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TODAY’S BULLETIN OF MARITIME NEWS  

These news reprts 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

Click on headline to go direct to story : use the BACK key to return  

FIRST VIEW:   MSC CASSANDRE

• SA Port Statistics for the month of July 2022
• WHARF TALK: dedicated fish reefer vessel MEITA MARU
• Port digitisation project at APM Terminals Liberia set to improve efficiency and ease of doing business
• NATO maritime groups: Joint mine countermeasures exercises
• Tugs and pilot boats on their way to Lekki Deep Seaport
• Transnet locomotive saga: High Court launched against CRRC E-Loco
• WHARF TALK: Turkish MR2 class tanker PS DREAM
• UN Environment Programme and EIB: The Mediterranean Basin
• Toyota plant at Durban reopens following April floods
• Nigerian Navy ship NNS Kada arrives in Guinea Bissau with military hardware
• Transnet security personnel given powers of arrest as peace officers
• WHARF TALK: arrival of a fish reefer named SEIN HONOR
• NATO Group in E Med and Adriatic
• IN CONVERSATION: Auto manufacturing is changing: how South Africa can adjust to protect workers and jobs
• NIMASA plans visit to Mombasa shipyards on behalf of Nigerian shipowners
• Presidential election results and unrest affect JKIA and Mombasa port
• WHARF TALK: rare visitor to South Africa- SWARNA JAYANTI
• Cruise News: Three Canary Island cruise port concessions confirmed
• Concession process approved for the proposed Bagagry Deep Sea Port
• Maersk Air Cargo will take off with three B767Fs
• WTO: Strengthening developing countries’ participation- Ireland gives €400,000
• Island Innovator rig on her way to drill off West Coast
• REPEAT : Ten Companies shortlisted to operate Pier 2 DCT; four for Ngqura
• WHARF TALK: small handy chemical tanker MERA 7
• The Seafarers’ Happiness Index
• First cargo ship in 9 years arrives in Mossel Bay harbour
• Settlement reached with EU to clear citrus blocked in European ports
• AD Ports Group and Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd sign MoU for joint infrastructure investments in Tanzania
• Montagu acquires Maritime Intelligence (Lloyd’s List) from Informa Plc
• IN CONVERSATION: Lilian Ngoyi: an heroic South African woman whose story hasn’t been fully told
• Mombasa added to ONE line’s Maputo- India- Middle East (MIM) service

• EARLIER NEWS CAN BE FOUND HERE AT NEWS CATEGORIES…….

The week’s mastheads:

Sunday: Port of Walvis Bay 
Monday: Port of Ngqura
Tuesday: Port of Ngqura Container Terminal
Wednesday: Port of Mombasa
Thursday: Port of Apapa
Friday: Port of East London
Saturday: Port of Durban Sugar terminal
Sunday: Port of Durban T-Jetty

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FIRST VIEW:  MSC CASSANDRE

Arriving in Durban on her maiden voyage from Ngqura, two ports in India, two in the Arabian Gulf and several ports in South East Asia and China, is the neoPanamax container ship MSC CASSANDRE (IMO 9785471).

The newbuild ship has a deadweight of 122,416 dwt and an overall length of 328.5 metres, a beam of 48.2m and a container capacity of 11,568 TEU. She was built at the Jinhai Heavy Industry (Zhoushan) Shipyard in China as hull number JO265 and is flagged in Liberia.

MSC Cassandre is powered with a single MAN-B&W diesel 8-cylinder engine. Her speed is not known at this stage nor other details regarding her propulsion.

The container vessel’s nominal owner is Psychic Wise Shipping and her management and operation is with Mediterranean Shipping Company.

The picture is by Trevor Jones

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SA Port Statistics for the month of July 2022

Port statistics for the month of July 2022, covering the eight commercial ports under the administration of Transnet National Ports Authority, are now available.

The statistics below show port cargo throughputs, ships berthed and auto and container volumes handled together with bulk and dry bulk volumes.

Motor vehicles are measured in vehicle units are included in tonnage oin the basis of 1 tonne per unit (correction on May report).

Containers are counted in TEUs, with each TEU representing 13.5 tonnes.

For comparison with the equivalent month of the previous year, July 2021 CLICK HERE

Port Statistics continue below

Figures for the respective ports during July 2022 are:

Total cargo handled by tonnes during July 2022, including containers by weight

PORT	July 2022 million tonnes
Richards Bay	7.421
Durban	7.003
Saldanha Bay	8.291
Cape Town	1.606
Port Elizabeth	1.333
Ngqura	0.990
Mossel Bay	0.081
East London	0.188
Total all ports	26.929 million tonnes

CONTAINERS (measured by TEUs) during July 2022
(TEUs include Deepsea, Coastal, Transship and empty containers all subject to being invoiced by NPA

PORT	July 2022 TEUs
Durban	213,890
Cape Town	80,424
Port Elizabeth	22,578
Ngqura	47,246
East London	6,475
Richards Bay	0
Total all ports	370,613 TEU

MOTOR VEHICLES RO-RO TRAFFIC (measured by Units- CEUs) during July 2022

PORT	July 2022 CEUs
Durban	50,896
Cape Town	38
Port Elizabeth	24,243
East London	7,396
Richards Bay	0
Total all ports	82,573 CEU

SHIP CALLS for July 2022

PORT	July 2022 vessels	gross tons
Durban	255	9,269,879
Cape Town	148	3,196,124
Richards Bay	121	4,805,125
Port Elizabeth	72	2,128,970
Saldanha Bay	55	3,480,275
Ngqura	76	2,466,854
East London	26	920,281
Mossel Bay	27	268,362
Total ship calls	773	26,535,870

— source TNPA, with adjustments regarding container weights by Africa Ports & Ships

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WHARF TALK: dedicated fish reefer vessel MEITA MARU

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

It is already a well-known fact that the majority of the Far Eastern tuna fishing fleets do not return home between fishing trips. The majority of these vessels, working in the Southeast Atlantic and Southwest Indian Oceans, use Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban, as their ‘de-facto’ home port. The question of what happens to their catch, when they return to one of these ports, is often asked.

Under the internationally agreed fisheries agreements under which they fish in these distant waters, their catch can only be landed at certain ports, one being Cape Town. However, the catch cannot be technically ‘landed’, as the catch cannot normally be introduced into the local, domestic, market. Instead it has to be transshipped directly into a dedicated fish reefer, and then transported back to their home market.

Even then, the catch cannot simply be taken to the Far East and dropped off. These same internationally agreed fishing agreements stipulate which ports the tuna catches can be landed. In nearly all cases the agreed landing ports are Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Busan (South Korea), Shimuzu (Japan), and Moji (Japan). These ports tie up with the fact that the ‘local’ tuna fleets are mostly made up of Taiwanese, South Korean and Japanese longliner vessels.

In order to ensure that the precious, and very expensive, frozen tuna, cargo gets back to market safely and securely requires a dedicated fish reefer vessel to be on hand in the ‘de-facto’ home port in order to accept the transshipped catch. There are a number of these reefer vessels in constant operation, conducting a veritable shuttle service between South Africa and the Far East, with most of them being seen at least once a year in Cape Town.

A clue to the imminent arrival in port of a fish reefer, is the preceding arrival of a great number of tuna vessels, all timed to coincide with the reefer turning up to collect their catch. If a gaggle of Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese tuna vessels seemingly all turn up together, get ready to spot the arrival of the reefer soon afterwards. In recent weeks, a total of nine Taiwanese, and South Korean, tuna longliners arrived in Cape Town.

Back on 31st July at 08h00 the small reefer MEITA MARU (IMO 9071583) arrived at the Table Bay anchorage. She had arrived from Kaohsiung, with previous calls at Moji, Shimuzu and Busan, which gives a big clue as to the nature of her normal business. She remained out at anchor for just under 36 hours, and entered Cape Town harbour on 1st August at 16H00. She proceeded into the Duncan Dock, and went alongside J berth, which is the normal berthing place for visiting fish reefers.

Built in 1993 by Kurinoura Dockyard at Yawatahama in Japan, ‘Meita Maru’ is 107 metres in length and has a deadweight of 4,211 tons. She is powered by a single MAN-B&W 6L35MC 6 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 3,944 bhp (2,648 kW), to drive a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 16 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three generators providing 750 kW each, and emergency generator, and a single Miura oil fired boiler. She has four holds, serviced by eight derricks of 4 tons lifting capacity each.

Her reefer hold volume is 156,592 ft3, with a reefer area of 4,069 m3, and a hold capacity of 4,434 tons. Designed as an ultra-low temperature reefer, ‘Meita Maru’ holds are able to maintain the cargo at a temperature as low as -60°C. She indicated she was ready for transshipping the cargo as soon as she arrived, as she immediately deployed a set of Yokohama fenders along her hull to await the first longliner to come alongside.

She is owned, operated and managed by the Toei Reefer Line Ltd. of Tokyo in Japan. Unusually for a vessel that is still operating successfully after 29 years, she has only been owned by one owner, and has spent her whole career with Toei Reefers. The houseflag of Toei Reefer Line is a Flying Fish, which is prominently displayed on the funnel of ‘Meita Maru’.

She has been a regular visitor to South Africa over the length of her career and has been operating to both the South Atlantic Ocean and the South Indian Ocean since 2008, in support of the tuna longliner fleets. Most recently, she was in Cape Town in April 2021, and again in December 2020 before that.

In order to be able to both follow the tuna fishing fleets wherever they operate, she has current authorisations from a number of International Fishing Commissions, plus a Fisheries Agency. The authorisations recognise ‘Meita Maru’ as a fishing support vessel, and allow her to conduct transshipment operations on the high seas. These authorisations and are all valid throughout 2022, and in one case, remains valid until 2026.

She currently holds valid authorisations with the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the two Pacific regulators of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), and the International American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).

An unusual authorisation also comes from the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA). This is a regulating organisation made up of 17 of the nations of the South Pacific, almost all English speaking, who work with the WCPFC, and who manage the tuna fisheries within their own 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zones (EEZ). The FFA have listed ‘Meita Maru’ as a vessel of good standing.

The reefer vessel moves across the waters of the Duncan Dock towards the open sea. Picture by ‘Dockrat’
In her long career, she has received no fewer than 69 Port State Inspections, with only one resulting in a detention. This occurred in June 2021, at Port Lincoln, located in South Australia. The detention was due to a serious defect of the emergency fire pump. This was swiftly remedied, and her detention lasted for less than a day, and she was released after 19 hours.

Over a period of the next fortnight, ‘Meita Maru’ remained alongside in Cape Town, as a flow of tuna longliners came alongside her and proceeded to transship their catches into her holds. By 15th August, she had completed the transshipments and she sailed from Cape Town the same day at 16h00.

