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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

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FIRST VIEW:  Port of Richards Bay

• IN CONVERSATION: Waiting for Ethiopia: Berbera port upgrade raises Somaliland’s hopes for trade
• WHARF TALK: offshore diamond mining support ship GOOD WIND
• Tunisia’s grain sector: EBRD to contribute
• P&O Maritime Logistics expands container shipping across the Red Sea
• IN CONVERSATION: South African citrus: new EU rules are unjust and punitive
• TRADE NEWS: TotalEnergies & COSCO complete first marine biofuel bunkering
• Strong performances by Nigerian ports for the half-year
• WHARF TALK: Seatrade reefer vessel REGAL BAY
• Mystery created over the Coral Sul’s first shipment of LNG
• US Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk arrives in Lagos on visit
• Mozambique to pave and rehabilitate 5,000km of central & northern national roads
• ZIM declares high profit returns for second quarter 2022
• Cape Town port’s interim truck staging area goes into operation
• WHARF TALK: MR2 class product tanker UACC SHAMS
• New gantries bring completion for Port of Abidjan 2nd Container Terminal
• Hapag-Lloyd close to tripling profit for H1
• Road and parking space upgrade at Port of Mossel Bay
• TRADE NEWS: Thordon’s SXL bearings installed on history-making Daleela
• Better than a truce as APM Terminals and Monrovia dock workers sign MoU
• WHARF TALK: multi-purpose general cargo ship BOHWA PIONEER
• NEW BOOKS
• Port of Felixstowe affected by 8-day strike
• Average container prices & rates show decline in China
• Mozambique’s Port of Quelimane is ready for bigger ships
• WHARF TALK: Neo-Panamax container vessel NILEDUTCH LION
• UN Sec-General Europe trip with visit to vessels of hope
• Transnet calls for supply of desalinated water at SA ports
• First LNG cargo about to be loaded from Coral Sul as LNG tanker arrives
• IN CONVERSATION: Ghana has developed a maritime policy. Here is what it means
• ITF Inspectors recover seafarers’ unpaid wages

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

The week’s mastheads:

Monday: Port of Durban Container Terminal, Pier 2
Tuesday: Port of Durban Container Terminal by night
Wednesday: Port of Durban City Multipurpose Terminal
Thursday: Port of Durban Island View Terminal
Friday: Port of Durban Maydon Wharf
Saturday: Port of Cape Town Elliott Basin
Sunday: Port of Cape Town dry dock

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FIRST VIEW:   Port of Richards Bay

The Port of Richards Bay is famous for its coal terminal, reputed to be the largest single coal terminal in the world.  Be that as it may, or perhaps not, Richards Bay is more than a coal terminal, possessing an extensive general harbour handling significant volumes of general and bulk cargo.

The only commodity the port does not handle in any quantity is containers.

In our picture above the multi-purpose terminal is prominent on the left, with two large ships on berth working cargo.  Beyond them is the finger jetty and to the right are the bulk terminals and their respective berths.

In the previous calendar year (2021) the Port of Richards Bay handled a total cargo, including coal, of 84.879 million tonnes, of which coal exports amounted to 58.72 million tonnes, one of RBCT’s lowest figures since 1996.  This was owing to problems experienced with rail deliveries to the port – whereas RBCT had expected to ship out 77 mt during the year.

The coal and liquid bulk terminals are situated on the opposite side of the general cargo port as shown here.  The picture is courtesy of TNPA

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IN CONVERSATION: Waiting for Ethiopia: Berbera port upgrade raises Somaliland’s hopes for trade

May Darwich, University of Birmingham and Jutta Bakonyi, Durham University

Berbera port is the main overseas trade gateway of the breakaway Republic of Somaliland. The port city is located on the Gulf of Aden – one of the globally most frequented seaways connecting the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.

Only a few years ago, Berbera port was a dilapidated runway, originally built by the British empire, and then modernised first by the Soviet Union and later the US. The port is the lifeline of Somaliland, which imports most of what it needs, from food to construction material, cars and furniture. Its main export is livestock to the Arabian Peninsula.

This picture changed considerably after the Emirates-based Dubai Ports World (DP World), a leading global port operator and logistics giant, took over the port management in 2017. It expanded the quay by 400m, established a new container terminal, designed a free zone, and started to manage the port’s operations.

Lined up alongside the quay are the latest crane models, which have become operational since June 2022. DP World employees practise operating the cranes every day. The hope is that the port will attract 500,000 TEU (unit of cargo capacity) per year, about one third of the capacity of neighbouring Doraleh port in Djibouti. This would allow Somaliland to become a logistical hub on the Gulf of Aden competing with other ports in the region such as Djibouti, Mogadishu and Mombasa.

The cranes are crucial for the speedy handling of cargo required in a modern port. The staff training, however, takes place in a port that is yet to get busy. So far, container ships arrive only infrequently.

We have been studying the Horn of Africa’s emerging port infrastructures. The boost that the revamped Berbera port needs is for Ethiopia to come to the party. Ethiopia has been landlocked since Eritrea gained independence in 1993, and relies on the port of Djibouti – 95% of its trade goes through the port.

In 2017, a concession agreement was signed between DP World, Ethiopia, and the government of Somaliland to rebuild and modernise the port of Berbera. The 30-year concession involves: a commercial port, a free zone, a corridor from Berbera to Ethiopia’s borders, and an airport in Berbera.

The concession allowed Somaliland’s government to retain 30% of the shares in the port, 19% for Ethiopia, and 51% for DP World. But in June 2022, Somaliland announced that Ethiopia had failed to acquire its 19% share of Berbera port. Ethiopia failed to meet the conditions.

Somalilanders remain optimistic, nonetheless. The infrastructure project means a great deal to the country. It promises to foster its ambition to receive international recognition, achieve economic development, and fulfil hopes for improved living conditions of its citizens.

The context

DP World’s expansion in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden is taking place in the context of turbulent political transformations in the Horn of Africa.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018 on the back of popular protests and awakened hopes of a democratic transition in the country. He ended the two-decades-long rivalry between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which brought him the Nobel Peace Prize. With a population of more than 100 million and one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, Ethiopia’s transition brought prospects of developments across the Horn of Africa.

DP World’s will to expand its operations in the region coincided with conflicts between DP World and Djibouti. In 2006, DP World had signed a 30-year concession to design, build, and operate the Doraleh container terminal in Djibouti. Growing tensions led the government of Djibouti to cancel DP World’s concession in 2018.

DP World shifted its interest from the port in Djibouti to Berbera in Somaliland and Bosaso in Somalia (Puntland). In 2017, a concession agreement was signed between DP World, Ethiopia, and the government of Somaliland to rebuild and modernise the port of Berbera. The projects covered by the 30-year concession included a commercial port, a free zone, a corridor from Berbera to Ethiopia’s borders, and an airport.

These projects are steadily progressing. Berbera port has already completed its first expansion phase. The DP World-owned free zone is under construction. Large parts of the Berbera corridor, a highway linking Berbera to Toqwajale at the Ethiopian-Somaliland border; and from there to Jigjiga and Addis in Ethiopia are finalised. According to Somaliland officials, the airport is also completed, but its original designation as a military outlet for the UAE remains ambiguous.

What next?

The infrastructure project means a great deal to Somaliland, promising to put the country on the path to international recognition and achieve economic development. However, these aspirations will not materialise without Ethiopia on board, which has not met the conditions under which it was to get a 19% share of the Berbera port. In addition it has not yet opened its markets to Somaliland traders.

Somalilanders remain optimistic, nonetheless, expecting that especially trade from eastern parts of Ethiopia will redirected to Somaliland. But this plan is not without risks. The pandemic and war in Tigray has slowed down Ethiopia’s economic growth, and the stability of the country is on the brink.

While DP World’s strategy to control ports along the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden is already transforming the political geography of the Horn of Africa, the success of its strategy largely hinges upon Ethiopia, and so do the hopes and aspirations of Ethiopia’s coastal neighbours.

Everybody, so it seems, is currently waiting for Ethiopia.

May Darwich, Associate Professor of International Relations of the Middle East, University of Birmingham and Jutta Bakonyi, Professor in Development and Conflict, Durham University

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

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WHARF TALK: offshore diamond mining support ship GOOD WIND

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

For anybody who has ever flown with South African Airways (SAA), and who has ever bothered taking the dog-eared copy of the SAA in-flight magazine out of the seat pocket in front of you, to page through it in order to while away your flight, you will know, or you will recall, that the magazine is called ‘Sawubona’. Believe it or not, there is a shipping company called Sawubona Shipping Co. Ltd., except that it is not registered in South Africa, but rather in the Bahamas.

