support equitable access
* Tackling climate change and getting more children into school also central themes of UK-hosted summit.
Johnson said: ‘Next week the leaders of the world’s greatest democracies will gather at an historic moment for our countries and for the planet.
‘The world is looking to us to rise to the greatest challenge of the post-war era: defeating Covid and leading a global recovery driven by our shared values.
‘Vaccinating the world by the end of next year would be the single greatest feat in medical history.
‘I’m calling on my fellow G7 leaders to join us to end to this terrible pandemic and pledge will we never allow the devastation wreaked by coronavirus to happen again.’
G7 leaders will arrive in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, on 11 June for three days of meetings on a huge range of global issues, with a particular focus on how the group can lead the global recovery from coronavirus.
Virtual experts
During those sessions they will be joined virtually by experts, including Sir Patrick Vallance, Melinda French Gates and David Attenborough. On 12 June the G7 countries will be joined either in person or virtually by the leaders of Australia, South Africa, Republic of Korea and India for discussions on health and climate change.
Global Pandemic Radar
As well as asking leaders to join the UK in efforts to vaccinate the world, the Prime Minister will call on them to support the Global Pandemic Radar – a new global surveillance system which will protect immunisation programmes against new vaccine resistant variants by detecting them before they have the chance to spread.
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WHARF TALK: SANMAR SONGBIRD – a ‘song and a dance’ across the ocean

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Very recently a vessel arrived at Durban with crew who were suspected of being Covid-19 positive, and the vessel was placed into mandatory quarantine at the port as a result. At a time when the India variant is causing so much concern, it is always surprising to find ships and shipowners are not always fully transparent, open and honest, when it comes to reporting on the health of their crews.
On 3 June at 19H00 the MR2 class tanker SANMAR SONGBIRD (IMO 9259264) arrived at Cape Town and went directly to the tanker berth in the Duncan Dock. She was due to discharge a parcel of diesel fuel. She had arrived from Durban, where she was alongside for just 24 hours before sailing for Cape Town. It was another 24 hour stop as she sailed for Walvis Bay on 4 June at 19h00.
Whilst AIS indicated that she had sailed for Durban from Mangalore, in the India state of Karnataka, on 2 May, it was not apparently her port of loading. This would appear to be Fujairah in the UAE. Her routing after sailing from Fujairah on 26 April is slightly convoluted.
According to a report in the India Seatrade News on 11 May, Sanmar Songbird had sailed from Vadinar, in the Indian state of Gujurat, on 18 April for Durban. However, on the same day, the ship reported a death of one of her crew members, ostensibly as a result of a cardiac arrest. She then turned back and headed to Mangalore to disembark the deceased crewmember, and arrange a crew change of two additional crewmembers. The ship then sailed from Mangalore for Durban.