With her AIS showing that she was bound, simply, for the Fishing Grounds, this was a good indication that she was heading to rendezvous with other tuna longliners still operating out in the South Atlantic and continue with transshipment operations on the high seas, as authorised. Where that rendezvous in the South Atlantic is planned is not known, but ‘Meita Maru’ headed north from Cape Town to that unknown position.

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Port digitisation project at APM Terminals Liberia set to improve efficiency and ease of doing business

A Port Automation and Digitisation (PAD) project at the Free Port of Monrovia is set to significantly improve customers supply chain efficiency and ease of doing business through paperless customs clearance processes and more efficient terminal operations.

Over the past year the terminal already made significant inroads into digitisation, including online invoicing, issuing digital receipts based on data from real-time bank deposits, and online issue resolution.

The project, which is run jointly by the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) and APM Terminals Liberia, will, it is believed, reaffirm the Free Port of Monrovia’s position as the gateway to the economy of Liberia and the Mano River Union.

Commending the partners for the initiative, Minister of Finance & Development Planning, Samuel Tweah, said digitising the port introduced numerous benefits to the economy in terms of ease of doing business.

“I commend APM Terminals Liberia and partners for launching this initiative and for their collaboration in making sure that we achieve full success with port automation and digitisation.”

Steps to digitise already taken

The previous manual process of submitting declarations, payments and customs releases has already been reduced significantly through digitisation over the past year. With full-scale automation and digitisation, the process is expected to be accelerated even further, saving productive hours and bringing convenience to both custom brokers and customers.

Commerce and Industry Minister, Mawine Diggs, made the point that this new and improved way of doing business at the Free Port will have a positive effect on trade and commercial activities in Liberia as importers are able to clear their goods in good time, less costly and get them onto the market.

Jonathan Graham, Managing Director APM Terminals Liberia, which is spearheading the project, stressed the need for even stronger partnerships to successfully roll out the port automation and digitisation project.

“This is the only way that the Free Port of Monrovia will be able to transform into a modern port serving Liberia and the sub region,” Graham said.

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NATO maritime groups: Joint mine countermeasures exercises

Warships from Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) and Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2) exercised cross-deck helicopter and small-boat capabilities in the Adriatic Sea to demonstrate and preserve their ability to operate together against the threat of mine attack. This was reported by NATO MARCOM Public Affairs on 11 August

These exercises culminated in a mine lead-through exercise building NATO’s high-end mine detection and mine counter measures (MCM) protection capabilities.

SNMG2’s flagship US Navy USS Forrest Sherman and Turkish Navy TCG Kemalreis along with SNMCMG2’s flagship Turkish Navy TCG Yuzbası Gungor Durmus, minehunter TCG Edincik and Italian Navy ITS Alghero participated in the exercise.

Integration of two out of four of NATO’s Standing Naval Forces speaks to the importance of interoperable capabilities and demonstrates Alliance cohesion.

Clearing a mine-threat area is a required capability that falls under NATO’s strategic goal of ensuring maritime security. The ability to operate jointly with Allied nations from different task groups increases the readiness of NATO’s response force.

US Navy Rear Admiral Scott Sciretta, commander of SNMG2, spoke about the importance of interoperability. “It sends a clear message for NATO to have two of its Standing Naval Forces take the time to exercise our ability to conduct joint maritime operations,” he said.

“Exercises such as these make us capable now and ready for tomorrow.”

Turkish Navy Captain Yusuf Karagulle, commander of SNMCMG2, spoke about the importance of exercises between SNMG-2 and SNMCMG-2: “Given the nature of MCM operations, mostly close to shore and in a multi-threat environment, it was a beneficial exercise for SNMCMG2 to increase our interoperability with SNMG2.

“Trainings between these groups are force multipliers and provide a collectively trained and interoperable capability that NATO can confidently deploy.”

SNMG2 and SNMCMG2 are multinational integrated task groups that project a constant and visible reminder of the Alliance’s solidarity and cohesion afloat and provide the Alliance with a continuous maritime capability to perform a wide range of tasks, including exercises and real-world operations in periods of crisis and conflict.

This policy sends a clear message for NATO to have two of its Standing Naval Forces take the time to exercise its ability to conduct joint maritime operation. In conclusion Admiral Sciretta said: “Exercises such as these make us capable now and ready for tomorrow.”

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

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Tugs and pilot boats on their way to Lekki Deep Seaport

Having recently take delivery of five new ship-to-shore (STS) cranes and a number of RTGs, the new Nigerian deep water port of Lekki is also due to receive her first new tugs.

These will be 80-ton bollard pull ASG tugs which will be accompanied by two pilot boats to ensure that marine activities at the new port will be in good hands.

Announcing this was Nigerian Ports Authority managing director, Mohammed Bello Koko during an inspection of the new port.

Lekki will be able to handle the largest container ships likely to call at any West African port and will also help the pressure on two other Lagos ports, Tin Can Island and Apapa.

The MD said the port will be properly equipped for commencing operations later this year. Among the equipment to be installed is a vessel tracking system (VTS) for the Lekki channel and other sections of the port.

He said the operationalisation of the port later in the year will be in time to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

The NPA will be looking to the Minister of Transportation for approval of measures necessary to encourage transit and transshipment cargo. The authority has already announced that it will introduce a new tariff regime aimed at encouraging these two aspects back to Nigeria, and that Lekki would also benefit from these.

He intimated that multiple checkpoints on the highways had discouraged transit cargo previously. If this type of cargo can be reintroduced to Nigerian ports such as Lekki, then it could be transshipped onto smaller vessels and taken to other ports, to the economic advantage of Nigeria.

He noted that for the first time Nigeria will have a port equipped with ship-to-shore cranes which were bound to introduce efficiency in the way containerised cargo is handled.

Bello Koko added that a suitable marine services building is to be erected inside Lekki Deep Seaport to house NPA officials and a control tower.

He noted that the automation deployed at Lekki was fantastic and highly commendable and almost free of human interference.

The other existing ports remained viable, he said. “But what we have done is to create an alternative for importers and exporters to choose where they can do business. The operators of the existing ports would have to up their game in terms of equipment and processes.”

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Transnet locomotive saga: High Court application launched against CRRC E-Loco

Transnet SOC Ltd on Wednesday launched an application in the High Court to compel China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) E-Loco Supply (Pty) Ltd to make available to Transnet the spare parts and components which were imported to service and maintain the 95 class 20E and 100 class 21E locomotives which Transnet had acquired from CRRC in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

The application provides for an urgent hearing to secure the immediate release of the spares to Transnet for use in the locomotives, and for the amount due by Transnet to CRRC for such spares, if anything, to be determined in due course.

Access to the spare parts and components will allow Transnet to bring back to service 53 Class 20E and 67 Class 21E long-standing dormant locomotives.

The locomotives have been unavailable as a result of Transnet’s inability to access the required spares and components.

The Chinese company has so far refused to supply the spare parts and components on account of Transnet suspending and then cancelling the balance of an order for the two classes of loco and spares.

The cancellation is tied in to fraud charges brought against certain management officials then in the employ of Transnet, to whom it is alleged that illegal commissions were paid out by the supplier.

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WHARF TALK:    Turkish MR2 class tanker –   PS DREAM

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

The arrival of tankers into South African ports, of which the voyage plan is for discharge to take place in two, or more, ports along the coast is not new. There have been plenty of examples, of which the primary arrival port is, generally, always Durban, followed by further parcel discharges in any of the other ports along the coast, often as far as Walvis Bay.

What is slightly more unusual is when the last discharge port is as far away as West Africa.

On 7th August at 11h00 the Panamax MR2 class tanker PS DREAM (IMO 9358307) arrived at the Table Bay anchorage, from Durban, and she promptly went to anchor for just over a day. The next day on 8th August at 17h00 she entered Cape Town harbour and proceeded to the Tanker Basin in the Duncan Dock to begin her second parcel discharge on the South African coast.

Her voyage had begun at the oil terminal port of Pasir Gudang in Malaysia, where she had loaded for her first port of call, Durban. She arrived at the Durban anchorage on 30th July at midnight, and remained outside the port until 3rd August at 04h00 when she made her way into Durban harbour, berthing at Island View 2. Her discharge was complete the next day, and at 19h00 on 4th August she sailed from Durban, bound for Cape Town.

Built in 2006 by STX Shipbuilding at Jinhae in South Korea, ‘PS Dream’ is 183 metres in length and has a deadweight of 51,233 tons. She is powered by a single STX MAN-B&W 6S50MC-C 6 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 12,990 bhp (9,488 kW), which drives a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 14 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three MAN-B&W 6L23/30H generators providing 900 kW each, and she has a single Cummins 6CT8.3-DMGE emergency generator providing 145 kW. She has a single Kangrim EM11DC12A1 exhaust gas boiler, and a single Kangrim MB06S01 oil fired boiler.

She has 12 cargo tanks with a cargo carrying capacity of 52,048 m3. Her cargo pumps are capable of pumping 600 m3 per hour, and she is able to carry seven grades of fuel products at any one time.

One of two sisterships, based on a very popular STX design, ‘PS Dream’ is owned, operated and managed by Prive Shipping of Istanbul in Turkey. The ‘PS’ prefix is short for her owners name, and whose houseflag she flies on her funnel.

Her stay in Cape Town was longer than her stay in Durban, and on 11th August at 08h00 she sailed from the Mother City with her next destination set for the West African port of Lomé in Togo, located at 06°07’ North 001°12’ East.

Lomé is attempting to set itself up as a middle distillates hub in West Africa, with a view of transshipping to any destination in Europe or the USA. A total of 7% of the port traffic is liquid cargoes, with a massive 76% being that of container traffic. At one point, Lomé was the only West African port capable of handling the latest class of ultra large container vessel.

Currently, the port has only one tanker berth, capable of berthing LR2 tankers up to 250 metres in length, and with a draft of 14 metres. The berth is linked by pipeline to a small oil storage terminal within the port complex.

The loading port of ‘PS Dream’, the Malaysian port of Pasir Gudang, is located at 01°56’ North 104°07’ East, immediately to the north of Singapore, in Johor State. It is a major oil storage and export terminal, which includes a large provision for storage of, non-fuel, vegetable oils.

The Pasir Gudang bulk liquid terminal includes the world’s largest Palm Oil storage terminal. The oil terminal has four jetties, consisting of nine berths, and the storage terminal itself has a 1,000,000 m3 capacity, with biodiesel being a major storage product. A total of 468,000 m3 storage capacity is provided for Palm Oil.

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UN Environment Programme and EIB: The Mediterranean Basin

Joint effort to reduce pollution in the marine and coastal environment

Earlier this year the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) launched the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Mediterranean Pollution Hot Spots Technical Assistance initiative, which aims to reduce pollution in the Mediterranean marine and coastal environment.