Back on 12th August at 20h00 the offshore supply vessel GOOD WIND (IMO 9651345) arrived at the Table Bay anchorage, from her regular role of supporting the offshore diamond mining vessels that operate off the Orange River mouth. After only 36 hours out at anchor, she entered Cape Town harbour and proceeded into the Duncan Dock, going alongside the Eastern Mole.

Normally, that would indicate a transient visit for bunkers and stores. However, Good Wind has been a regular visitor to Cape Town since December 2021, returning from the Orange River mouth area approximately every six weeks. Her visits are normally to E berth, in order to load up with all of the required stores, liquids, equipment, spares and other paraphernalia required to keep a fleet of sophisticated Diamond Mining vessels working offshore, on an almost continuous basis.

Her previous voyage had her arriving back from the Orange River mouth area on 8th July, and she remained in Cape Town, preparing for her next support voyage, until 21st July when she sailed once more with a deck load of much needed ‘bits and bobs’ for the mining vessels. She arrived back from that voyage, the end of her current one, berthing on 14th August.

In this case, ‘Good Wind’ remained at the Eastern Mole for almost a week, and then shifted across the Duncan Dock to go alongside the Repair Quay. It would seem that a period of maintenance is in the offing. A short time later she was joined by her fleetmate ‘DP Star’, who had arrived back in Cape Town at 20h00 on 17th August, from her support and survey role off the Orange River mouth. With the ‘Good Wind’ alongside the Repair Quay, ‘DP Star’ was double banked alongside her.

Built in 2012 by Fujian Funing Shipbuilding at Fu’an in China, ‘Good Wind’ is 59 metres in length and has a deadweight of 1,457 tons. She is powered by two Caterpillar 3516C 16 cylinder 4 stroke main engines producing 2,575 bhp (1,920 kW) each for a maximum service speed of 13 knots. She has two Caterpillar C18 generators providing 383 kW each, and a Perkins emergency generator providing 65 kW.

For added manoeuvrability ‘Good Wind’ has two Kawasaki transverse bow thrusters, and one Berg transverse stern thruster. Her propulsion systems, and thrusters, are all linked through a bridge controlled, Kongsberg K-Pos, dynamic positioning system to give her DP capability. She has accommodation for up to 42 personnel, and she has a firefighting ‘FiFi’ capability, with two fire monitors capable of spraying water at a rate of 1,500 m3 per hour.

Her aft cargo deck area is 360 m2, and a cargo load of 500 tons can be positioned on deck. Originally built as a platform supply vessel for the oil and gas industry, she has under deck cargo tanks capable of holding 838 m3 of potable water, 206 m3 of drill water and 187 m3 of cement.

She is nominally owned by Sawubona Shipping Co. Ltd., of the Bahamas, and is operated by Argo srl of Pozzuoli, in Italy. She is managed by Argo Shipmanagement and Services srl, also of Pozzuoli. This same company also manages ‘DP Star’, and the two Diamond Mining vessels ‘The Explorer’, and ‘Ya Toivo’, that operate for De Beers Marine in the CDM concession area off Alexander Bay, in South African waters.

Bought by her current owners in May 2021, ‘Good Wind’ began operating between Cape Town and the Orange River mouth in December 2021. The length of her current stay in Cape Town, and the full programme of shoreside maintenance that she is embarking on is, as yet, unknown.

Most South Africans may be aware of the linguistic provenance of ‘Sawubona’. However, to those who are not aware, ‘Sawubona’ is a Zulu expression of greeting, and one that translates as ‘I see you’. In a broader context it means ‘I see you, you are important to me, I have respect for you, and I value you’. Sawubona.

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Tunisia’s grain sector: EBRD to contribute

In London the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has its HQ in the City of London, the Square Mile, at One Exchange Square, EC2. It was created in April 1991 to foster the transition towards open market-oriented economies and to promote private and entrepreneurial initiative.

Since then the Bank has invested over €170 billion in more than 6,400 projects across three continents.

EBRD is a climate finance leader and actively supports Ukraine and other countries affected by the war there. It has also committed much of its recent activity to counter the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tunisia’s grain sector

According to a recent report Tunisia is embarking on reforms of state-owned enterprises in the grain sector and here this will be with support from the EBRD.

It is understood that a €150.5 million sovereign guaranteed loan is to be arranged for the Tunisian Cereals Office (Office des Cereales or ODC). This funding is anticipated to fund international purchases of barley, durum and soft wheat, believed to be 15% of the country’s needs.

It is furthermore reported that the Tunisian authorities with the EBRD and the ODC anticipate being able to develop a programme to facilitate the Tunisian grain trade. This will be a welcome advance for the ship owners and ship managers involved in movements of grain cargoes.

The effect of war

Certainly the war on Ukraine has severely affected the country’s ability to export grains and has led to disruptions in the global grain supply and, of course, has given rise to increases in global commodity prices particularly in the south and east Mediterranean.

With regard to the EBRD it has been learnt that since 2012, the Bank has invested more than €1.5 billion in 59 projects in Tunisia over the private and public sectors.

Tunisia is a net importer of agricultural products. In 2021, leading agricultural imports were: wheat ($595 million), barley ($265 million), and corn ($265 million).

In comparison with other countries in North Africa, agriculture plays a relatively modest role in Tunisia’s economy, accounting for 16% of the country’s workforce and 12% of the country’s GDP.

While large agricultural enterprises are increasingly prominent Tunisia also maintains significant market controls throughout the agriculture value chain, which, to some extent, limits growth and investment opportunities. It is understood that public land may be leased from the government to private farmers or managed directly by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Foreigners cannot own agricultural land but may obtain long-term leases.

Reported by Paul Ridgway
London

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P&O Maritime Logistics expands container shipping across the Red Sea

P&O Maritime Logistics and Unifeeder say they will help reduce container bottlenecks in the Red Sea with the introduction of modified Multi Carrying Vessels (MCVs) which will bypass congestion by calling at smaller berths.

This, they believe, will enable turning around at least twice as fast compared to larger container ships on this shortsea route.

In partnership with Unifeeder, P&O Maritime Logistics has increased connectivity across the Red Sea between the Port of Jeddah and Port Sudan.

The partnership with Unifeeder marks the first time P&O Maritime Logistics has traded in the Red Sea with containers on a liner basis.

The shallow draught MCVs (also referred to as Heavy Load carrier vessels), have been modified to carry containers.

As a ‘micro’ feeder, the MCVs utilises less space and can access areas of the port where larger ships cannot fit due to their size and length. This is useful when connecting feeder ports such as Port Sudan, with hub ports, such as the Port of Jeddah. The MCVs can advance and bring additional volumes for main line carriers and reduce waiting times.

P&O Maritime Logistics began modifying MCVs following successful trials with the TOPAZ LENA (IMO 9812195), where they found they could deliver faster turnaround times to their customers.
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This, says P&O Maritime Logistics, has demonstrated agility during industry-wide changes and brought forward innovative solutions for customers. In this case, the port turnaround time can be reduced by 70-80%.

Two MCVs have been modified – TOPAZ LENA and TOPAZ VOLGA (IMO 9816971). Each vessel is 123 metres in length and 16m for Topaz Lena and 16.5m wide for Topaz Volga. Both ships have a deadweight of 2,946 tonnes and were built in 2018. They have already commenced the new service.

P&O ships first crossed the Red Sea in 1842 after winning the Mail Contract from UK to India, carrying mail, passengers and cargo. The new liner service now highlights P&O Maritime Logistics’ return to the Red Sea after 180 years and its expansion into the container-carrying market of the region.

According to P&O Maritime Services, it is now delivering a faster-than-anticipated service to Unifeeder, DP World and other customers by offering a liner route between the terminals of Jeddah and Port Sudan, where the MCVs call at different terminals and underline the possibility of exporting this solution to other port combinations worldwide.

“P&O Maritime Logistics provides additional capacity and alleviates the already-stretched global supply chains,” says Martin Helweg, CEO of P&O Maritime Logistics.

“This is particularly useful on lower-volume, higher-frequency trade routes, such as the Red Sea, where our MCVs can provide a more efficient service to our clients. Seeing such niche feeders operating successfully forms a blueprint for further expansion with new and existing clients.”

The new contract also marks another milestone for Unifeeder’s continued close collaboration between the two maritime companies, following previous successful contracts in Europe.

‘As we continue to work closely with our parent company, DP World, on expanding our containerised service, our partnership with Unifeeder, also a DP World company, is an example of our ongoing efforts to respond and adapt to wider industry changes,” says Helweg.

A further two MCVs are currently being modified and this can be increased to as many as ten MCVs if required. P&O Maritime Logistics says it will also leverage the container modified MCVs with other partners worldwide.

P&O Maritime Logistics focuses on offshore energy, port services and logistics and owns and operates approximately 400 vessels. It is headquartered in Dubai. The Unifeeder Group covers Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Wider Indian Subcontinent and operates with more than 150 vessels.