It was then reported that the deceased crewmember had in fact died from Covid-19, and the two crewmembers who had signed off had also tested positive for Covid-19. The vessel then diverted to the Vizhinjam port anchorage, in the Indian state of Kerala, where another five crewmembers were tested positive for Covid-19.
The port health authorities at Vizhinjam placed Sanmar Songbird into a 14 day quarantine on 9 May. It would appear that at no time had the Captain, the owner or the agent informed the authorities of suspected Covid-19 infections amongst the crew at any time. Eight new crewmembers joined the vessel at Vizhinjam prior to her sailing for Durban, and eventually Cape Town.
Built in 2003 by the Onomichi Dockyard at Kobe in Japan, Sanmar Songbird is 183 metres in length and has a deadweight of 47,094 tons. She is powered by a Mitsui MAN-B&W 6S50MC-C7 6 cylinder 2 stroke engine providing 11,506 bhp (8,580 kW).
Her auxiliary power is produced by three Daihatsu 5DK-20 generators providing 420 kW each. She has two boilers, one an Osaka exhaust gas boiler and the other a Mitsubishi oil fired boiler.
With 16 cargo tanks, she has a carrying capacity of 53,332 m3. Owned by Asahi Tankers of Tokyo, Sanmar Songbird is operated and managed by Sanmar Shipping of Chennai in India and operates within the Hafnia tanker pool.
With her recent shenanigans regarding Covid-19 reporting and testing, this is not the first time that Sanmar Songbird has had a run in with the Indian authorities on a similar subject. In November 2020 when she was en route from the UAE to China, she once more called in at the Vizhinjam port anchorage and requested that all 25 members of her crew receive Covid-19 tests before she continued her voyage. Customs and Port Health gave permission to the vessel to land the crew.
Covid-19 crew testing, and negative results, is mandatory prior to any vessel arrival in a Chinese port. However, the Indian Immigration authorities refused permission for landing and for the tests to be performed onboard the vessel. So the agent arranged for a private medical team to conduct the tests aboard the vessel in breach of the instructions of the Immigration authorities. A complaint was made against the Immigration authorities by the ship agents.
On the bright side, it would seem that some of the crew of Sanmar Songbird would appear to be basketball fans, as there is a basketball hoop attached to the side of the accommodation block on the main deck. No doubt they while away off duty time at sea by shooting a few hoops. I wonder how many basketballs they lose over the side?
The current visit of Sanmar Songbird to Southern African shores was not her first this year, as she had brought a full cargo of refined products to Durban, again from Fujairah, back in early April where she had spent two days alongside discharging at Island View.
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World Ocean Day: 8 June 2021
One Ocean, One Climate, One Future – Together
Collated by Paul Ridgway
London
The date of Tuesday, 8 June is World Oceans Day, the United Nations day for celebrating the role of the oceans in our everyday life and inspiring action to protect the ocean and sustainably use marine resources.
The 2021 Conservation Action Focus is protecting at least 30% of our blue planet for a healthy ocean and climate. Reference to this is now being incorporated into World Ocean Day celebrations worldwide.
There is an invitation to sign a petition CLICK HERE
You may also find details there of events planned with material for use in furthering the cause of World Ocean Day.
On World Ocean Day, people everywhere can celebrate and take action for our shared ocean, which connects us all. By working together, we can and will protect and restore our shared ocean.
World Ocean Day unites and rallies the world to protect and restore our blue planet. The day supports collaborative conservation, working with its global network of youth and organisational leaders in more than 140 countries, and providing free and customisable promotional and actionable resources. World Ocean Day is powered by the World Ocean Day Youth Advisory Council.
For more
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To meet the World Ocean Day Youth Advisory Council SEE HERE
World Ocean Day is an annual celebration on 8 June as well as a call for ocean conservation action throughout the year.
Starting in 2009, World Ocean Day has also been officially recognised by the United Nations.
This celebration of our one shared ocean brings together organisations and individuals from youth groups, schools, aquariums, zoos, museums, businesses, maritime and tourism industries, government agencies, recreational enthusiasts including divers, surfers, sailors, communities of faith and more.
Added 7 June 2021
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The Navigator: Summer 2021 issue
Unpeeling the layers of navigation
Reported by Paul Ridgway
London
Effective use of navigational ‘layers’ to support and enhance decision-making and ways of getting the best out of modern Integrated Navigational Systems combine to become the focus of the latest edition of The Navigator, the free magazine published by The Nautical Institute aimed at maritime navigators around the world, which rolls off the presses this month.
The issue contains an in-depth feature about using ECDIS and radar alone and as part of a wider Integrated Navigation System, as well as a close look at Parallel Indexing and Line of Positions as key position fixing techniques. The UK P&I Club contributes an article on the importance of synchronising layers of navigational information, while the Royal Institute of Navigation looks into the future of electronic intelligence, navigational layering and data display.
David Patraiko, Director of Projects for The Nautical Institute, said: “…the navigator’s role has been to manually assimilate different sources of information, such as radar and ECDIS. However, with the advent of electronic integration and multi-function displays, these views can now be combined on screen. Managing ‘layers’ from systems like these can provide valuable confirmation of GNSS accuracy, gyro integrity and proximity to navigational hazards, both above and below the water.”
The Nautical Institute launched its Navigator Distributor scheme in 2015, encouraging a wider, global distribution of the free, 12-page magazine to as many professional marine navigators as possible. Anyone interested in finding out how their organisation can take part in the scheme should visit www.nautinst.org/thenavigator, where there are also previous issues available to download.
The Navigator is produced by The Nautical Institute with support from the Royal Institute of Navigation. Sponsored by IFAN and Trinity House, it is available as a free pdf, digital magazine or App via The Nautical Institute website. Printed copies are distributed alongside The Nautical Institute’s membership magazine, Seaways, as well as through missions and maritime training establishments.
Added 7 June 2021
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WHARF TALK: Another day, another LR1 tanker – Bani Yas