As part of the US$4 million Hot Spots Pollution project, the initiative aims to promote adequate and sound water, wastewater, solid waste and industrial emissions management in the Southern Mediterranean region, thereby reducing health risks and enhancing access to safe drinking water and sanitation services.

This initiative was launched on the sidelines of the UN Oceans Conference in Lisbon by EIB Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Félix and Susan Gardner, Director of UNEP’s Ecosystems Division. The two agreed (pictured) to support preparation of priority investment projects to reduce pollution in the marine and coastal environments of the three Southern Mediterranean countries, namely Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia.

Susan Gardner reflected: “Untreated discharges of wastewater represent a major problem for Mediterranean ecosystems and the health of the population living in the region.

“Many large coastal cities still lack a wastewater treatment system, and many existing systems are based on outdated and inefficient technologies.

“This joint GEF-EIB-UNEP project will pool resources to decrease pollution and improve the marine ecosystems and the health of people living in the Mediterranean region.”

According to the 2021 State of Finance for Nature report, in order for the world to meet its climate change, biodiversity and land degradation targets, a total of $8.1 trillion is required between now and 2050. The Technical Assistance initiative is a step forward toward bridging this gap.

The Mediterranean Basin is one of the most highly valued seas in the world. The region comprises a vast set of coastal and marine ecosystems that deliver valuable benefits to all its 250 million coastal inhabitants. However, the Mediterranean Sea is facing multiple pressures caused by human activities, including chemical contamination, eutrophication, pollution by marine litter and over-exploitation.

The technical assistance provided under the Mediterranean Hot Spots Investment Programme (MeHSIP) will be geared towards helping promoters accelerate the preparation of financeable projects in the water and environment sectors that will tackle these pressures.

The $4 million Mediterranean Pollution Hot Spots Investment Project is one of the $42 million GEF-funded MedProgramme’s child projects implemented by UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan-Barcelona Convention.

The launch of the Technical Assistance initiative marks progress towards achieving commitments taken at the 22nd Meeting of the Contracting Parties (COP 22) to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols on regional prevention and pollution reduction measures from wastewater treatment plants.

About the European Investment Bank

As the European Union’s climate bank, the EIB has committed to support €1 trillion of climate action and environmental sustainability investments in the next decade.

About the Global Environment Facility

The Global Environment Facility is the largest multilateral fund working to enable developing countries to invest in nature. It supports the implementation of international environmental conventions on biodiversity, climate change, chemicals and desertification.

About UNEP/MAP and the Barcelona Convention

The Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/MAP) is a regional cooperation platform established in 1975 as the first regional action plan under the UNEP Regional Seas Programme.

The UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system constitutes a comprehensive institutional, legal and implementation framework that the contracting parties have adopted for concerted action to fulfil the vision of a healthy Mediterranean Sea and coast that underpin sustainable development in the region.

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

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Toyota plant at Durban reopens following April floods

Losses amount to billions

The sprawling Toyota South Africa manufacturing plant at Prospecton in Durban reopened this week following the devastating April floods.

Over 4,500 completed motor vehicles were damaged by the rising waters, of which only 12% were said to be saleable, with the remainder having to be stripped and scrapped.

The plant also lost a further 45,000 vehicles in production as the biggest auto manufacturing plant in the country has been unable to resume production until this week.

The closure of the plant also meant hardship for affiliated suppliers of components and spares.

Toyota South Africa is also a major exporter of new vehicles through the port of Durban.

Recently elected KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said at the reopening on Wednesday (17 August) that manufacturing, the automotive industry and industrialisation remains crucial to the growth of the province’s economy.

The automotive industry employs at least 14,000 people in the province and contributes some 7% to KZN’s gross domestic product.

“Our South African master plan 2035 recognises that not less than a third within the value addition within the manufacturing sector is derived from the vehicles assembly and the automotive component manufacturing activity that is happening.

“So the KwaZulu-Natal Economic Reconstruction and Recovery does very much depend on how you are recovering as Toyota. It will ensure that the issues with innovation, but also the township economy we speak about, are realised,” Dube-Ncube said.

She said that Toyota is central to the heartbeat of KwaZulu-Natal’s economy because it touches many lives.

“All the efforts that are being placed on the saving of jobs and cushioning of the workers during the hard times do not go unnoticed.”

She said the city was looking at ways to improve the canal that runs near the plant, which overflowed during the heavy rains of April and flooded the Toyota property. This was to ensure that something similar could never happen again.

Toyota South Africa was among the factories targeted in the July riots and looting that took place across greater Durban.

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Nigerian Navy ship NNS Kada arrives in Guinea Bissau with military hardware

NNS Kada, Nigerian naval landing ship  Picture  Nigerian Navy

The Nigerian Navy’s latest ship, the landing vessel NNS KADA (LST 1314) arrived in Guinea Bissau on Saturday 13 August with a quantity of military hardware, said to be part of a ‘stabilisation mission’.

NNS Kada, which was built at the Albwardy Damen shipyard in Sharjah in the UAE and arrived in Nigeria as recently as 27 May 2022, sailed into the port of Bissau after a seven day voyage from Nigeria.

Ambassador John James, the ECOWAS representative in Guinea Bissau, was among those who welcomed the navy ship to Bissau saying via a statement, “Amb John James used the opportunity to assure the citizens of Guinea Bissau that the presence of NNS Kada in Guinea Bissau was not for drumbeats of war as against the speculations by the public, but rather the presence of NNS KADA was a supportive role to Guinea Bissau to achieve stability, peace and order and economic development.”

He added that it did not matter whether Nigeria had problems of its own, it would always be available to assist its fellow ECOWAS members.

The ECOWAS representative in Guinea Bissau, Prof Hamidu Boli, welcomed the ship by saying this once again showed why Nigeria is the giant of Africa by deploying what he described s a vessel of such gigantic size to Guinea Bissau.

NNS Kada is based on Damen’s LST 100 design and according to its specifications is capable of several duties. These include the transporting of troops and equipment, of providing and assisting with humanitarian and disaster relief, and as a naval ship is available for the projection of maritime security in the wider Gulf of Guinea region.

The ship has a length of 100 metres and a width of 16m and is powered by two Caterpillar 3516 diesel engines and four Caterpillar C18 generators. The ship has a top speed of 16 knots, and a range of 4,000 nautical miles at an economic speed of 15 knots.

As a landing ship she is equipped with a bow ramp and davits for two landing craft, a spacious ro-ro deck of 540m² and a cargo deck of 420m². NNS Kada has an optimum complement of 32 crew plus 16 embarked marine forces, housed in the deckhouse, plus accommodation for an additional 234 troops at midships below the main deck.

The vessel is also capable of carrying a medium sized helicopter.

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Transnet security personnel given powers of arrest as peace officers

Life so often becomes a full circle – what goes round comes round. Once upon a time we had what were known as the Railway Police, or Blompotte (flowerpot) in non-official terms due to the green uniforms they wore. As a child attending boarding school I became used to seeing these men standing smartly to attention on station platforms as our train trundled through, and passop if you misbehaved while travelling on the aforesaid train, it took only a few stern words from the ticket conductor in threatening to report you to the railway policeman at the next station, to bring you rapidly back into line.

The real point of this is that you grew up believing the Blompotte were not only smart when at attention on railway stations, but were there to uphold the law without fear or favour, which was not how you necessarily thought of their blue uniformed compatriots.

Sadly, even more so today.

So it was with a sense of bewilderment when the news broke that the Blompotte were history. It appears the bean counters saw this as a great cost-saving for the embattled railway. In future the gentlemen in blue would handle the serious stuff and private security could be hired as necessary for less important matters.

Some of us believed then, and now, that that was the beginning of the end. Well it certainly helped hasten the end of an efficiently run railway. Other factors like closing down the stations on which the Blompotte stood guard and shutting branch lines, even those with the potential of making money, all contributed to the decline.

Well, since then the railway stuff (that which ordinarily fell on the tracks) has since really hit the fan, with rampant crime and vandalism destroying what had taken generations to build, while security forces such as they were, looked on helplessly. More recently, when there is a passenger train, the long-distance type that used to link the cities for those who had the time and inclination, you now had to close your windows as the train approached a station, for fear of petty theft of anything in close reach.

In some areas – the section from around Mariannhill to Cato Ridge in KZN comes to mind – it became essential to not only shut windows but the metal blinds as well, otherwise you risked becoming a victim of the local sport of rock throwing, using railway ballast as abundant ammunition.

In the ports, private security also became the norm, with personnel hired to do the job of manning the gates as necessary and often not. Following the 9/11 event in New York, and a US-imposed worldwide shakeup as to how ports and harbours should secure their boundaries, fences went up and more security officers were hired, morphing into a new Transnet security division, while from the outside we wondered what training these people received and how efficient the new system would prove.

Not very, as the rampant railway theft continues to demonstrate. Stowaways at the ports continued boarding their getaway ships of choice and hiding away with gay abandon while Transnet security forces set about fiddling with the terminology. Something along the lines of a stowaway isn’t a stowaway until he and his ship of choice have safely passed the port limits, then you could call him by his rightful description and it didn’t really matter because the problem had just sailed with the ship.

On the other hand, if discovered hiding on board while ‘his’ ship remained in port, then the unwanted passenger had a different name, he was a trespasser. That’s how it was explained to me rather loudly one day by a top Transnet security manager while visiting on board nothing less than the grand Queen Mary 2 (with an invitation, less it be thought I was a trespasser).

It can be assumed the man with the extra loud voice also had an invitation.

Anyway, the point here is how easy it is to play around with words or other excuses to convince yourself that no illegal activity is going on under your watch.

This doing away with an official police force within the parastatal was an abject failure and the evidence of this is out there, with trains unable to run along many sections and when they do, it has to be behind diesel traction because the overhead electric cables are now in the hands of the scrap metal merchants.

According to Transnet over 1500km of cable has been stolen – a 1096% increase in the past five years, with a net financial impact of R4.1 billion. That’s some big bucks.

The company goes on to say that the rise in price of the product being stolen has led to a spike in theft cases, despite more stringent security interventions. In the last three years Transnet Pipelines has had some 30 million litres of fuel stolen from the pipelines, at a cost of around R1.1 billion.

It was all this rampant crime that has brought about a realisation that something has to be done to bring a stop to all this, and it is with a sense of relief to learn yesterday (Tuesday 16 August) that the circle is finally being closed.

Transnet security are to become real policemen and women, or ‘peace officers’ in official jargon, with powers of arrest and to stop and search suspects.
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With peace officer status, and full powers of arrest and the right to “search premises, facilities and people, complete dockets to ensure suspects are charged correctly, and assist with basic investigations,” we’ve almost reached back in time to the days of our Blompotte, no matter what colour uniform the new peace officer corp may wear.