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IN CONVERSATION: South African citrus: new EU rules are unjust and punitive

Simon Roberts, University of Johannesburg; Antonio Andreoni, University of Johannesburg, and Shingie Chisoro, University of Johannesburg

In mid-July 2022 the European Union imposed new restrictions on South African citrus imports. The new phytosanitary requirements were meant to address False Codling Moth, a citrus pest that is native to South Africa and for which there is zero tolerance in the EU.

The new regulations are a major blow to South Africa’s citrus industry as they will severely disrupt exports. The country is the world’s second largest exporter of citrus after Spain. The EU accounted for 41% of Southern African citrus exports by value in 2021. Locally, in 2021 citrus accounted for 25% of South Africa’s total agriculture exports up from 19% in 2011.

In our view, which is based on decades of engaging with EU regulations, and food exports more generally, the regulations are unfair and punitive.

Firstly, the EU gave South Africa less than a month to adapt to the new regulations. The EU measures were published on 21 June 2022, entered into force on 24 June 2022, and required that consignments arriving in Europe from 14 July 2022 onwards had to comply with the new requirements.

The South African government managed to negotiate a settlement with the EU to clear floating containers of citrus blocked at EU Ports on 11 August 2022 (3 weeks later). Nevertheless the whole process imposed additional costs on growers. At a minimum, transition measures are required. This is done to give countries time to adapt.

Secondly, since the EU first declared the False Codling Moth a quarantine pest in 2018, South Africa put in place extensive measures in line to meet the phytosanitary regulations. Its integrated pest management (systems approach) has meant significant investments in research and “learning by doing” to get the system right. There is evidence of success.

In our view, the new rules are de facto non-tariff barriers to trade. Non-tariff measures are imposed _de jure to protect consumers from unhealthy or low-quality products, but de facto they represent an increase in trade costs. _

We also believe that additional requirements will only mean diverting scarce resources and imposing new costs on growers, threatening the long-term sustainability of the industry.

Standards in global trade

Product and process standards are the main factors shaping the international trade regime. The ability to meet these standards is both a threat for producers (excluding them from profitable markets) and an opportunity (providing the potential to enter high-margin markets).

Phytosanitary standards are particularly important. The challenge is that they are determined solely by the buying party or country, with the producer having little capacity to challenge decisions on conformance. An added problem is that strong lobbies can push for standards to be protectionist barriers. This harms both consumers who pay higher prices as well as producers who are forced to apply new ways of processing.

The ever changing landscape in phytosanitary standards is characteristic of global trade in fresh fruit. Responding to it requires constant investments in research and technology development to keep up and to comply. However, the political nature of these issues, which require government-to-government negotiations, makes it difficult to prove compliance and the basis for such standards.

As of 12 August, the current hurdle has cost local citrus growers over R200 million in losses. In addition, growers are more than likely to receive half their expected returns on any fruit that is released, due to the fact that most containers have been standing for a few weeks, and have therefore missed their programmes due to late arrival.

Applicable from the 1 January 2018, the EU Directive listed False Codling Moth (FCM) as an EU quarantine pest and prescribed specific import requirements. This meant that South African citrus exporters who shipped to the EU market would be subject to new requirements. Non-EU countries could use cold treatment or another effective treatment to ensure the products are free from the pest.

From the 1 September 2019, exporting countries were required prior to export, to provide documentary evidence of the effectiveness of the treatment used for trade to continue.

In response to the EU’s 2018 False Codling Moth phytosanitary regulations, South Africa’s citrus industry developed the FCM Management System as an alternative to post-harvest disinfestation (cold treatment).

South Africa is currently using integrated pest management (systems approach) – the sterile insect technique and mating disruption – in conjunction with complementary controls to ensure citrus fruits are free of the moth – from the field to the packing house and shipment to the EU. A systems approach is a pest risk management option that integrates different measures, at least two of which act independently, with cumulative effect.

The False Codling Moth Management System was implemented for the first time in 2018 for citrus exports to the EU with continuos improvements over the years (p.32). Interceptions of FCM have been consistently low over the past three years.

The new regulations require orange imports to undergo further mandatory cold treatment processes and pre-cooling steps for specific periods. These have to be done at loading before shipping and subsequent importation.

Some cold stores have modern technology to cool down the fruit to stipulated temperatures. But a number of cold stores still have outdated technologies that can’t.

Next steps

South Africa’s citrus industry recognises that standards are clearly essential. It has invested in research and technology to keep abreast of changes in phytosanitary standards, and to support shared capabilities necessary to supply high-quality, pest-and disease-free fruit.

But the setting of standards can be misused. This means they need to be transparently applied and designed.

Simon Roberts, Professor of Economics and Lead Researcher, Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development, UJ, University of Johannesburg; Antonio Andreoni, Professor of Development Economics, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London and Visiting Associate Professor, SARChI Industrial Development, University of Johannesburg, and Shingie Chisoro, Senior Researcher, University of Johannesburg

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

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TRADE NEWS: TotalEnergies & COSCO complete first marine biofuel bunkering

TotalEnergies Marine Fuels has successfully completed the first refuelling of a COSCO Shipping Lines containership with sustainable marine biofuel. This operation marks TotalEnergies’ first biofuel bunkering operation for a containership in Singapore.

On 11 July 2022, the 4,250 TEU COSCO HOUSTON (IMO 9484273) container vessel was bunkered with TotalEnergies-supplied biofuel in Singapore waters, via ship-to-ship transfer.

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

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Strong performances by Nigerian ports for the half-year

Nigerian ports handled 1,992 ships at the various ports during the period January to end June 2022. This total equated to 60.2 million gross tons.

This information came from the National Ports Authority‘s managing director, Mohammed Bello-Koko, in his half-year report.

In terms of cargo handled at the ports, container traffic amounted to 849,175 TEUs (twenty-foot container equivalents).

Regarding other commodities, the ports handled 132,543 motor vehicles for the six months, listed as units.

Bulk cargo handled by the ports totalled 38,672,392 tonnes.

Bello-Koko said the average turn-around time of vessels in port was 5.16 days.

“This is an improvement, and we are strategising to perform better in the second half of the year,” the MD said.

He said the half-year operational statistics were encouraging, despite the global economic and inflation crisis.

“The development in the port industry cannot be severed from the macroeconomic environment with galloping inflation that has grossly reduced the disposable income of households, the depreciating exchange rates that stifle business environment and the dwindling government revenue that constrains expenditure.

“In the face of these harsh macroeconomic indices, the Nigerian Ports Authority has forged on to deliver port and harbour services to the teeming operators in the export and import businesses across the country,” Bello-Koko said.

Source: Ships and Ports (Nigeria)

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WHARF TALK: Seatrade reefer vessel REGAL BAY

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

The export of citrus fruit from South Africa is a major sector of the South African economy, and the market for the United States of America continues to grow. With US Export Protocol Regulations restricting the import of South African citrus fruit that originates only from the Western Cape Province, and the Northern Cape Province, it is only Cape Town that sees this particular export reefer trade in action

On 14th August at 08h00 the reefer vessel REGAL BAY (IMO 905 3658) arrived off Cape Town from Walvis Bay, in Namibia, and entered the Duncan Dock to go alongside D berth at the FPT. Her call was one of the ongoing seasonal programme for exporting Citrus fruit to the USA, which runs from May to October.

Built in 1993 by Shikoku Dockyard at Takamatsu in Japan, ‘Regal Bay’ is 150 metres in length and has a deadweight of 10,520 tons. She is powered by a single Mitsui MAN-B&W 6S60MC-C 6 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 15,289 bhp (11,253 kW), driving a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 20 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes four generators providing 610 kW each. She has a single Tortoise composite, vertical, auxiliary boiler. She has four holds, serviced by four cranes, of which two have a lifting capacity of 8 tons each, and two have a lifting capacity of 35 tons each.

The latter cranes are able to load, and discharge, containers, and ‘Regal Bay’ has a container carrying capacity of 262 TEU, and has provision for 46 reefer plugs. With a cargo carrying capacity of 526,250 ft3, and a cargo deck area of 5,851 m2, ‘Regal Bay’ can carry the equivalent of 4,600 pallets of fresh fruit.

One of four sisterships, ‘Regal Bay’ is nominally owned by ONS Shipholding III AS, and operated by Seatrade BV of Groningen, in Holland. She is managed by Seatrade Shipmanagement BV, also of Groningen. Seatrade conduct the whole programme of citrus export voyages from Cape Town to the United States, using their own vessels.

They also conducted the whole of the deciduous fruit export season to the United Kingdom, and Rotterdam. However, the citrus export to Russia has been carried out by the Baltic Reefer organisation, as Seatrade would have difficulty conducting such voyages due to EU sanctions, which are endorsed by the Dutch government.