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Another day, another LR1 tanker, and bringing in another winter cargo from yet another refinery on the other side of the Indian Ocean. The LR1 tanker BANI YAS (IMO 9487249) arrived at the Cape Town anchorage on 27 May at 12H00 from Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia to await the sailing of another LR1 tanker taking the major tanker berth in the harbour. The next day on 28 May at 16H00 she was brought into port in order to begin her refined products discharge.

Built in 2010 by STX Shipbuilding of Jinhae in South Korea, Bani Yas is 228 metres in length with a deadweight of 74,913 tons. She is powered by an STX MAN-B&W 6S50MC-C 6 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 16,092 bhp (12,000 kW) to provide a service speed of 15.1 knots. She has a cargo capacity of 82,925 m3.

One of 12 LR1/LR2 tankers in the fleet, Bani Yas is owned by the state owned Abu Dhabi National Tankers, and both operated and managed by ADNOC Logistics and Services of Abu Dhabi. Her name is a good indicator of her pedigree, as Bani Yas is the name of the tribal confederation in the United Arab Emirates who are led by the Al Nayhan family. The Al Nayhan family are also the rulers of the Abu Dhabi Emirate, the richest of all of the Emirates in the UAE.

As with many tankers operating in the volatile middle east region at the time, Bani Yas was a victim of a failed attack by Somali pirates back in February 2015. She was attacked by five heavily armed pirates in a skiff, who were clearly operating from a nearby mother ship as the skiff was over 400 miles offshore from Somalia at the time.
The pirates were obviously of the ‘extremely dim’ variety as they fired both RPG rockets and small arms at the tanker during the attack. What would have been the outcome if an RPG rocket had set the tanker ablaze is anyone’s guess. Certainly no ransom opportunity for the small idiotic band of Somali miscreants! The attack was thwarted by the vessel taking evasive manoeuvres and increasing speed.
Added 7 June 2021
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Unbelievable charter rate achieved for 5,000-TEU ship – $135,000 per day!

Container lines steam ahead with record profits
Charter rates that are off the charts are being achieved as the demand for container ships continues.
According to reports including in American Shipper and Alphaliner, the 5,060-TEU container ship S SANTIAGO (IMO 9302566) has been chartered for a short-term (45-90 day) charter at the record rate of US $135,000 per day.
The 68,126-dwt, 294-metre long and 32m wide container ship, flagged in the Marshall islands, was built in 2006.
According to a report in American Shipper, the ship has been chartered by a Chinese freight forwarder for a single round voyage with an option for a second.
Alphaliner in its weekly report described charter rates for short employment as having gone out of control.
“This colossal rate is substantially higher than the already whopping $70,000-$90,000 per day — depending on the final duration — agreed recently by Hapag-Lloyd for a two- to three-month employment of the 4,308-TEU CMA CGM Opal.”
Alphaliner said that just 2.7% of the global container fleet remained inactive on 24 May 2021 and of the inactive fleet only 30% was actually available – the balance of inactive tonnage being under repair or maintenance.
Now see next story…..
Added 6 June 2021
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CMA CGM reports $2.1 billion profit for Q1 2021