Let’s hope this brings about a return to law and order, particularly where it concerns the railways and pipelines. Let’s hope that circle is closed.

Transnet certainly believes it will. This, it says confidently will …”lead to an improved security response and increased law enforcement to protect economically essential infrastructure such as the rail and pipeline network.”

For those of us who remember the days of mostly honest cops and even more trustworthy Blompotte, comes the reassurance from Transnet that “Transnet security officers will go through rigorous training in compliance with the Safety and Security Sector Education and Training Authority (SASSETA) requirements.”

Further, it says that on the successful completion of the training, candidates will be awarded a Certificate of Competency by the National Police Commissioner and receive SAPS appointment letters and Transnet appointment ID cards.

Time only will tell whether we’ll find this reassuring or otherwise. – trh

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WHARF TALK: arrival of a fish reefer named SEIN HONOR

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

Cape Town sees its regular share of reefer vessels, with them split between the deciduous and citrus reefers heading to Europe and the USA, or the fish reefers arriving to transship the catch of the many Far Eastern tuna fishing vessels. The least seen of the reefers are those who support the fleets down in the far South Atlantic and Southern Ocean. The latter are normally only calling in order to take on bunkers, whilst en-route home at the end of the fishing season.

On 11th August at 10h00 the fish reefer SEIN HONOR (IMO 9047257) arrived off Cape Town after a transatlantic voyage from Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. She entered Cape Town harbour and berthed on the Eastern Mole in the Duncan Dock, a berth which is normally where those callers arriving for bunkers, and stores, are taken.

Built in 1993 by the Shin Kochi Jyuko Shipyard at Kochi in Japan, ‘Sein Honor’ is 134 metres in length and has a deadweight of 8,043 tons. She is powered by a single Mitsubishi Kobe 8UEC45LA 8 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 9,594 bhp (7,066 kW), to drive a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 19 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three generators providing 625 kW each, and a single emergency generator providing 120 kW. She has a single Hada Composite exhaust gas boiler.

She has four holds providing an area of 4,544 m2, and a volume of 400,884 ft3. Her holds are served by eight derricks of 5 tons each, which can be paired in union purchase to give four sets of 3.5 tons lift capacity.

She is equipped with 3 blast freezers, which are capable of freezing 300 tons per day. Her freezer capacity is 11,161 m3, and she can carry 7,500 tons of frozen cargo. Her container carrying capacity is a very modest 12 TEU, with a corresponding provision of just 12 reefer plugs.

One of a large number of popular design of reefer vessel, produced by the Shin Kochi shipyard throughout the 1990s, ‘Sein Honor’ is owned, operated, and managed by the Sein Shipping Company Ltd. of Seoul in South Korea.

Observers will note the movement of a great fleet of Squid Jigger vessels that transit through South African ports en-route to, or returning from, the rich squid fishing area around the Falkland Islands, and the Hake and Blue Whiting fishing grounds on the Patagonian continental shelf of nearby South America. These vessels use either Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands as their base, or Montevideo in Uruguay.

Secured on her decks are ten Yokohama Fenders, which indicates that transshipment of fish cargoes is her main modus operandi, and her recent schedule has shown her in both the Port Stanley anchorage, and in Montevideo, presumably conducting such ship to ship transfers, in support of the South Korean fleet.

Both her hull, and her accommodation block, showed signs of a long, hard, season away from home. As it is certain that ‘Sein Honor’ is homeward bound, her crew has started the process of transforming her appearance. On every surface of her accommodation block, on every deck level, grey primer paint has been applied in readiness for a final layer of gloss white to be applied, as part of the transformation.

As part of her necessary work supporting the South Korean distant water fishing fleet off the Falkland Islands, and in the Southern Ocean, ‘Sein Honor’ is registered with the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), with her renewed registration being as recent as 8th June 2022.

For her support work in the closed Antarctic fishing season, ‘Sein Honor’ is also registered with the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), with her registration being valid through to 25th August 2026. Her registration with the Northern Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC) is valid until the 27th August 2022 only, i.e. less than a fortnight away. It is likely that her owners are in the process of applying for a new registration permit with the NPFC.

Her time is Cape Town was very short, and on 14th August at 08h00 she sailed from the harbour, with her destination set for Singapore. It is likely that this is merely another stores, or bunkers, stopover, whilst she is en-route back to her home port in South Korea.

Interestingly, her port of registration is given as Jeju in South Korea. Jeju is the largest offshore island in South Korea, with Jeju City as its major town. Jeju has a climate of mainly warm weather throughout much of the year, which has made it a very popular domestic holiday destination in South Korea.

The popularity of Jeju Island is put into perspective when you realise that scheduled air services, provided between Seoul and Jeju, make this route the busiest passenger air route in the world, with over 14 million passengers a year flying on the route, on over 79,000 scheduled flights.

This compares to the busiest passenger air route in Africa, being that between Cape Town and Johannesburg, with just over 4 million passengers flying the route, on over 33,000 scheduled flights. Both sets of passenger figures, and flight numbers, are pre-pandemic levels.

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NATO Group in E Med and Adriatic

It was announced by NATO MARCOM Public Affairs Office last week (11 August) from Souda Bay, Greece, that Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) with several ships from the task group had arrived in for a scheduled port visit earlier in the week.

SNMG2 arrived with its flagship, guided-missile destroyer USS Forrest Sherman; Spanish Navy frigate Almirante Juan de Borbon; Turkish Navy frigate TCG Kemalreis, and Hellenic Navy frigate HS Kountouriotis.

The port visit for the task group came after a week and a half spent operating throughout the Adriatic and the Mediterranean Seas.

Together, as members of SNMG2, the task group performed unique and tactical events such as exercises in live-fire gunnery, electronic warfare, air defence, and communications. While operating together provides for increased interoperability and improved communications during dynamic exercises, it also directly supports the purpose and principles outlined in the 2022 NATO Strategic Concept.

NATO Heads of State and Government approved a new Strategic Concept for the Alliance in Madrid on 29 June setting out the Alliance’s priorities, core tasks, and approaches for the next decade.

The Strategic Concept describes the security environment facing the Alliance, reaffirms NATO’s values, and spells out NATO’s key purpose of ensuring its collective defence. It further sets out NATO’s three core tasks of (i) deterrence and defence; (ii) crisis prevention and management and (iii) cooperative security.

In the words of US Navy Rear Admiral Scott Sciretta, commander, SNMG2: “Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) is dedicated to put into practice the core tasks outlined in the Strategic Concept.

“By operating as one team in the Mediterranean, we prioritise focusing on continuous improvement. The Alliance is stronger together and we will continue to demonstrate how our combat-credible, forward deployed fleet is the most potent, flexible and versatile instrument of military power.

“Just as we succeed when we operate together at sea, port visits also are key opportunities to continue to build those vital relationships between Allies and Partners.”

The port visit provided an opportunity for the Group to refuel and resupply. Sailors also had the opportunity to participate in recreational activities and engage with local communities across the island.

Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) is a multinational integrated task group that projects a constant and visible reminder of the Alliance’s solidarity and cohesion afloat and provides the Alliance with a continuous maritime capability to perform a wide range of tasks, including exercises and real-world operations in periods of crisis and conflict.

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

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IN CONVERSATION: Auto manufacturing is changing: how South Africa can adjust to protect workers and jobs

In the 2021 calendar year almost 650,000 motor vehicles were either imported into or exported through three South African ports. Additional South African auto imports and exports were handled at Maputo in Mozambique. The state of the motor induistry in this country plays a significant role in the welfare of South Africa’s ports as well as to the local economies. For this reason alone the following article should be of interest.  – Africa Ports & Ships

Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo, University of the Witwatersrand

Technological changes in industry have given rise to contending schools of thought about their impact on work and workers. Automation is rapidly deepening and widening, reaching new areas of work. What’s being produced is also changing. In the automotive manufacturing industry, for example, there is a global shift to vehicles that don’t produce emissions.

The ongoing industrial revolution is defined by new work methods, ways of organising production, and advances in technology.

At the one extreme is the view that this is the end of work. This argues that the technological changes will lead to mass unemployment through retrenchments. At the other end are optimists who argue that the changes will increase overall employment. Disrupted jobs will be replaced by others.

Evidence from my research on the automotive global production networks in South Africa calls for a cautious approach anchored in sector specific realities.

After South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, employers in the automotive assembly sector increased capital expenditure or investment in new production technology. They also reduced their direct employment by thousands of jobs. They benefited from trade and industrial policy incentives offered by the state.

Meanwhile, the number of jobs in automotive component manufacturing increased. This wasn’t driven by new production technology but by increased demand for domestically produced components. Some of it was for export.

A key finding is that technology need not result in job losses if domestic production is high enough.

Evolution of the sector

There are seven lead firms that make up the automotive assembly sector in South Africa. Another 430 firms make up the automotive component manufacturing sector.

The automotive manufacturing lead firms significantly increased their capital expenditure from R0.8 billion in 1995 to R9.2 billion in 2020. Much of this went into automation in the form of new production machinery and plant equipment, including an increased population of production robots.

This was accompanied by workplace restructuring. Companies introduced new work methods and ways of organising and co-ordinating production. These followed company production systems introduced globally.

In 1995, the automotive assembly sector directly employed 38,600 workers who produced 388,442 motor vehicles. Following the changes in production technology, work methods and ways of organising and co-ordinating production, the seven lead firms gradually reduced their direct workforce. This went down to 29,926 in 2020.

However, the reduced assembly sector workforce produced more motor vehicles per annum. In 2019, for example, about 30,000 workers produced 631,983 motor vehicles. Units per worker, referring to motor vehicles produced divided by the workforce, were 10.1 in 1995. This productivity indicator more than doubled. It reached approximately 21 units per worker in 2019.

The automotive component manufacturing sector increased its direct employment from 60,000 workers in 1995 to 80,000 in 2019 to support increased domestic motor vehicle production and export programmes.

This illustrates its employment creating potential, which needs to be harnessed in policy direction. It also shows that it will be beneficial to job creation to raise the levels of automotive vehicle assembly localisation substantially, and to deepen and diversify domestic component manufacturing value addition.

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa put this forward in 2021. It followed the union’s rejection of a Green Paper on the advancement of new energy vehicles released by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition.

The Green Paper proposed changes to the way in which components manufactured abroad for new energy vehicles should be handled. It proposed that these components, once imported for assembly in South Africa, should be deemed to have been manufactured domestically. The proposal sought to make these imported components eligible for industrial policy incentives meant for domestically produced components.

This went against the imperative of employment creation as a key element of social upgrading.

In rejecting the paper, the metalworkers union stressed the importance of securing a just transition in automotive manufacturing. The transition in the sector involves a shift from carbon dioxide emitting internal combustion engine vehicles to new energy vehicles. These include hybrid, electric, fuel cell electric and hydrogen vehicles.