The US citrus reefer import trade from South Africa is centred on the Gloucester Marine Terminal, in New Jersey, which is located up the Delaware River, directly opposite from the City of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. Currently, the reefer ‘Pacific Mermaid’ is discharging at the Gloucester Marine Terminal, where she arrived on 21st August, after a 20 day voyage from Cape Town, where she had departed on August 1st.

South Africa is set for record citrus exports of 2.7 million tons in the current marketing year of 2022, despite receiving ongoing challenges, such as sanctions and restrictions in place as a result of Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Favorable weather conditions, new areas under production in the Western Cape, and higher demand in premium markets of the United States, are driving the growth in exports. Duty-free exports of citrus to the United States under the African Growth Opportunity Act reached a historic high of 100,234 tons in 2021.

At present, Europe is South Africa’s largest market for citrus, where the fruit growing industry generated export revenue of ZAR30 billion (US$176.47), and in 2021 it sustained more than 100,000 jobs.

South Africa is the world’s second largest exporter of citrus, after Spain, and plays a major role in Africa’s increasingly dominant role in the global trade of oranges, clementines, tangerines, lemons and grapefruit.

Citrus production is crucial to South Africa’s economy, with a US$2 billion (ZAR34 billion) market in South Africa, which shows it to be half of Spain’s US$4 billion (ZAR68 billion).

In her almost 30 year career, ‘Regal Bay’ has experienced no less than 87 Port State Inspections, of which four have resulted in detentions. The last detention took place in September 2017, at Algeciras, in Spain, resulting in a three day detention due to ISM deficiencies and MARPOL – Annex 1 Pollution Prevention being ‘not as required’.

The second detention was in March 2016, at Genoa in Italy, with a one day detention due to ISM Deficiencies. This followed a third detention at the port of Dover, in the United Kingdom, when ‘Regal Bay’ was detained for one day due to ISM Deficiencies, the Fire Dampers not operating as required and her magnetic compass being inoperative.

Her first detention took place in January 2003, at Hamburg in Germany, which resulted in a one day extension due to firefighting equipment not being ‘as required’.

On completion of the loading of her citrus cargo, ‘Regal Bay’ sailed from Cape Town on 23rd August at 11h00, but initially headed straight to the Table Bay anchorage, where she was making ready for the voyage to the Gloucester Marine terminal. By the early hours of the 24th August, everything was obviously shipshape and Bristol fashion, and she began her long transatlantic voyage stateside at a steady 15 knots.

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Mystery created over the Coral Sul’s first shipment of LNG

The National Oil Institute of Mozambique (INP) has issued a statement saying there is no indication of any vessel on its way to load gas from the CORAL SUL FLNG off the coast of northern Mozambique.

In fact, says the INP, the anchoring of the Coral Sul floating platform is still underway.

“We only have the commissioning of the floating platform in progress and what I can say is that the process is taking place within the foreseen conditions,”, said the president of the INP, Nazário Bangalane, in statements to Notícias, the main Mozambican daily.

He was reacting to news published in recent days by various media, including Africa Ports & Ships, that the LNG tanker that will transport the first gas from the Rovuma basin is on its way to the production field in the waters of northern Mozambique.

Read our report that the tanker is on its way to make the first load by CLICKING HERE

Bangalane went further to say that “no shipment is planned”and that “there is no indication of any vessel on its way to load gas.”

He did not say when the first export of liquefied natural gas will take place, saying that as soon as the conditions are created, the operation will be announced.

According to Africa Ports & Ships’ own enquiries, the first LNG tanker has been identified as the BRITISH VENDOR (IMO 8766578) which was noted passing the KZN coast in the past week, heading north toward Mozambique.

Although details of ships in the port or the bay of Pemba are not easily available, AIS does indicate that a tanker has taken up residence in the bay. When passing Durban the British Vendor gave the port of Pemba as its destination.

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US Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk arrives in Lagos on visit

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter, USCGC MOHAWK (WMEC 913) has arrived at the Nigerian Naval Dockyard in Lagos for a scheduled visit.

This information was shared by the U.S. Consul General, Will Stevens, in a press statement issued by the Lagos Press United States Mission, Public Affairs Section.

The USCGC Mohawk arrived in Lagos on Thursday last week, 18 August 2022.

According to the Consul General, the Mohawk officers will meet with their counterparts in the Nigerian Navy at the Western Navy Command Headquarters in Apapa, Lagos. The visitors will also host ship tours for members of the Nigerian government and military officials.

Following the port visit, the Mohawk will conduct two days of at-sea engagements with the Nigerian Navy to help promote maritime security cooperation.

CG Stevens pointed out that the U.S. was committed to supporting the Nigerian Navy in its efforts to both secure its own territorial waters and those of the greater Gulf of Guinea.

“The cooperation and the ability to operate together in the maritime domain are necessary to enhance Nigeria’s capacity to counter piracy, oil bunkering, illegal fishing, and other sea-based illicit activities,” he said.

The visit by USCGC Mohawk is the latest in a series of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships to visit not only Nigeria but other West and Central African littoral states.

The Famous-class cutter Mohawk is currently attached to AFRICOM for patrol purposes, having crossed the Atlantic during June this year with two smaller Sentinel-class fast-response cutters, USCGC John Scheuermen and USCGC Clarence Sutphin Jr, which have proceeded to Bahrain in the Arabian Gulf.

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Mozambique to pave and rehabilitate 5,000km of central & northern national roads

According to a report issued by Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (AIM) in Maputo, the Mozambique Government plans to pave or rehabilitate about 5,000 kilometres of road in the centre and north of the country by 2024.

To achieve this it will use funds from the European Union and the World Bank, it reported, quoting a report in the Maputo daily Noticias/.

The report said the EU is disbursing over €124 million (US$126.5) for this programme, while the World Bank has made US$110 million available. The funds will also cover the associated bridges and drainage systems.

There is not yet any date for the beginning of the rehabilitation work, since consultants are still being hired, it said.

The roads covered by this programme mostly link agricultural production zones to urban consumption areas. The roads mentioned in the report are in Nampula, Niassa and Zambezia provinces.   source: AIM & Noticias

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ZIM declares high profit returns for second quarter 2022

Israel’s ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd shipping line is another container carrier to declare high profit returns, in this instance for the second quarter of 2022.

With a net income of US$1.34 billion compared to $888 million in the second quarter of 2021 (an increase of over 50%), Zim’s adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $2.10 billion, a year-over-year increase of 57%. Operating income (EBIT) for the period was $1.76 billion, a year-over-year increase of 52%.

Revenues for the quarter were $3.43 billion, a year-over-year increase of 44%, achieved with a container volume of 856,000 TEUs carried, up 7% on the same period of 2021.

As an example of how freight rates have affected this and other results, the average freight rate per TEU in second quarter was $3,596, a year-over-year increase of 54%.

“We reported today strong Q2 results, including net profit of $1.34 billion, as well as our best ever first half-year results with standout margins, among the highest of our liner peers,” said Eli Glickman, ZIM President & CEO, when announcing the results last week.

“During this period, we maintained our strong execution, agility and commitment to profitable growth as we continue to advance ZIM’s position as an innovative digital leader of seaborne transportation.

“Due to our conviction in ZIM’s ability to earn sustainable long-term profits, we are increasing our quarterly dividend payout from 20% to 30% of quarterly net income, allowing shareholders to benefit from our strong results even more directly on a quarterly basis.

“Importantly, at the same time, we maintain our dividend policy, according to which shareholders may receive up to 50% of annual earnings.”

Glickman said that over the past several weeks, Zim has seen a gradual decline in freight rates, including in the transpacific trades, despite continued port congestion and resilient demand, driven by macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties.

“The dynamic nature of our industry illustrates the importance of staying focused on ZIM’s core strategy and key strengths. Our global niche approach is centered on successfully identifying attractive growth opportunities and adjusting our fleet size dependent on changing market conditions.

He said that a prime example of this has been the growth in Zim’s car carriage activities, growing from one vessel operated 2 years ago to 10 car carriers operated today. “We believe that this approach will continue to serve us well as the market is expected to normalise from peak levels.”

Glickman said that despite the backdrop of various challenges, and based on Zim’s strong performance in the year to date coupled with spot and contract rates that remain highly profitable, “We are reaffirming our 2022 guidance, which would mark another year of record earnings and profitability, which…. “…will position ZIM as a top performer in our industry and enable us to deliver long-term value to our shareholders.”

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Cape Town port’s interim truck staging area goes into operation

With the aim of improving traffic flows at the port of Cape Town, the Interim Truck Staging Area (ITSA), located alongside Duncan Road – the main road in the Port Precinct – is gaining momentum since the first phase was operationalised last month (July 2022).