In what can only be seen as a related matter (to the report above), French container carrier CMA CGM, the world’s third largest container carrier, is reporting a net profit for the First Quarter of 2021 of US$2.1 billion.
A year ago CMA CGM reported a $48 million profit, representing about a 2000% increase year-on-year.
This record Q1 profit came from a revenue of $10.7 billion, which is up 50% on revenue achieved for 2020 Q1.
Container volumes however were up 10.7% to 5.5 million TEUs compared with the same period of 2020.
That in itself is a reflection on the effect of tariff increases since the COVID-19 induced pandemic commenced towards the end of Q1 2020.
Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, had this to say:
“At a time when global supply chains are under severe pressure, we have rallied together to provide our customers with additional solutions. We have expanded our fleet, most notably with the addition of new LNG-powered 23,000 TEU vessels. We have also created a new airfreight division with four Airbus A330-200 full-freighters, thereby strengthening our range of agile solutions.”
He said the sustained demand for the shipping of consumer goods seen since the (northern) summer of 2020 is expected to continue in the second half of 2021.
“The current environment should allow the group to achieve at least the same results in the second quarter of 2021, as it did in the first.”
Added 6 June 2021
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International Day of the Seafarer
25 June 2021
The sounding of the horns

Reported by Paul Ridgway
London
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), along with industry associations, companies and social partners are calling on ship owners, masters and crews around the world to sound their horns in ports on 25 June at 12h00 noon local time, in honour of the International Maritime Organization’s international Day of the Seafarer to remind the world of the urgent need to vaccinate all seafarers
Furthermore, the ICS ask that all those who take part share videos of sounding the horns on twitter with the hashtag #ShoutOutForSeafarers and #FairFuture4Seafarers and to e-mail videos to ICS here: tanya.blake@ics-shipping.org
Added 6 June 2021
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WHARF TALK: Questioning why Saldanha doesn’t provide bunkers? Marigoula

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
The port of Cape Town has a set aside berth in the Duncan Dock, located on the Eastern Mole, that is provided almost exclusively for vessels that require only bunkering services. The vast majority of the vessels that call at Cape Town and utilise the berth are on a voyage from somewhere to elsewhere, and call in for the minimum time required to take on the necessary uptake of bunkers, before heading off once more to complete their voyage.
It is therefore not unusual for a vessel to call in purely for bunkers. Very rarely does a vessel calling for bunkers at Cape Town have a destination that is actually at another major South African port, which is located only 72 nautical miles to the north. This is because most folk probably think that marine bunkers are readily available at all South African ports, especially the one that the vessel has as its ultimate destination.
On 1 June at 19h00 the supramax bulk carrier MARIGOULA (IMO 9617662) arrived at Cape Town and proceeded directly to the bunker berth on the Eastern Mole. She had arrived in ballast from Toamasina, on the northeast coast of Madagascar. She remained on the berth until she had completed her bunker uplift from the bunker tanker Al Safa, and undoubtedly she also took onboard some fresh Cape produce and other supplies whilst she was alongside, before she sailed once more on 2 June 2nd at 13h00 to her final destination on this particular voyage.