The union’s action led to the department initiating a research-led inclusive consultative process on the transition to new energy vehicles.

A just, versus unjust, transition

It would be unjust for the transition in automotive manufacturing to occur without two ingredients. Firstly protecting existing employment. And secondly creating additional work to reduce unemployment. This is particularly true given that South Africa is ravaged by an unemployment crisis.

To achieve a just transition, it will be essential to localise and diversify domestic manufacturing value addition in new energy vehicle components. South Africa mustn’t go back to colonial-type assembly of imported components and mustn’t adopt strategies that can ruin employment creating opportunities in the components manufacturing sector.

The subject of workers’ power is essential to giving this process a direction from labour’s perspective. This is the focus the University of the Witwatersrand-based Southern Centre for Inequality Studies’ Future of Work(ers) Research Group policy dialogue on “Emerging forms of worker power in the digital economy”.

Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo, Visiting Researcher, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand

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

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NIMASA plans visit to Mombasa shipyards on behalf of Nigerian shipowners

It is reported in the Nigerian media that the Director General (DG) of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) intends leading a delegation to visit the Kenya Shipyards Limited (KSL), a state-owned corporation in Kenya with a large yard next to the Mtongwe Naval Base south of Mombasa and a smaller shipyard at Kisumu which builds and maintains vessels for operations on Lake Victoria.

The Mombasa yard is said to have the capacity to handle vessels of more than 4,000 tonnes and 150 metres in length. It has four main workshops – an electronic repair workshop, a marine and general engineering workshop, a fitting and carpentry workshop and a hull and superstructure repair workshop, together with trained teams of specialised workers.

KSL and the Kenya Navy enjoy a close relationship with the Damen Shipyards Group, which recently completed two tugs for Mombasa.

NIMASA’s DG, Dr Bashir Jamoh, disclosed plans by a team from the Federal Government to visit the Mombasa shipyard to evaluate alternative solutions for Nigerian shipowners and operators. He was speaking on a Lagos Radio shipping programme.

He said that Nigerian shipowners would accompany the delegation to Mombasa.

Allaying fears of federal government intent, the DG said, “What I am telling you is just a proposal, the stakeholders will be carried along and they will be able to see what we are doing and everything will be transparent.”

Addressing the matter of the Cabotage Vessels Financing Fund (CVFF), Jamoh said nine banks have been listed for the disbursement of funds by the Governing Board of NIMASA, whose details have been forwarded to the Minister of Transportation.

The Agency, he said, is trying to avoid the previous pitfalls experienced under the Ship Building and Acquisition Fund when beneficiaries diverted the funds to purposes other than the reasons they were meant.

The DG disclosed that NIMASA has undertaken research into the type of vessels or boats needed for inland waterways. “The issue of these small craft having constant accidents is giving us worries,” he said.

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Presidential election results and unrest affect JKIA and Mombasa port

The presidential elections in Kenya last week, in which former deputy president William Ruto has narrowly defeated his opponent to become the new president of the East African country, caused concern and fears of unrest that impacted both the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and the port of Mombasa.

In both places there were staff stayaways

JKIA issued the following statement:

Due to the pending announcement of the 2022 general elections we are operating with a stringent ‘Safety First’ approach and taking relevant precautions to ensure the safety of our employees, customers shipment and our network.

As a result of this circumstance, we would like to inform you that JKIA Service Points, will close at 4:00pm.

The airport authority reported notably fewer officers on duty than was normal and was therefore expecting some delays with regards approvals, verification and releases.

Military exercises were due to be held at JKIA and Wilson airports on 10th and 12th August but were subsequently cancelled.

Mombasa port staff shortage

Meanwhile, the port of Mombasa experienced some disruption to operating activities during the lead-up to the voting process and the the tense period awaiting the result.

It was reported that Kenya Ports Authority services were hampered through a lack of sufficient gangs available to handle normal discharge operations at the Mombasa port.

It was feared this would delay cargo working operations on some ships in port and with the clearance and final delivery of cargo.

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WHARF TALK: rare visitor to South Africa- SWARNA JAYANTI

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

The arrival of an LR2 class tanker in Cape Town is always one to watch as this size of tanker is the largest that can be accommodated at the Tanker Basin, with the longest of the two berths in the basin being only 245 metres in length. Of equal interest is that the tanker in question is not one of the many that arrive from little known ‘one ship’ companies, nor from the modern corporate groupings, but of a well-established state operator, but one that is rarely seen in South African waters.

On 7th August at 15h00 the big LR2 class Aframax tanker SWARNA JAYANTI (IMO 9467720) arrived in the Table Bay anchorage, from Mangalore in India, and remained out at anchor just over a day. On 8th August at 20h00 she entered Cape Town harbour and proceeded into the Duncan Dock, but going alongside the tanker berth on the Eastern Mole.

Built in 2010 by Hyundai Heavy Industries at Ulsan in South Korea, ‘Swarna Jayanti’ is 244 metres in length, and has a deadweight of 104,895 tons. She is powered by a single HHI MAN-B&W 6S60MC-C8 6 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 16,503 bhp (12,138 kW), driving a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 14 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three generators providing 880 kW each, and a single emergency generator providing 100 kW. She has two Kangrim PB0601DDS38 oil fired boilers, and a single Kangrim exhaust gas boiler. She has 12 cargo tanks, with a cargo carrying capacity of 105,000 m3.

She is one of two sisterships, and her pumping capacity is 3,000 m3 per hour, which means that under ideal circumstances she can be fully discharged in just 35 hours. As of 14th August, she was still discharging after 6 days alongside in Cape Town, i.e. 144 hours, and still going.

Owned, operated and managed by the Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. of Mumbai (SCI), ‘Swarna Jayanti’ was part of the owners largest new ship order in their history, when in 2007 they ordered four MR2 Panamax tankers, later increased to six MR2 tankers, and two LR2 Aframax tankers from Hyundai Industries. All six ships were delivered to SCI in 2010.

The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. is a big player on the world stage. Founded back in 1950, after the partition of India in 1947, and with India now an independent nation, they were originally called the Eastern Shipping Corporation. Always owned by the Indian Government, under the auspices of the Ministry of Shipping, Eastern Shipping Corporation were amalgamated in 1961 with the Western Shipping Corporation, and renamed as the Shipping Corporation of India. The new company was ordered to be carried out under the Indian Government edict of the Shipping Corporation Amalgamation Order, 1961.

The SCI has grown to a company with a fleet of over 70 vessels, and a total tonnage in excess of 6 million tons. They operate in all aspects of Indian maritime trades, both domestic and international, and include the container, bulk, oil and offshore segments. It includes running a fleet of inland waterway vessels, plus maintaining the public service obligation of the passenger and cargo maritime link between the Indian mainland, and the offshore islands of the Andaman, Nicobar and Laccadive Island chains in the Indian Ocean.

In May 2021 SCI created history when one of their MR2 tankers departed from India, on a voyage where every officer on the vessel was female. This included the Captain, Chief Engineer, all Navigation and Engineering Officers, plus ten cadets. The occasion was the inaugural IMO International Day for Women in Maritime. Again, in May 2022, on the second of the IMO International Day for Woman in Maritime, SCI again crewed another MR2 tanker with a full complement of female officers.

In 2019 the Indian Government announced that would start the process of the full privatisation of SCI. However, the illegal invasion of Ukraine, by Russia, has delayed the process.

In February 2020, at 02h50 in the early morning, ‘Swarna Jayanti’ was underway in the Singapore Strait, some 6 nautical miles from Nongsa Point, north of Batam Island in Indonesia. One of her crew spotted a potential pirate actually in the engine room. The alarm was raised, the Master mustered the crew, and informed the authorities in Singapore.

A full search of the vessel was made, but nobody was found, although some valves were reported missing from the engine room. This was the second vessel boarding by potential pirates, made in a period of two hours, in the same location. The Singapore authorities believe it would have been the same gang involved in both vessel boardings.

This is not the first visit to the African continent for the ‘Swarna Jayanti’ in 2022, as she delivered a cargo of fuel products, from Jubail in Saudi Arabia, to Mombasa in Kenya, in April of this year.

For the nomenclature seekers, the name of ‘Swarna Jayanti’ is translated from the Hindi language to meaning ‘Golden Jubilee’ in English.

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Cruise News: Three Canary Island cruise port concessions confirmed

Global Ports Holding continues to grow with 3 ports in the Canary Islands

Global Ports Holding Plc, the world’s largest independent cruise port operator, has completed the RFP process (request for proposal) after having received concessions for three Canary Island cruise ports.

The three cruise ports that GPH together with its local partner Sepcan S.L., will now develop are Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Arrecife (Lanzarote) and Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura). GPH and Sepcan have an 80/20 partnership on these three port developments.

The concession for Las Palmas, the largest port among the three, is for 40 years and the concessions for the two other ports are 20 years.

GPH expects to take over operations of the three cruise ports in the final quarter of 2022, ahead of the peak winter season for Canary Island cruises.

The three Canary Island ports now take GPH’s network to 24 cruise ports across the Caribbean, Mediterranean, South Atlantic, Asia and Northern European cruise regions.

Approximately €40 million will be invested by GPHI (Global Ports Canary Islands S.L.) into constructing a new cruise terminal in Las Palmas and modular terminal facilities in Marmoles pier in Arrecife and Puerto del Rosario in Fuerteventura.

GPH said the debt financing for these projects is expected to be secured by local banks, and GPH is in advanced discussion regarding the financing. The debt metrics are expected to align with the Group’s historical precedents.

Las Palmas, although off the coast of Africa, is politically a part of Spain. The Las Palmas cruise ports are ranked 3rd busiest ports in Spain after Barcelona and the Balearic Islands and are in top 20 of Europe.

They are a key destination for Southern Atlantic itineraries with great airlift connectivity. During the pandemic in 2020 unlike other European ports that were closed to cruise traffic, the three ports in Las Palmas welcomed over 500,000 passengers with the ‘bubble cruises’ around the islands.

There is a huge demand on winter cruising in the region due to the mild climate during this period of the year compared with other regions in Europe and the cultural and outdoor activities.

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Concession process approved for the proposed Bagagry Deep Sea Port

The go-ahead to offer a concession or concessions to a devloper and operator for Nigeria’s Badagry Deep Sea Port has been granted by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

The project, a joint venture between Integrated Logistics Services (INTELS) and the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), is to be implemented under a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) concession structure, whereby the port will be operated by the private sector for 45 years after which it will revert to the government.

The private sector will provide the investment necessary, estimated at US$ 2.5 billion, for its development as a major port.

The Badagry port is expected to generate $ 53 billion during its 45 year concession period along with approximately 250,000 jobs. Construction will take about five years to complete.