With Phase 1 designed to manage the flow of heavy vehicle traffic on the roads leading to the Cape Town Multi-purpose Terminal (CTMPT), the ITSA has proven to significantly reduce traffic in the CTMPT Precinct.

Phase 2 will be operational in mid-September 2022 and is designed to alleviate truck congestion at the Cape Town Container Terminal (CTCT).

The ITSA has the capacity to stage 28 trucks in Phase 1 and 37 trucks in Phase 2. This solution stems from an Eight Point Plan that was co-created by various representatives from the maritime logistics value chain to improve efficiencies in the Port of Cape Town, with the improvement of truck operations as one of the priorities.

Truck operations will also be improved by activating night runs, to encourage port users to utilise the latent capacity available at night that would reduce congestion during the day, and the activation of biometric scanning for truckers at all port entrances.

“We are encouraged by the benefits that are being enjoyed by the multi-purpose precinct users through Phase 1 of the project,” said ITSA Project Manager, Roxanne Smith.

“The facility is intended to serve as an ‘overflow’ waiting area in instances where the operational terminals have reached full capacity and can no longer allow the entry of trucks. With the first phase the port is already seeing the diversion of idle trucks off Duncan Road, thus increasing road safety and allowing for all port users to enjoy free traffic flow.”

The ITSA addresses the immediate truck congestion whilst the Ports Authority pursues the possibility of a permanent truck staging facility in the Port Industrial Park.

The permanent truck staging facility, which forms part of the CTCT Phase 2B Project is scheduled for completion in the 2024/25 financial year. This, believes Transnet, will substantially improve the flow of trucks in and out of the port and address the increase in the traffic of heavy vehicles in recent years.

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WHARF TALK:   MR2 class product tanker UACC SHAMS

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

Whenever product tankers arrive in South African ports, and the parade of tankers is currently non-stop, and not likely to slow down any time soon, the natural thought for most landlubbers is that they are bringing mainly petrol and diesel to power their lovely motorcars. Very few stop to think how that shiny Boeing 737-800 or Embraer 195 takes them from Cape Town to Johannesburg, because airliners need fuel too, and a lot of it!

On 19th August at 09h00, the MR2 class product tanker UACC SHAMS (IMO 9428360) arrived at the Table Bay anchorage from, of all places, the Durban Anchorage, and went to anchor for just under a day, and on 20th August at 08h00 she entered Cape Town harbour, entered the Duncan Dock and proceeded to the Tanker Basin to begin her parcel discharge.

Her current voyage is slightly unusual in that she departed from Jurong Island, in Singapore, where she had loaded a cargo, which included 16,000 tons of Jet A1 fuel, which is the special fuel for turbine engines, i.e. jet airliners. She then crossed the Indian Ocean and on 11th August at 07h00 she arrived off Durban harbour, and went to anchor. She remained out in the anchorage for five days, and on 16th August at 09h00, she weighed anchor, but instead of entering Durban harbour, she proceeded to make her way directly to Cape Town.

Built in 2009 by SPP Shipbuilding at Sacheon in South Korea, ‘UACC Shams’ is 183 metres in length, which is a standard length for a MR2 class of tanker, and she has a deadweight of 50,138 tons, which falls right in the middle of the 45,000 to 55,000 ton range of the MR2 class. She is powered by a single Doosan MAN-B&W 6S50MC-C 6 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 12,889 bhp (9,480 kW), driving a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 14 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three STX MAN-B&W 6L23/30H generators providing 852 Kw each, and a single Cummins 6CTA-8.3(D)M emergency generator providing 200 kW. She has a single Alfa Laval Aalborg Mission XW exhaust gas boiler, and a single Alfa Laval Aalborg OL oil fired boiler. She has 12 cargo tanks, and a cargo carrying capacity of 52,100 m3. She has six cargo pumps, each capable of pumping at 600 m3/hour, and she can carry seven grades of product at one time in her tanks.

She is owned and operated by United Arab Chemical Carriers Ltd. (UACC) of Dubai, and she is managed by Executive Shipmanagement Pte. Ltd. of Singapore. UACC was previously a fully owned subsidiary company of the United Arab Shipping Company (UASC), but was sold off when UASC was purchased, and then merged into Hapag-Lloyd, in 2017.

UACC was initially purchased by an investment group, which included the Sovereign Wealth Funds of both Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In 2021, UACC was sold off to the United Overseas Group (UOG), of Athens, who have kept the name of UACC, and maintained the UACC headquarters in Dubai, although it is the UOG houseflag that ‘UACC Shams’ now flies on her funnel.

In November 2016, ‘UACC Shams’ was making her way into the Spanish port of Algeciras, when she was in collision with the container vessel ‘Celina Star’ which was sailing from Algeciras. The collision took place out in the anchorage, with both suffering minor hull damage, but there were no injuries and no pollution resulted from the collision.

Both vessels went to anchor, and the Spanish Maritime Authorities fined both vessels €50,000 (ZAR844,861) for breaching Regulations for Prevention of Collision at Sea. Eventually, later that day, the ‘Celina Star ‘ was allowed to continue her voyage to Livorno, in Italy, with ‘UACC Shams’ entering Algeciras harbour, where she was promptly detained.

A Port State Inspection took place in Algeciras, and her detention for two days was based on her International Safety Management (ISM) Code being ‘not as required’, and failures in her Safety of Navigation. Additionally, she had received structural hull damage that was considered to be sufficiently serious as to impair her seaworthiness.

In July 2012, whilst in Portland Port, in the United Kingdom, one of her crew collapsed whilst working on deck. The emergency services were called and the crewman was taken off the vessel in Portland, by a rescue crew from Dorset Fire and Rescue, and handed over to an ambulance crew at Portland Harbour. Sadly, the crewman died in the ambulance whilst being treated by the ambulance paramedics. There were no suspicious circumstances into the death, the UK Coroner was notified, who decided that no inquest would be held.

In October 2011, whilst on passage some 480 nautical miles southeast of the port of Hobyo, off the coast of Somalia, and en-route to Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania, from her loading port in the Gulf, ‘UACC Shams’ was attacked by pirates. A skiff has been noted being launched from a nearby fishing vessel, and headed towards the vessel at speed.

At the time, ‘UACC Shams’ was in position 03°’50 North 056°23’ East. On the approach of the pirates, the crew proceeded into the citadel, and the onboard security team fired shots towards the skiff, which was carrying four pirates, when it had come to within 800 metres of the vessel.

In a sign of how stupid these pirates were, and probably still are, they then fired an RPG7 rocket propelled grenade at ‘UACC Shams’ which missed the target. Had it hit, the potential catastrophic outcome of the explosion can only be guessed at, but it would have completely negated the reason for the pirates attempting to board the vessel in the first place. They then broke off their approach, returning to their mother ship, which lay some 8 nautical miles away.

The loading port of ‘UACC Shams’ on this voyage, Jurong Island, was constructed by the Singapore authorities in 2010, by the reclamation of seven offshore islands, and creating one island with an area of 32 km2 from an original land area available of 10 km2. There are two major oil refineries on the island, one owned by ExxonMobil, and the other by the Singapore refining Company.

The total production capacity output of the refineries is 1.3 million barrels per day. As well as producing the specialised fuel used in Formula 1 racing cars, the Jurong refineries produce petrol, kerosene and Jet fuel.

She has been a regular visitor to South African ports in the last decade, especially to Durban’s Island View terminal, and for those folk out there who are interested in the nomenclature of vessels, ‘Shams’ is the Arabic word for ‘Sun’.

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New gantries bring completion for Port of Abidjan 2nd Container Terminal

The final stage of construction of the second container terminal at the Côte d’Ivoire port of Abidjan, was reached with the arrival last week of the second batch of ship-to-shore (STS) and rubber tyre gantry (RTG) cranes.

On Thursday 18 August 2022, the Côte d’Ivoire terminal received six STS gantries and seven RTG gantries, signalling a decisive step in the planned construction of the second terminal container at the port of Abidjan.

Commissioning of the new terminal is planned for 1 November and the new gantry cranes will now be utilised for operational testing.

The cutting-edge machines, sourced from China, use the latest technology and were manufactured by ZPMC. They include a state-of-the-art control system and a next-generation power supply system that significantly reduces CO2 emissions and energy consumption.

“We are pleased and proud to receive these gantries that we needed to start the last stage of this project,” said Koen de Backker, Managing Director of Côte d’Ivoire Terminal. “We have been able to meet every deadline we set for ourselves and as of today, more than 95% of all construction work is complete.”

According to Hien Yacouba Sié, Managing Director of the Autonomous Port of Abidjan, the arrival of the handling equipment represents a major step in finalising the construction of the 2nd container terminal.