Built in 2013 by Dayang Shipbuilders at Yangzhou in China, Marigoula is 190 metres long with a deadweight of 58,063 tons. She is powered by a Hyundai MAN-B&W 6S50MC-C main engine producing 12,713 bhp (9,480 kW) and providing her with a service speed of 14 knots. She is nominally owned by Condim Shipping, and she is both operated and managed by JME Navigation SA, also of Athens, on their behalf.
When she sailed from Cape Town, her destination was Saldanha Bay, the bulk ore port just 6 hours steaming up the Cape west coast. After a slow overnight steam, Marigoula went straight to the St Helena Bay anchorage, to join seven other vessels awaiting at anchor for a loading berth to become available for them within Saldanha Bay harbour.
The question is why steam for 2,352 nautical miles from Madagascar, at service speed over a period of a week, and then stop 72 nautical miles short of your destination simply to take on bunkers. The answer is that not all South African ports are yet able to provide marine bunkers, that are readily available, of all required fuel grades, in sufficient quantity, at any time, for all clients that request it, by contract fuel or otherwise.
Added 6 June 2021
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Watch dockside crane collapse on Durban ship and across container
A container ship which came too close to another while docking, brought about the collapse of a shoreside ship-to-shore (STS) crane and damage to a second, with the first falling across containers on the dockside.
Fortunately there were no serious injuries although two people were trapped in the wreckage for about an hour and one person received a cut arm and foot requiring hospital treatment.
The accident took place in the port of Kaohsiung in Taiwan and involved the 90,000-dwt container ship OOCL DURBAN (IMO 9567673) as this vessel prepared to berth in front of a second and smaller container ship, the newly-built (2021) 37,500-dwt Yang Ming vessel YM CONSTANCY (IMO 9864576).
Unfortunately the OOCL Durban moved too close to the YM Constancy which was alongside Wharf 70 and in the process two of the STS cranes on the dockside were caught up in the proceedings, causing them to fold and collapse on the dockside.
Nothing bad happens these days without someone taking a recording on his or her cell phone and in this instance the incident was captured digitally and almost immediately place online.
OOCL Durban is a 8,476-TEU container ship built in 2011 and owned by Sun Lanes Shipping S.A., the registered name for a Japanese company Nissen Kaiun Co Ltd and chartered to OOCL. The ship is flagged in Panama.
The shorter of the two videos is up top. The second YouTube video [10:20] last for just over ten minutes.
Added 6 June 2021
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NATO Exercise Formidable Shield

Reported by Paul Ridgway
London
Europe’s biggest and most complex air and missile exercise, Formidable Shield, got underway on 15 May with ships and aircraft from across NATO defending against a variety of missiles.
Exercise At-Sea-Demo/Formidable Shield was held primarily at the Hebrides range off Scotland, and also at the Andoya training site off Norway, involving 15 ships and dozens of aircraft from ten NATO nations.
To quote NATO Deputy Spokesperson Piers Cazalet: “Formidable Shield shows how Allies are working together to defend NATO forces and populations from the very real threat of missiles.

“In conflicts around the world, cruise and ballistic missiles are often the weapon of choice, both for state and non-state actors. So at a time when we see missile arsenals growing and becoming more complex, it is important that Allies continue to adapt and exercise our defences.”
Part of the three-week exercise has seen ships detect and track missiles flying at more than 20,000km/h, it was reported. Using NATO procedures ships were defending against an array of anti-ship missiles. Allies shared common tactical pictures, conducted joint mission planning and co-ordinated in the shooting down of incoming missiles. Surveillance aircraft monitored live-fire training.
Held every two years, Formidable Shield ran until 3 June and has been led by Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO on behalf of the US Sixth Fleet. This involved around 3,300 personnel from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Spanish Navy’s frigate ESPS Cristobal Colon was the flagship of the exercise.
Added 6 June 2021
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PIRACY REPORT: Ship approached southwest of Lomé, not boarded
Dryad Global reports of a ship in transit 49 nautical miles southwest of the port of Lomé by what the vessel crew regarded as possible pirates.
The tanker, which is not identified by name, was in position 05°2965N 000° 4436E at 09h00 UTC on Friday 4 June 2021 when the master reported a suspicious approach by a small wooden craft with 10 people on board.
The small boat is understood to have approached the port side of the tanker before signalling distress and making a request that the vessel reduce speed.
According to the report, the master of the tanker was unable to confirm that the small boat and people on board were in distress and as a precaution he increased his vessel’s speed.
His report on the matter indicated they were unable to see any visible signs of pirate paraphernalia.
The tanker was sailing in an area of the Gulf of Guinea which has currently a heightened risk of piracy.
Dryad says that “on available information the latest approach does not appear to indicate a sustained and deliberate approach with piratical intent.
It says that all vessels operating within the immediate areas are advised to do so at a heightened posture and to report all suspicious movements to watchkeepers@mdat-gog.org
Added 6 June 2021
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Karmol LNGT Powership Africa arrives in Dakar to join Karpowership Ayşegul Sultan