As a deep water port, fully tooled with modern cargo handling equipment and infrastructure, Badagry, which is along the coast west from Lagos, close to the Benin border, will lessen the pressure on nearby Apapa and Tin Can Island terminals.

Badagry will also provide the means for developing Nigeria as the maritime hub for the entire West and Central African regions, though several other developing ports will wish to contest this.

On completion the new port will include one or more container terminals, multi-purpose terminals, a RoRo terminal, grain terminal, liquid bulk terminal, dry bulk terminal and will be serviced by rail and road access. Badagry will also be serviced with a barge facility similar to that at Tin Can Island.

The projection is that the port will have a capacity of 3.9 million TEUs annually, 24 million tonnes of general and bulk cargo, and 1.4 million vehicles annually.

The history of the Badagry deep water port is a story of an on-off project that many believed was unlikely to take place. Now that federal government approval appears assured, perhaps the project will finally get underway.

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Maersk Air Cargo will take off with three B767Fs

Maersk Air Cargo will operate a demonstrator flight at the end of August as it prepares to take off with its air cargo service.

That’s according to a report in Air Cargo News.

“In preparation for our new Maersk Air Cargo services between Asia and USA, we are operating a special demonstrator flight on 8/31 PM ex ICN (Incheon, Korea) arriving GSP (Greenville Spartanburg, SC) 9/1 AM local times,” said Adam Farmer, representative director of Maersk Korea/ head of sales – North East Asia.

The new Maersk Air Cargo service is otherwise scheduled to commence commercially during the latter part of this year, with daily flights out of Denmark’s Billund Airport as its main hub.

Maersk has already confirmed placing an order for three B767F freighters in April. Miami-based cargo airline Amerijet will operate the aircraft on behalf of Maersk on one of its US-China routes.

These are in addition to another three B767F freighters that have been leased through Cargo Aircraft Management and two new B777Fs to be delivered in 2024.

Maersk Air Cargo is about to become airborne after Maersk’s in-house aircraft operator, Star Air, transferred its activities into Maersk Air Cargo.

Other container shipping companies to invest that are investing in their own airlines include CMA CGM Air Cargo, which has taken delivery of its first B777F from Boeing, while MSC in partnership with Lufthansa is in negotiations with Italy’s ITA airline to take over its air freight service. source: Schednet & Air Cargo News

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WTO: Strengthening developing countries’ participation- Ireland gives €400,000

Ireland is donating €400,000 to help developing countries and least developed countries (LDCs) increase their trade know-how and play a bigger part in global trade.

A total of €200,000 will go in 2022 to the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF)* of the WTO. This global partnership supports and finances projects in developing countries to help farmers, processors, exporters and governments comply with international standards for agricultural products and connect with global markets. The contribution to the STDF will be used for projects and programmes in line with the STDF’s Work Plan 2022**.

A further €200,000 will be allocated to the French and Irish Mission Internship Programme (FIMIP)***. This programme provides support to small missions in Geneva to help them follow WTO-related work. Interns under the FIMIP are attached to their country’s mission in Geneva for a maximum duration of ten months. They are considered as a delegate of their country and can represent it in WTO meetings and committees.

“The continuous generosity of Ireland will help support multilateral trade negotiations by providing developing and LDC members with the necessary tools to participate fully in the trading system,” said WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

“Strengthening trade-related capacity in beneficiary countries where government officials can develop their expertise on WTO activities will benefit the whole membership.”

Ambassador Michael Gaffey of Ireland said Ireland’s renewed contributions demonstrate its ongoing commitment to enhance the trading capacities of developing countries and their participation in trade negotiations. “This is especially timely after the Aid for Trade Global Review at the end of last month and the highly successful 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in June,” he said.

Overall, Ireland has donated close to €14 million to the various World Trade Organization trust funds over the past twenty years.

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

* https://www.standardsfacility.org/

** https://www.standardsfacility.org/sites/default/files/STDF_Work_Plan_2022.pdf

*** https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/train_e/fimip_e.htm

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Island Innovator rig on her way to drill off West Coast

The Island Innovator rig has been mobilised and is on her way to South Africa to begin drilling the Gazania-1 well on Block 2B by the end of September.

According to Island Drilling, who owns and operates the Island Innovator, the Gazania-1 well is located in the Orange Basin in South Africa and straddles the offshore waters of Namibia and South Africa.

It is here where major discoveries on both the Graff-1 well, drilled by Shell, and the Venus-1 well, drilled by TotalEnergies, have recently been announced.

On completion of the South African drilling, the rig will move to offshore Mauritania and decommission work in those waters.

“We have been in dialog regarding this contract for a long time and we are happy to finally sign this contract. This will make the Island Innovator fully occupied during 2022.” said CEO Roger Simmenes of Island Drilling Company.

Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas said the drilling should take 25 days and the partners then plan to test the well, before sealing and plugging. They also have approval to drill a sidetrack.

Reports say the Gazania-1 well will be drilling over a 300 million barrel light oil resource in Block 2B. Eco has a 50% stake in the block and is operator, while Africa Energy has 27.5%, Panoro Energy 12.5% and Crown Energy 10%.

“We are excited to get underway with our drilling campaign at Block 2B in the Orange Basin offshore South Africa. A successful outcome at the Gazania-1 well has the potential to be transformational for Eco and our JV partners,” said Eco COO Colin Kinley.

Meanwhile, Garrett Soden, president and CEO of another partner in the venture, Africa Energy, described the well as being seven kilometres up-dip from an existing oil discovery and therefore with a high chance of success.

Africa Energy said the Gazania-1 is targeting two prospects, with the sidetrack on a third.

On South Africa’s Indian Ocean coast the partners intend submitting an application for a production right by September regarding the Paddavissie Fairway discovery on Block 11B/12B, 175 km off South Africa’s southern coast. This would export gas to Mossel Bay to the PetroSA gas-to-liquids plant.    Sources: Island Drilling, Africa Energy, Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas

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 Ten Companies shortlisted to operate Pier 2 DCT; four for Ngqura CT (Repeat)

Transnet SOC Limited has reached a significant milestone in its programme to upgrade two of South Africa’s key ports, with the shortlisting of respondents for private sector participation in the Durban Pier 2 and Ngqura Container Terminals (DCT2 and NCT).

The intention is to create a 25-year special purpose vehicle (SPV) between Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) and the winning bidders, and therefore no disposal or sale of the asset. After 25 years the terminals would revert fully to TPT.

Transnet will issue Request for Proposals (RFPs) to the shortlisted respondents from the Request for Qualifications process, which is the third phase in the process to upgrade the two terminals. The process started with the issuing of Requests for Information (RFI) to the market in 2021.

The RFI process was initiated to establish appetite from industry to partner with Transnet in the port improvement plans intended to increase throughput and efficiencies at the ports, and to ensure full utilisation of the capacity in Ngqura in particular, and thus contribute positively to South Africa’s competitiveness.

The improvement in port efficiencies will support South Africa’s competitiveness and its ability to grow jobs in the manufacturing and export economy. Partnering with global port terminal operators and shipping lines offers the opportunity to attract much-needed investment, instil best-practice management and enhanced technological capability to rapidly improve the performance and volume throughput at the Ports of Durban and Ngqura.

Transnet is now repositioning Durban as a gateway hub port, and plans for significant growth in container capacity over the coming years. As part of the port masterplans, Transnet aims to improve commercial performance and throughput at DCT Pier 2 by bringing in a partner with international terminal operations experience.

NCT, located at the Port of Ngqura in the Eastern Cape, serves as a transshipment port serving East and West coast African traffic and traffic from South America to Asia. The terminal has been loss-making for a number of years. The preferred bidder will be expected to bring in additional transshipment volumes and improve terminal performance.

The shortlisted companies – ten (10) for Durban Pier 2 and four (4) for Ngqura – will have until December 2022 to submit their proposals for adjudication. The shortlisting is subject to a due diligence process to be undertaken by Transnet.

For DCT Pier 2, the following ten (10) respondents have been shortlisted and will be invited to proceed to the RFP process:

1. APM Terminals AMI Management DMCEST
2. China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd and Guangzhou Port Co. Ltd
3. COSCO Shipping Ports Limited
4. DP World Limited
5. Global Ports Services Pty. Ltd
6. Grindrod Freight Services (Pty) Ltd and Hamburger Hafen Und Logistik Aktiengesellschaft
7. International Container Terminal Services, Inc.
8. Red Sea Gateway Terminal and MMC Port Holdings Sdn Bhd
9. Star Classic Investments Limited and Abu Dhabi Ports
10. Terminal Investment Limited and REMGRO Limited

For NCT, the following four (4) respondents have been shortlisted and will be invited to proceed to the RFP process:

1. APM Terminals AMI Management DMCEST
2. Red Sea Gateway Terminal and MMC Port Holdings Sdn Bhd
3. Star Classic Investments Limited and Abu Dhabi Ports
4. Terminal Investment Limited and REMGRO Limited

The preferred bidders for each terminal are expected to be appointed by February 2023.

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WHARF TALK: small handy chemical tanker MERA 7

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

Whilst Cape Town gets a very steady stream of MR and LR class tankers, that arrive on what appears to be a continuous basis, the arrival of small, handy sized chemical tankers are few and far between. What is even more of a rarity is any tanker arriving with a liquid cargo for discharge, completing the discharge, and then loading a different liquid cargo for export, and delivery, elsewhere.

On 2nd August at 15h00 the small handy chemical tanker MERA 7 (IMO 9148570) arrived off Cape Town, in a fully loaded state, from Galati in Rumania, and entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock and going alongside in the tanker basin to discharge.

Galati is not a common port of origin for tankers arriving at Cape Town, and neither is it a well-known oil terminal, and fuel export port. It turns out that ‘Mera 7’ was arriving with a full cargo of vegetable oil for discharge.

Built in 1998 by Cantiere Navale Morini SpA at Ancona in Italy, ‘Mera 7’ is 119 metres in length and has a deadweight of 7,014 tons. She is powered by a single Wärtsilä 6R38 6 cylinder 4 stroke main engine producing 5,384 bhp (3,960 kW), to drive a controllable pitch propeller for a service speed of 14 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three Wärtsilä W6L170 generators providing 614 kW each, and an emergency generator providing 264 kW. She has two Bono Energia CHO oil fired boilers, and a single Bono Energia Economiser exhaust gas boiler. For added manoeuvrability ‘Mera 7’ has a Schottel bow transverse thruster providing 331 kW.

She has 12 cargo tanks and a cargo carrying capacity of 6,931 m3. She is one of two sisterships, and as she was built to allow her to operate year round in the Baltic Sea, ‘Mera 7’ has an ice classification of 1A, which allows her to operate in 0.8 metres of first year ice thickness, and with icebreaker assistance.