“This ambitious project attests to the Ivoirian government’s ongoing commitment to developing port infrastructures in Côte d’Ivoire and will promote the growth of trade in the subregion,” he said.

Thanks to an overall investment of 262 billion CFA francs (US$398 million), on commissioning the second container terminal at the port of Abidjan will feature fully electric equipment, including 6 STS gantries, 13 RTG gantries, and 36 Gaussin tractors.

The intention is that it will also be one of the next to obtain the Bolloré Ports Green Terminal label from Bureau Veritas 1, which is a guarantee of energy and environmental performance.

“By receiving this equipment, all of the efforts and investments made by Côte d’Ivoire Terminal are paying off, allowing us to accommodate higher volume levels and streamline import and export flows in West Africa,” said Olivier de Noray, Ports and Terminals Managing Director of Bolloré Ports.

“This new infrastructure encompasses all the latest innovations and perfectly showcases our overall expertise as a port operator.”

Côte d’Ivoire Terminal

The Bolloré Ports and APM Terminals consortium was awarded the contract to build and manage the second container terminal at the Port of Abidjan. With an area of 37.5 hectares, this new container terminal will be equipped to handle more than 1.5 million TEU containers per year and will accommodate vessels with draughts of up to 16 metres along its 1,100 metres of quays. It will generate 450 direct jobs, and thousands of indirect jobs and will contribute to skills development and to training for Ivorian young people in port operations and handling next-generation equipment.

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Hapag-Lloyd close to tripling profit for H1

The record-breaking profits enjoyed by container shipping lines continues, with German carrier Hapag-Lloyd declaring a profit of US$9.5 billion for the first half of 2022, a figure that almost triples the previous year.

This has been achieved mainly as a result of a 77 per cent higher freight rate.

This extraordinary profit taking came despite flat container volumes of six million.

Revenue for the period increased 76 per cent to $18.6 billion, EBITDA was reported at $10.9 billion and EBITDA margin at 59 per cent.

“We have benefitted from significantly improved freight rates and look back on an extraordinarily strong business performance on the whole in the first half year. At the same time, a steep rise in all cost categories is putting increased pressure on our unit costs,” said CEO Rolf Habben Jansen.

In a statement issued by Hapag-Lloyd, the company foresees the second half of the year to also exceed previous expectations.

Hapag-Lloyd warned that the forecast remains subject to considerable uncertainty given the war in Ukraine, the ongoing disruptions in the supply chains, and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are currently seeing the first signs in some trade lanes that spot rates are easing in the market,” said Jansen.

“Nevertheless, we are expecting a strong second half of the year. The currently still strained situation in the global supply chains should improve after this year’s peak season. Our customers can continue to rely on us to do everything in our power to transport their goods to their destination as smoothly as possible.

“At the same time, we will continue to focus on our quality and sustainability goals as well as on further implementing our Strategy 2023.”

Too much money!

A leading German logistics provider, Klaus-Michael Kühne, who is the main shareholder of Kuehne + Nagel, added his voice to those expressing disquiet at the excessive profits generated by all the major container lines.

In an interview with a German newspaper, Kühne, whose company is represented in South Africa, said that container carrier Hapag-Lloyd was making far too much money at present.

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Road and parking space upgrade at Port of Mossel Bay

The Port of Mossel Bay has a newly upgraded recreational road and over 130 new single parking spaces between Port Entrance number 1 and the Mossel Bay small boat harbour facilities.

This is a space known as the recreational area where restaurants and other tourist attractions are located. The road surface had reached the end of its design life and it required regular maintenance to repair potholes, especially from heavy traffic during the holiday seasons.

This 200-metre stretch of road was originally constructed as an emergency road for PetroSA to use as an alternative during the holiday peak season. However, it now serves as a catalyst for coastal and marine tourism activities and forms part of one of the main tourist attractions in Mossel Bay and the Garden Route.

“The upgrading of the Recreational Road does not only play an integral part to port city integration, but it is aligned to the short, medium, and long-term port development framework plan in which it has been earmarked for coastal and marine tourism development to boost and support the regional cruise tourism industry,” said Mossel Bay’s Port Manager, Dineo Mazibuko.

“The project aims to provide fit-for-purpose port infrastructure that meets the operational needs of our customers and the Port users.”

The project had interdependency with the Mossel Bay Municipality which upgraded their sewer system capacity by building a pump station in which the project’s sewer upgrade will tie into.

The project scope included an upgraded sewer system, implemented in conjunction with the Mossel Bay local municipality to mitigate capacity constraints and the inability to cope with sewer overflow due to the increased popularity of the area amongst the locals and holiday makers.

This portion of the project is 100% complete and fully operational, the municipality was responsible for the sewer pump sump as well as all the associated mechanical equipment.

The construction phase of the project was executed by Transnet’s internal construction division – TFR, Rail Network Construction (RNC). Fixed term contract employees were sourced locally from Mossel Bay.

“With the local Tourism season fast approaching us, we are confident that this project will serve as a catalyst to resuscitate the local tourism economy, create sustainable jobs, and improve the image of the Port of Mossel Bay tourism related facilities,” said Mazibuko.

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TRADE NEWS: Thordon’s SXL bearings installed on history-making Daleela

Thordon Bearings’ Egyptian distributor and integrated services provider Nefertiti Marine has successfully commissioned the water lubricated Thordon SXL propeller shaft bearings installed aboard the 24,112gt ferry Daleela.

The 1991-built, 400-passenger capacity RoPax, owned by El-Etehad International and chartered to Scandro Holdings, began operations on the revived Piraeus–Limassol route in June 2022 following an extensive refit in the floating dock operated by the Suez Shipyard in Egypt.

Nefertiti Marine supplied a total of 14 Thordon SXL forward, intermediate, and aft bearings machined to fit propeller shaft diameters of 525mm (20.6in) and 530mm (20.8in).

TRADE NEWS: Read the rest of this report in the TRADE NEWS section
CLICK HERE

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Better than a truce as APM Terminals and Monrovia dock workers sign MoU

A long-standing dispute between the Dock Workers Union of Liberia (DOWUL) and APM Terminals Liberia appears to have been settled amicably when both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding over salary-related issues.

APM Terminals in the Port of Monrovia is regarded as the technical arm of Liberia’s National Port Authority, as has been acknowledged by Charles Gibson, Liberia’s Minister of Labour.

Wilson welcomed the MoU which he said is the result of a series of meetings that has resulted in the protection of workers’ rights while also ensuring that APM Terminals will continue to invest in the port facilities.

The minister said the Monrovia port remained the gateway to Liberia’s economy, through which so much of the country’s imports and exports flowed. The agreement was an example of dialogue being the best option to address long-standing disputes between APM Terminals Liberia’s new management and workers.

He suggested other companies and concession holders ought to take note and emulate APM Terminals’ example.

He was optimistic that this new path will promote labour harmony at the Freeport of Monrovia and will allow APM Terminals Liberia to positively impact the growth of the country’s economy.

President of the Dock Workers of Liberia, Jackie Doe, was appreciative of the approach taken by APM Terminals in reaching an agreement with her union. She recommended workers at the Freeport always used the medium of dialogue to resolve differences with management.

Jonathan Graham, managing director of APM Terminals Liberia, said the dialogue had produced a crucial step in promoting a healthy working atmosphere at the port.

“From our management and shareholders’ point of view, we are very happy to close the door on all legacy issues and look forward to working together with DOWUL to serve Liberia in the Freeport.”

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WHARF TALK: multi-purpose general cargo ship BOHWA PIONEER

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

With today’s general cargo shipping world being dominated by giant container vessels, smaller geared container vessels, and heavylift vessels with offset cranes and a large open deck, it is something of a pleasant surprise when a vessel arrives that looks out of place, insofar as it looks like a general cargo vessel of old, complete with a small mix of derricks and cranes.

On 15th August at 22h00 the small multi-purpose, general cargo, vessel BOHWA PIONEER (IMO 9565869) arrived off Cape Town from Abidjan on the Ivory Coast. She entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock and went alongside the Landing Wall. Both her choice of berth, and the fact that her draught indicated that she was not carrying much, if any, cargo, gave a strong indication that a requirement for some shoreside engineering assistance was required.

Built in 2010 by Jong Shyn Shipbuilding of Kaohsiung in Taiwan, ‘Bohwa Pioneer’ is 110 metres in length and has a deadweight of 8,767 tons. She is powered by a single Makita MAN-B&W 5L35MC 5 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 4,419 bhp (3,250 kW), to drive a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 12.5 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three generators providing 688 kW each, and she has a single Tortoise oil fired boiler. She has two holds, with a cargo carrying capacity of 12,696 m3, which are serviced by a single 30 ton derrick, and two 30 ton cranes, which can be utilised for a heavy lift of 60 tons when they are used in tandem. She has no container carrying capacity given.