As reported several here on several occasions over the years, South Africa is not the only African country to be toying with the use of the Turkish Karpowerships to provide support electric energy. Several other nations including Ghana and Mozambique already have these powerships in service at ports such as Tema and Nacala.
Another African port to host these floating power stations is Dakar in Senegal, which has the Karpowership Ayşegul Sultan already installed and has now also received Karmol’s floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), POWERSHIP AFRICA (IMO 9043677) to enable a change-over to LNG instead of HFO.
The 272-metre long, 47m wide FSRU was towed to Dakar by Dutch marine transport and offshore support firm ALP Maritime’s 89-metre long tug, ALP KEEPER (IMO 9737266). The duo left Singapore in April for the West African port, arriving in Dakar last Monday (31 May 2021).

The tug has a continuous bollard pull of 302-mt and was built at the Niigata Shipbuilding & Repair yard in Niigata, Japan in 2018 as hull number N-0084. The tug’s propulsion is provided by MaK 9M32C main engines producing 18.000 kW / 600 rpm & 4 x 4.500 kW driving 2 CPP 5.000 mm in nozzle propellers. The vessels has 2 x 1.500 kW @ 228 rpm tunnel bow thrusters and 2 x 1.050 kW @ 316 rpm tunnel stern thrusters.
Her generators consist of 3 x 940 ekW, 60Hz auxiliary generators, 1 x 200 ekW, 60Hz emergency generator, and 2 x 3.150 ekW, 60Hz shaft generators driven from main reduction gear.
The 125,000-cbm Powership Africa will supply the 235 MW powership Ayşegul Sultan with LNG in order to generate electricity into the Dakar grid.

A spokesman said the powership is now ready to start with her first deployment using LNG, having previously operated by burning heavy fuel oil.
Senegal announced its intention of shifting to the use of LNG for its power generation by the year 2035, in order to reduce harmful emissions.
The FSRU Powership Africa is owned by KARMOL, a joint venture involving Turkey’s Karpowership and Japan’s MOL. The vessel was converted by the firm of Sembcorp.
Added 6 June 2021
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WHARF TALK: A Cape Town facelift for MSC ship, GH Meltemi

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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GENERAL NEWS REPORTS – UPDATED THROUGH THE DAY
in partnership with – APO
More News at https://africaports.co.za/category/News/
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EXPECTED SHIP ARRIVALS and SHIPS IN PORT
Port Louis – Indian Ocean gateway port
Ports & Ships publishes regularly updated SHIP MOVEMENT reports including ETAs for ports extending from West Africa to South Africa to East Africa and including Port Louis in Mauritius.
In the case of South Africa’s container ports of Durban, Ngqura, Ports Elizabeth and Cape Town links to container Stack Dates are also available.
You can access this information, including the list of ports covered, by CLICKING HERE remember to use your BACKSPACE to return to this page.
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CRUISE NEWS AND NAVAL ACTIVITIES
QM2 in Cape Town. Picture by Ian Shiffman
We publish news about the cruise industry here in the general news section.
Naval News
Similarly you can read our regular Naval News reports and stories here in the general news section.
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THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
“When you reach the heart of life you shall find beauty in all things, even in the eyes that are blind to beauty.”
– Kahlil Gibran
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