Owned by Nora Seaways Ltd. of Singapore, ‘Mera 7’ is operated and managed by Omega Ship Management Incorporated, of Athens.

With her vegetable oil discharge complete, ‘Mera 7’ sailed from Cape Town on 4th August at 21h00, with her next port displayed on AIS as… Cape Town. She sailed into the South Atlantic, in the direction of South America, to a position well offshore, and then promptly turned around and sailed back to Cape Town. It appears she had headed out to sea to merely conduct a tank washing exercise offshore. The reason for this soon became apparent.

She arrived off Cape Town on 7th August at 02h00 and, once more, entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock and going alongside B berth, at the FPT, which is a very unusual place for a tanker to berth.

The last tanker to go alongside the FPT was ‘Wine Trader’, which is the clue. A convoy of wine tankers was waiting to discharge their liquid cargo into ‘Mera 7’ on arrival. By 9th August, she had completed loading her cargo of Western Cape’s finest viticulture varietals.

However, she did not sail for her next intended port of discharge, but instead shifted across the entire length of the Duncan Dock, berthing at the Landing Wall. The reason for any vessel utilising the landing wall is, generally, because they require some shoreside engineering support to fix an onboard problem.

It is not a well-known fact that South Africa actually exports more wine in bulk, than it does in bottles. Bulk wine exports account for around two thirds, or just over 65%, of the total of exported wine by volume, accounting for between 420 and 450 million litres of wine annually, which equates to about 50% of the total wine production in South Africa. The United Kingdom is not only the biggest export market for South African wines, but it is also the fastest growing export market, with 23% of all bulk wine exports heading for the UK, or the equivalent of around 83 million litres of wine.

On 21st October 2021 ‘Mera 7’ had completed a voyage from Terneuzen in Holland, to Stade in Germany, and was at anchor, at the Brunsbüttel anchorage, outside the port. At 03h40 in the morning the general cargo ship ‘Konstantin’, with a cargo of wood products, and on a voyage from Norrköping in Sweden, to the port of New Holland, on the River Humber in the UK, collided with ‘Mera 7’. The ‘Konstantin’ had just completed her transit through the Kiel Canal, and was attempting to anchor in the Brunsbüttel anchorage when she struck ‘Mera 7’.

The collision caused minor structural damage to the accommodation block of ‘Mera 7’, but resulted in a hull breach on ‘Konstantin’, which caused water ingress into her engine room. Two tugs were dispatched to take her into Brunsbüttel port in an attempt to stabilise her. There were no injuries in the collision, and no pollution was reported. At 16h30 that afternoon, ‘Mera 7’ resumed her voyage.

Galati in Rumania, as the port of origin of Mera 7’ is a river port, located 80 nautical miles up the River Danube at 45°25’ North 028°05’ East. It is the largest port on the River Danube, and is the second largest port in Rumania, behind Constanța. There are 56 berths available at the port. These include three river berths, linked directly to the Unicom Oil Terminal facility by pipeline, where ‘Mera 7’ loaded her cargo of vegetable oil. The Unicom Oil Terminal has three tanks, with a capacity of 10,000 m3 each, for the storage of vegetable oils and other liquid biomass products.

Galati is also the location of the Damen Shipyard, where ‘Sarah Baartman’ (IMO 9288679), the South African Government’s Environmental Protection vessel, and Offshore Fisheries Patrol vessel, was built in 2004 to the design of a Damen’s OPV 8313 class vessel.

Whatever the problem on ‘Mera 7’, which required the intervention of shoreside assistance at the Landing Wall, it was sorted out by the end of the next day. On 10th August at 23h00, she finally sailed from Cape Town, with her next destination listed as Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.

The likelihood is that call at Las Palmas is merely a bunker call, as a great number of vessels utilise the port for this purpose. Her intended discharge destination is likely to be in Europe, and will only become apparent once she has completed her pit stop call in Las Palmas.

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The Seafarers’ Happiness Index

The latest Seafarers Happiness Index report, published on 1 August by The Mission to Seafarers, reveals that seafarer happiness levels are recovering, after reaching a record low last quarter. Overall happiness has increased from 5.85 to 7.21/10, with levels rising across all categories.

The survey, undertaken with the support of the Standard Club and Idwal, reports on Q2 2022 and shows that the influx of industry solutions to tackle seafarer wellbeing has finally begun to lift morale and the mindset onboard. With more vaccinations, more frequent crew changes, wage rises and new amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), there has been a knock-on effect for seafarer optimism.

An easing of the COVID-19 crisis

After more than two years of uncertainty caused by Covid-19, seafarers are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. While it is still not clear if we are post-pandemic or simply experiencing a Covid lull, restrictions have now eased across the globe. Seafarers are able to move more freely and have more certainty about whether they can go ashore and when they will next be able to go home.

More regular crew changes and time ashore

The survey highlighted that seafarers are happier with their shore leave and with welfare facilities when they are ashore. Now that Covid restrictions are easing, more Seafarer Centres are open and able to support seafarers with the provisions they need when ashore.

Renewed focus on seafarer wellbeing

There has been a marked increase in a range of areas that contribute to overall improved seafarer wellbeing. There has been a focus on social events that boost morale – including weekly gatherings, quizzes, karaoke, sports, barbecues and movie nights, with increased backing and the support of leadership; there was also an increase in seafarer satisfaction with food on board. Changes to the MLC regarding connectivity have been met with cautious optimism by seafarers who are excited at the prospect of improved communication with loved ones, yet wary of the implications of cost and quality of service.

Any recovery in seafarer happiness should be treated delicately and can easily be lost. It is important that the industry continues the work to improve crew wellbeing and does not rest on its laurels.

The Revd Canon Andrew Wright, Secretary General of The Mission to Seafarers, reflected: “It is great to see seafarer happiness increase after such low satisfaction in the last Seafarers Happiness Index report. As always, there is much to be learned from hearing directly from seafarers on how they feel about life at sea – the positives and negatives. By listening, we can better understand, empathise and make the necessary changes to improve seafarers’ lives and experiences.

“While it has been a difficult two years, it is nice to see some optimism return, which is largely down to the hard work the industry has done to make life better and raise spirits on board. However, there are still areas that can be improved upon…’

To read the latest Seafarers Happiness Index report readers are invited to SEE HERE

Tree planting at the Durban Seafarers Mission Centre

Terry Hutson writes:

Saturday 13 August saw a poignant ceremony at Durban’s Seafarers’ Club in the harbour, where the British Honorary Consul planted a Natal Mahogany tree in the spacious mission grounds. Prayers were led by the Consul’s brother, the current rector of St Paul’s Church in the port city.

The act was at the request of HM The Queen to the international Missions to Seafarers in commemorating the Platinum Jubilee of her 70 year reign.

Her Majesty is the patron of the international Mission to Seafarers and HRH The Princess Royal is its President.

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

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First cargo ship in 9 years arrives in Mossel Bay harbour

The Port of Mossel Bay had reason to celebrate last week with the arrival in port of the general cargo ship, REGGEDIJK (IMO 9515034).

This, believe it nor not, was the first time in 9 years that the port on the Western Cape’s South Coast has received a ship for the purpose of working general cargo within port limits.

Mossel Bay handles numerous vessels at the offshore liquid bulk mooring facilities, but due to limitations has been seeing little or no cargo working ships inside the harbour.

The visit by the Reggedijk saw a total of 436 tonnes of cargo being worked before the ship departed at 18h00 on 7 August for Lüderitz in southern Namibia.

The call by the Reggedijk proved a real fillip for reinforcing Mossel Bay’s value, especially in terms of facilitating trade through oil and gas. Mossel Bay is the closest port to the offshore oil and gas exploration operations in the nearby Outeniqua Basin.

The offshore facility was also designed to handle vessels arriving or departing on behalf of the PetroSA oil and gas refinery outside the town.

The Mossel Bay port also facilitates trade through maritime engineering, fishing, cruise tourism and various multi-purpose industries in support of the Southern Cape and South African economy.

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Settlement reached with EU to clear citrus blocked in European ports

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) confirmed on Thursday (11 August) that it has negotiated a settlement that will see clearing of citrus containers stuck in ports of entry in the European Union (EU).

By that date it had cleared more 300 of the 509 containers and was processing clearance of the remaining containers.

This followed new measures introduced by the EU to regulate risk associated with False Codling Moth (FCM) on citrus fruit. The new measures include amended additional phytosanitary declarations for grapefruit and soft citrus and revised cold treatment regime for oranges.

The measures were published on 21 June 2022 and were set to come into force by 24 June 2022.

This implied that consignments arriving in Europe from 14 July onwards needed to comply with the new measures. Taking the shortest sailing time to the EU, it meant that consignments that left South Africa on 24 June 2022, three days from the publication should have been certified on the new measures.

The DALRRD did explain to the European Commission (EC) in a meeting and through written communication that the date was unreasonable. At the time of the publication of the new measures, there were consignments that were certified and had already left for EU as well as some that were in the process of being exported. The DALRRD assertions were that changing the inspection and certification system within three days was unrealistic.

The reasonable date relating to compliance with new measures would have been for consignments leaving SA on 9 July 2022, considering required adjustments of systems and communication to the different regulatory sites, which required at least three weeks from publication.

However, the EC insisted on the 14th July 2022 as an implementation date. As anticipated, the DALRRD started receiving queries from exporters after the implementation date regarding rejection of consignments in the EU ports.

The EU authorities needed phytosanitary certificates compliant to the new FCM measures. The DALRRD segmented the cases into just documentation regarding grapefruit and soft citrus and cold treatment compliance on oranges.

The impasse was subsequently addressed through replacing phytosanitary certificates with the correct additional declarations starting from 22 July 2022. The orange cases were still an issue until the industry in a meeting on 25 July 2022 presented to the DALRRD possible equivalence measures regarding treatment applied on these consignments under South Africa’s Systems Approach for FCM.

The DALRRD committed to negotiate with the EU through the relevant National Plant Protection Organisations (NPPOs) that they should consider these equivalent measures.

The first official letter was sent to the Netherlands NPPO on 27 July 2022 and a positive response was received on 28 July 2022. It based on this agreement that an arrangement was stuck that replacement phytosanitary certificates will be issued for oranges with equivalent cold treatment declaration. Issuance of replacement phytosanitary certificates for oranges started on Monday, 1 August 2022.

In a meeting with industry on 3 August 2022 the DALRRD agreed to include other ports of entry after receiving yet another positive response from Italy on equivalent cold treatment declaration. The ports that were presented by industry as those where South African oranges were rejected included ports in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.

Over 2 000 containers, at an estimated valued at R 500 million were affected by this blockage.

So far, the department, with information being submitted by industry is re-certifying orange consignments blocked in the Netherlands and Italian ports and is receiving confirmation that the containers are being cleared.