She is one of two sisterships, and her nominal owners are Xim 2 Shipping Co. Ltd., and she is operated by Amoy Sailing Maritime of Xiamen in China, and managed by China Sailing Maritime Ship Management Ltd., also of Xiamen. She was purchased by her owners in August 2021. China appears to figure a lot in her current voyage, and it is not limited to her Chinese ownership.

Her requirement to seek support in Cape Town was satisfactorily sorted out within a day, and at 23h00 on 16th August, ‘Bohwa Pioneer’ sailed from Cape Town, bound for Ngqura, where she arrived at the Port Elizabeth anchorage on 18th August at 11h00. According to the Transnet movements team, ‘Bohwa Pioneer’ is scheduled to enter Ngqura harbour, at 09h00 on 22nd August, and berth at the Container Terminal. As her given TEU capacity is given as ‘Zero’, it will be interesting to see what she is due to load, or possibly discharge, at the Ngqura CT.

Her voyage to South African waters, and South African ports, began back in June in China, and appears to be linked to project freight associated with the oil and gas industry. As well as a port call at Qingdao in China, ‘Bohwa Pioneer’ also loaded at Masan in South Korea, before heading to Pulau Sebarok in Singapore. Pulau Sebarok is an island, off Singapore, which is an oil storage terminal only, owned and operated by PetroChina, so an unusual place for a multi-purpose general cargo ship to call into.

Her arrival in Africa was first to the new Kipevu Oil Terminal, located at Mombasa in Kenya. Again, this is a strange stop for such a vessel to make. The brand new facility at Kipevu, only opened at the start of 2022. It started development in February 2019, and has been constructed entirely by Chinese companies. The main contractor being China Communications Construction Co (CCCC), with other building works being conducted by a CCCC subsidiary company, the Fourth Harbour Engineering Co, and by the China Road and Bridge Corporation.

The cost of this development is given as US$385 million (ZAR6.54 billion), no doubt financed by a Chinese State owned export bank. It has four tanker berths, and it will be for the import of domestic fuels only, such as petrol, Jet, Diesel and LPG. It replaces the current smaller oil terminal in Mombasa harbour. The new facility will be managed by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), and will service other East African countries such as Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

After her Mombasa port visit ‘Bohwa Pioneer’ rounded the Cape, and she sailed to the Ivory Coast, calling into the Port Bouet Tanker Terminal, another strange place to call for a general cargo vessel, and the third oil and gas industry related facility of her current voyage. From there, she moved across to Banco Bay harbour, which acts as a satellite harbour for Abidjan, before sailing south for Cape Town and Ngqura.

In her 12 year career she has received no less than 42 Port State Inspections, which is an interesting figure, i.e. effectively one inspection every four months. One of these inspections took place in February 2019, at the German port of Nordenham, which is located opposite Bremerhaven, at the mouth of the Weser River, and on the North Sea coast at 53°30 North 008°28’ East.

This particular Port State Inspection resulted in a detention order placed on the ‘Bohwa Pioneer’ that lasted for a full eleven days. The reason for the long detention was because the vessel had 42 findings made against it, and which covered virtually every aspect of the operations of the vessel. Her detention order was based on 18 of these findings being serious enough to prevent her from sailing. Only once the deficiencies had been rectified, to the satisfaction of the German Maritime Authorities at Nordenham, was she allowed to sail.

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NEW BOOKS

Aden Insurgency: The savage war in Yemen 1962-67 by Jonathan Walker and Malayan Emergency: Triumph of the Running Dogs 1948-1960 by Gerry van Tonder, published by Pen & Sword Military at £14.99 each, 332 and 128 pages respectively.

For orders contact www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

These two paperbacks whose latest editions were published in 2021 are part of an impressive list from Pen & Sword which has a strong naval and military leaning and contributes to a better understanding of British and Commonwealth military history.

They provide background to the recent history of two littorals situated respectively in the Red Sea and the Malacca Strait / South China Sea which sees much of the world’s economy on passage.

Disturbance on these shores had the potential to reduce markets and earnings and the military aid to the civil power, the police, kept things in check at great expense in lives, manpower and matériel. Furthermore, in respect of Malaya, by the Commonwealth forces’ efforts the state did not fall to the Communists.

During the early 1960s the Cold War reached its climax. Britain’s dwindling power in the Middle East was under siege from Arab nationalism, the Communist bloc and from American designs in the region. Aden, with its strategic military base and old Protectorate buffer zone, was soon the main battleground.

The 1962 Egyptian-inspired coup in neighbouring North Yemen further tightened the noose. So began a bitter and bloody insurgency war in South Arabia. British regular and special forces were soon pitted against growing and formidable insurgency forces in the mountains and in the backstreets of Aden.

The mid-1950s to early 1960s saw great prosperity in the key bunkering port of Aden. One published example of 1949’s achievements is to be FOUND HERE.

Intelligence agencies vied for control of hearts and minds and the British launched a clandestine war in Yemen to keep their enemies at bay. However, the situation in Aden spiralled out of control, culminating in a bloody slaughter in 1967. In that November, the British Army finally withdrew from South Arabia. A wide range of recently released archive and eye-witness accounts have been studied and incorporated herein, it is reported.

The Cold War, now a generation past, began in 1944 with the Greek Civil War. Battle lines linger on today in conflict zones such as Iraq, Somalia and Ukraine.

With regard to Malaya by the time of the 1942 Japanese occupation of the Malay Peninsula and Singapore, the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) had already been fomenting merdeka or independence.

The Japanese invaders were also the loathsome enemies of the MCP’s ideological brothers in China. An alliance of convenience with the British was the outcome. Britain armed and trained the MCP’s military wing, the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), to essentially wage jungle guerrilla warfare against Japanese occupying forces.

With the cessation of hostilities, anti-Japanese became anti-British, and, using the same weapons and training earlier provided by the British Army during the war, the MCP launched a guerrilla war of insurgency.

Malaya was of significant strategic and economic importance to Britain. In the face of an emerging Communist regime in China, a British presence in SE Asia was imperative. Equally, rubber and tin, largely produced in Malaya by British expatriates, were essential needs for British industry, the local economy with its labour force and, of course, member companies of the Far Eastern Freight Conference.

Typically, the insurgents, dubbed Communist Terrorists, or simply CTs, went about attacking soft targets such as the rubber plantations and tin mines in rural areas. In conjunction with this, was the implementation of Mao’s dictate of subverting the rural, largely peasant, population to the cause.

Twelve years of counter-insurgency operations followed as a wide range of British forces were joined in the conflict by ground, air and sea units from Australia, New Zealand, Southern and Northern Rhodesia, Fiji and Nyasaland.

Reviewed by Paul Ridgway
London Correspondent
Africa Ports & Ships

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Port of Felixstowe affected by 8-day strike

Almost 2,000 workers at the UK’s Port of Felixstowe, the biggest container port in the UK, went out on strike as of Monday 22 August, as warned by the union earlier this month.

See that report HERE

The workers are in dispute with the port management over pay, brought about by Britain’s rising cost of living. Earlier the union members turned down an offer of a below-inflation rate increase.

In July the inflation rate in the UK had reached 10.1% (2% in July 2021) and is forecast to rise even further.

The strike is due to last eight days, according to statements issued by the union, unless a settlement is reached.

Further north, workers at the Port of Liverpool have also voted to strike over pay, though no dates have been set.

The Port of Felixstowe is managed and operated by Hutchison Ports, which responded to workers demands with an offer of a 7% wage increase plus a lump sum of 500 pounds. This was accepted by the 500-strong clerical, engineering and supervisory staff but not the other 1900 union workers.

Some of the major container shipping lines call at Felixstowe and have resorted to making alternate arrangements for the duration of the strike.

Ships to or from South Africa and other African ports are regular callers at Felixstowe.

The port strike comes at a time when train services in the UK have been disrupted over industrial action, said to be the result of inflation that has gone into double figures.

Last Thursday only 20% of trains across the UK were running, according to reports. The stoppages included certain tube train operations in London.

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Average container prices & rates show decline in China

Average container prices have declined by more than half from the last year in August as China picks up containerised trade volumes more recently, according to an analysis published today by Container xChange, a technology marketplace and operating platform for container logistic companies.

The analysis is a part of the monthly container logistics report published by Container xChange titled ‘Where Are All The Containers’.

The decline in average container prices and leasing rates offer good opportunities for shippers and freight forwarding companies to plan cargo as the supply chain braces for the peak season, typically from July to September.

Trade in China was impacted in the first half of the year, but the containerised trade seems to have picked up since July (2022) according to the analysis put together by Container xChange.

“Shippers are once again hoping that the exports will restore in full swing as the industry prepares for the peak season,” said Christian Roeloffs, Co-founder and CEO, Container xChange.