The DALRRD held the meeting with the EC on 5 August 2022 regarding the handling of the non-compliant consignment at the ports of the EU and agreed on the interim measures, namely that the EU acceded to the DALRRD’s application to complete the cooling period in the EU.

The interim measures provide that the consignments be treated at the cold treatment facilities in the EU and the department to notify other EU member states. source: DALRRD

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AD Ports Group and Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd sign MoU for joint infrastructure investments in Tanzania

Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports Group and Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd, India’s largest integrated ports and logistics company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) involving strategic joint investments in logistics infrastructure and solutions in Tanzania.

The MoU includes rail, maritime services, port operations, digital services, an industrial zone and the establishment of maritime academies in the East African country.

The agreement sets in motion a series of investments to grow, improve, and promote a maritime and logistics ecosystem capable of turning Tanzania into a hub for the African region.

“This MoU with Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd is significant in its impact on both Tanzania’s ability to transform itself into an African trading hub, as well as our ability to further develop our global capabilities and connections that will bring goods to market faster and more efficiently,” said Capt Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, AD Ports MD and Group CEO:

“Our strategic investment in Tanzania in infrastructure and solutions will enable international companies to enter African markets,” he said.

Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd CEO, Karan Adani, said they were pleased to be partnering with AD Ports Group in the development of key quality infrastructure in Tanzania, especially in the ports and maritime sector. “We continue to support local employment, as well as general economic growth in Tanzania and East African countries that will benefit from our investments through the collaboration with AD Ports Group.”

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Montagu acquires Maritime Intelligence (Lloyd’s List) from Informa Plc

Montagu, a leading private equity firm with offices in Europe, announced on 4 August that it had agreed to acquire Maritime Intelligence from Informa Plc.

Maritime Intelligence, commonly known as Lloyd’s List Intelligence, is a leading provider of maritime data and intelligence, widely used across the shipping world, extending to the finance, legal, academic, insurance, and government sectors. Its products provide reliable, high-quality data and analytics, which help professionals make informed decisions on compliance, risk management and operations.

The business consists of maritime information, insight services, and legal reference sources, including Lloyd’s List, an industry-leading source for global shipping news with origins stretching back to Lloyd’s Coffee House in London’s Lombard Street in 1734 and published daily except on Sundays.

Commenting on the acquisition, Maritime Intelligence Chief Executive Michael Dell said: “We are delighted to join Montagu and the suite of knowledge-led and tech-enabled businesses in their portfolio. Partnering with Montagu supports our continued delivery of innovative maritime analytics for customers, and we are confident of a bright and prosperous future under their leadership.”

Edward Shuckburgh, Montagu Director said that Maritime Intelligence is a unique business with a historic legacy and reputation hard-won over hundreds of years. “It is complementary to our portfolio of data and analytics investee companies with strong current growth and revenue acceleration potential. We are pleased to welcome the business to the Montagu family,” he added.

On a personal note there a number of folk in this great shipping industry of which we are a tiny part and with whom I am in daily contact and who remember with affection the print version of the List. In an earlier life I had to read it to report up the chain of command details of wreck and aids to navigation casualties gleaned from published notices to mariners for example. Another title read daily in my office in EC3 was Journal of Commerce & Shipping Telegraph which came out of Liverpool, oft called the Second City of Empire. Sadly the JoC is no more. Lloyd’s List has been an online title since 2013. It remains to be seen if the print version will return.

Lloyd’s List was one of the world’s oldest continuously running journals. From time to time they published informative supplements and enabled most welcome copies of the daily paper to be available for delegates at shipping conferences.

Reported by Paul Ridgway
London

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IN CONVERSATION: Lilian Ngoyi: an heroic South African woman whose story hasn’t been fully told

In a harbour in the Western Cape, or perhaps on other occasions in one of the other South African ports, you may come across a small bright red patrol ship bearing the name of LILIAN NGOYI. As it happens, at the time of placing this account online, the ship was in Durban, berthed alongside the T-Jetty at the corner of N & O sheds.

Lilian Ngoyi is one of a fleet of fishery and environmental protection vessels of the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

Built locally by Farocean Marine on a Damen 4708 design, she is equipped for cleaning up oil spills, handling search and rescue work, fire fighting and limited towing. That’s in addition to her fishery protection duties. Launched in September 2004, she receives little or no attention and seldom is anything heard of her or the various voyages she makes.

In some respects this is not unlike the person whose name she honours.

So who then was the lady whose name is painted on her hull and what did she do to earn this honour? As this is Woman’s Month, we invite you to read something about this remarkable yet largely unsung and seldom mentioned heroine of the dark apartheid years of South Africa.  – Africa Ports & Ships

Detail of a photo of Lilian Ngoyi making a speech in 1960.  Azola Daniel/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Martha Evans, University of Cape Town

Despite her key role in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, details about Lilian Ngoyi’s life remain sparse. The short paragraphs on her legacy repeat a few well-worn phrases. South Africa’s “mother of the black resistance”, a widow and rumoured lover of Nelson Mandela, and the first woman member of the national executive committee – the core leadership of the African National Congress (ANC), the resistance movement that would later become the government of a democratic South Africa. She was also, of course, one of the leaders of the country’s famous Women’s March.

On 9 August 1956, now commemorated as Women’s Day in South Africa, Ngoyi and other woman leaders led an estimated 20,000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the seat of power of the white minority government. They were protesting extending the much-hated pass laws to women. These laws required black citizens to carry pass documents to better control their movement.

       A poster celebrating the march. Judy Seidman/Medu Art Ensemble

Beyond this, Ma-Ngoyi, as she was affectionately known, remains an often-mentioned but somewhat two-dimensional figure in history.

Perhaps because she was not the wife of a high-profile ANC leader and lived much of her life as a banned person, dying in penury, there is no Lilian Ngoyi Foundation and no substantive biography. Yet the pioneering role she played, and the sacrifices she made, extended well beyond the Women’s March.

Upbringing

Born Lilian Masediba Matabane in 1911, Ngoyi had a different life from other anti-apartheid struggle stalwarts. Not only was she an independent woman, but she was born into urban poverty. She did not hail from a royal or rural household like the Mandelas, Sisulus and other elite members of the ANC, whose role in the fight against apartheid is well documented.

Ngoyi was the granddaughter of a trailblazing Methodist minister, a historical figure in his own right. But his extraordinary contribution to the missionaries’ endeavours in southern Africa did not translate into any significant upward mobility for the family.

Her mother, though literate, worked as a washerwoman and domestic worker and her father was a miner and labourer, who died of mining-related lung disease. As the only girl in a family of four, she was the last in line when it came to education. Still, Ngoyi’s family rallied to keep her in Kilnerton, a leading black Methodist school, even though she was only able to complete her junior schooling. She moved to Johannesburg to take up a short-lived position as one of the country’s first black female trainee nurses at City Deep Mine Hospital.

Her youth typified the contemporary experience of many black women in urban South Africa. She fell pregnant at 19, married at 23, but was widowed at 26. She took on the care of her newborn cousin when her brother’s wife died, and was the primary carer for her elderly parents.

The family spent a miserable decade living in The Shelters, the site of the country’s first urban land invasion under the charismatic James Mpanza, who encouraged backyarders to occupy open land in Orlando, Soweto. Here, Ngoyi experienced the indignity of poverty first hand.

Defiance

Politics changed everything for her. In 1953, at the tail end of the Defiance Campaign, a mass non-violent resistance protest, Ngoyi risked a three-year prison sentence by walking into the whites-only section of a Johannesburg post office. Apartheid laws created and policed racially segregated spaces and to defy them took great bravery.

Ngoyi became an ANC member and rose rapidly through its ranks. She joined the newly formed Federation of South African Women (Fedsaw), forging a lifelong friendship with trade unionist and activist Helen Joseph. A broad-based coalition of women’s organisations, Fedsaw was the organiser of the 1956 march, with Ngoyi and Joseph leading the way.

Ngoyi had the skill to inspire mass mobilisation and bring people together, especially women. By all accounts, she was an exceptional orator. In a 1956 profile in the leading black magazine of the day, Drum, author and activist Ezekiel Mphahlele wrote:

She can toss an audience on her little finger, get men grunting with shame and a feeling of smallness.

Anti-apartheid activist and wife of Nelson Mandela, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela recalled:

She spoke the language of the worker, and she was herself an ordinary factory worker. When she said what she stood for, she evoked emotions no other person could evoke.

In 1955 Ngoyi was sponsored for an overseas trip by the Women’s International Democratic Federation, regarded as a Soviet Front organisation. She attended conferences and propaganda tours in Europe, China and the USSR.

She returned home to the government’s plans to extend the pass system to women. The experience abroad, of being treated like a human being for the first time, had invigorated her. Ngoyi set about canvassing support for the famous march. The largest gathering of women in the country’s history, it was the kind of mass mobilisation the ANC men had only dreamed of.

In 1956 Ngoyi was among 156 dissidents arrested in a swoop by security police. Charged with treason, they became known as the Treason Trialists. She was finally acquitted in 1960, but had lost her job as a factory machinist. She was soon arrested again and detained for five months, 19 days of which she spent in solitary confinement. In a 1963 arrest, she spent 71 days in solitary, an experience which affected her ability to focus.

Isolation

Thereafter, Ngoyi drops out of history. She was subjected to three five-year banning orders, living in a state of permanent lockdown. For most of the remainder of her life she was forbidden from interacting with other banned persons. She was unable to meet with more than three people at a time and could not attend a lecture, go to the cinema or accept invitations to weddings, funerals or parties of any sort.

The banning orders ended her political career and gradually eroded her ability to earn a living as a seamstress, unable to travel into town to purchase fabrics. Security police frequently raided her home, chasing away potential customers. Ngoyi was forced to rely on sporadic donations. In a letter of gratitude to a sponsor, she expressed the humiliation of her position:

We feel small to say thanks all the time.

Not the wife of an elite ANC leader, she received no financial contributions from exiled men, nor was she supported by the International Defence and Aid Fund, which helped the families of political prisoners. She did not lose hope, however, and like Mandela, took solace in gardening, planting seeds sent to her by her overseas friends. Her small yard was full of blooms.

On 13 March 1980, two months before her third banning order was due to expire, Ngoyi passed away, aged 69. She never saw freedom in her lifetime, nor did she receive the recognition she deserved for her efforts to achieve it. At her funeral, activist and church leader Desmond Tutu said that when the true history of South Africa was written Ngoyi’s name would be in “letters of gold”.

This has manifested to some extent – a few clinics and roads bear her name. But the true nature of her accomplishments and challenges, and those of other banned and banished persons in South Africa, should never be forgotten.

Martha Evans, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, University of Cape Town

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

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