“Amidst this, there are more reasons for shippers to rejoice as the average container prices and one-way leasing rates ex China shows a downward trend at a time when shipping is historically at its peak in the country. The average container prices are more than halved as compared to the last year, in August. Clearly, this brings cheers to the shippers and forwarders hoping to ship cargo containers out of China.”

Shanghai Container Availability index (CAx) indicates that the CAx is 0.58 in week 33 as compared to 0.52 in 2021, 0.32 in 2020 and 2019 (pre-pandemic). This could potentially mean that there are more containers in China with reduced prices, making it easier for shippers and freight forwarders to plan trips from China.

“This is the peak shipping season, and the industry expects heavy outflow of containers from China to fulfil orders from demand centres. This year, we haven’t witnessed two key trends that are a norm during this time in previous years – a rise in leasing rates and container prices in China and a decline in CAx values,” Roeloffs says.

17% decline in one-way leasing pick-up rates of containers from China to the US from June to July.

One-way leasing rates for standard containers, were in the range of $100-$300 before June 2021(see graph above). The rates picked up from July 2021 skyrocketing at $1470 in the month of July 2021 and peaking by September to reach $2792. The leasing rates then started to decline. This year in May, the leasing rates stood at $1277, plummeting to $1095 in June and further to $906 in the month of July.

On the China to Germany stretch, these one-way pick-up rates for leasing containers plummeted from $3394 in January 2022, further to $2428 in April and now to $1995 in the month of July.

China to Canada one-way leasing rates decline at the highest rate at 49 per cent as compared to China to any other country

The data shows a significant drop in the average per unit rates for 40HCs from China to Europe and North American countries. Canada is leading the fall with a 49.4% drop in the leasing rates between June and July. Right behind Canada is the US with a 32.5% drop in the average pick-up or PU (Pick Up) rates. For countries in Europe, the average one-way PU charges from China dropped by 16% in the UK, 13% in Germany, 18.4% in France, and 17.3% in Belgium.

In Qingdao and Shanghai, CAx remained over 0.5, in July, and continued increasing. The continued high CAx scores align with the decreased container rental fees and indicate a comparatively slowed-down movement of boxes at these ports. Ningbo’s CAx scores were lower than 0.5 in July indicating that more containers are leaving the port. And, that there’s probably more demand for export containers than full imports at the port and a likely delays cargo acceptance.

Average Trading prices in China halved year on year in August this year

From around $5500 for a cargo-worthy standard container size in September 2021, and further declining from there to reach $3494 in May 2022, the current average trading price has plummeted to $2679 so far in August 2022. Last year in August, this average trading price was $5470. More than halved from last year same month.

To download the full report CLICK HERE

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Mozambique’s Port of Quelimane is ready for bigger ships

The Port of Quelimane in central Mozambique has been declared ready for international traffic once more.

That’s the word from Empresa Porto e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM) which said the port in Zambezia province is now able to handle ships much bigger ships.

CFM invested around three million (US) dollars to dredge the river port in order for Quelimane to become competitive, with dredging taking the port depths to between four and five metres alongside and within the port and between six and seven metres in the access channel.

Quelimane has a capacity to handle about 650,000 tonnes of goods per year. The port features a quay of 230 metres in length and covers and covers a total area of around 31,000 square metres in open storage and 5,400 square metres of covered space.

Chairman of CFM’s Board of Governors, Miguel José Matabel, said the route to the port from the bar is along a perfectly marked channel to enable navigation 24 hours a day due to the lighting system installed along the route.

He added the strategy behind the dredging was aimed at increasing revenue collection while creating opportunities for the hinterland regions to make use of the port.

“We want shipping agents and other stakeholders to strengthen partnerships with their foreign counterparts on the conditions available to receive general cargo ships, tankers and barges with a capacity of up to 20,000 tons and 150 metres in length,” Matabel said.

The Governor of Zambezia, Pior Maos invited national and international entrepreneurs to use the port and to help revive economic growth while anchoring projects for the Special Economic Zone of Mocuba.

Dredging of the port was undertaken by Emodraga, the state-owned Mozambique’s dredging company.

The Port of Quelimane is managed and operated by CFM – the concession held by Dutch company Cornelder having ended in 2017.

Watch the short video below (Portuguese language) of the upgrading of Quelimane port [2:29]

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WHARF TALK: Neo-Panamax container vessel NILEDUTCH LION

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

In the container era, two  major European shipping companies specialised in the African trades. One was a traditional player, with a long history stretching back to 1885, and the other a relative newcomer with a history going back less than 50 years, and with both having major connections to South Africa.

Sadly, in the last year, both have gone the way of many other famous shipping companies, by being subsumed by one of the major container shipping giants. Although they may now be gone, they are not forgotten, as you can still see their vessels calling in at South African ports, sailing under their original names, at least for the time being.

On 11th August at 08h00 the Neo-Panamax container vessel NILEDUTCH LION (IMO 9337456) arrived at the Table Bay anchorage, from Luanda in Angola. As is pretty much the new normal with the Cape Town Container Terminal (CTCT) nowadays, a spell of a few days in the anchorage is what awaits most arrivals, and so she went to anchor for just over two days. On 13th August she entered Cape Town harbour, entering the Ben Schoeman Dock and going alongside berth 602 at the CTCT.

Built in 2008 by the China Shipbuilding Corporation (CSBC) at Kaohsiung in Taiwan, ‘NileDutch Lion’ is 333 metres in length and has a deadweight of 103,614 tons. She is powered by a single Mitsui MAN-B&W 12K98MC 12 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 93,358 bhp (68,999 kW), driving a fixed pitch propeller for a maximum service speed of 25.6 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes four Nishishiba NTAKL-RCP generators providing 3,000 kW each. She has a Kangrim EM50SE13A3 exhaust gas boiler, and a Kangrim MA0804R20 oil fired boiler. For additional manoeuvrability in port she has a bow transverse thruster providing 3,000 kW. She has nine holds, with a container carrying capacity of 8,626 TEU, and the provision of 700 reefer plugs.

One of ten sisterships, all originally built for Yang Ming Line, of Keelung, in Taiwan, as ‘YM Utopia’, she was sold in January 2020, being renamed ‘NileDutch Lion’. Her provenance is still very much visible, with her previous owners name easily seen on her hull, despite an attempt to paint it out over two year ago.

On her sale from Yang Ming Line, her new owners placed her on a 24 month charter with NileDutch Africa Lines BV, of Rotterdam, on a charter rate of US$28,000 (ZAR476,459) per day, to February 2022, and with an extension of three months thereafter. She was placed onto NileDutch Lines FA1 service linking the Far East with West Africa.

In March 2021, Hapag-Lloyd AG, of Hamburg, announced their intention to acquire the shareholding of NileDutch Africa Lines BV. By July 2021 the takeover had been completed, and in October 2021 Hapag-Lloyd had completed the integration of the two companies, when all NileDutch services were dropped, becoming Hapag-Lloyd services, and the original NileDutch FA1 service becoming the Hapag-Lloyd Asia West Africa (AWA) service, with ‘NileDutch Lion’ continuing to operate the route.

Owned by Danaos Shipping Co. Ltd., of Athens, ‘NileDutch Lion’ is operated by Hapag-Lloyd AG, of Hamburg, and she is managed by Danaos Shipping Co. Ltd.

The port rotation of the AWA service is Qingdao- Shanghai- Zhoushan- Nansha- Tanjung Pelepas- Singapore- Cape Town- Walvis Bay- Pointe Noire- Luanda- Cape Town- Singapore- Qingdao. It is also known as the AWA service by CMA-CGN, and as the West Africa 4 (WAF4) service by OOCL. The complete sailing rotation of the service is 84 days, and it is one of the few container services that does not call in at any other South African port, other than Cape Town.

On completion of her loading for the Far East, ‘NileDutch Lion’ sailed from Cape Town harbour at 10h00 on 16th August, bound for Singapore, as per the AWA schedule.

For those wondering what the identity was of the second European shipping company that was taken over by Hapag-Lloyd in June 2022, to enable them to increase their African market penetration, it is the famous Deutsche Afrika Linien, also of Hamburg, whose origins go back to 1885, and who currently operate on the SAECS service to Northwest Europe.

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UN Sec-General Europe trip with visit to vessels of hope

Completing his trip to Europe on 20 August UN S-G António Guterres oversaw the departure of two ships involved in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a UN-brokered operation to bring urgently needed hunger relief to the Horn of Africa.

Mr Guterres flew into Istanbul on the morning of 20 August from Chisinau, Moldova – where he hosted for a working dinner with President Maia Sandu the previous evening – and boarded a pilot boat in the Sea of Marmara, where he sailed next to the mv Brave Commander, the World Food Programme (WFP) ship which picked up more than 23,000 tonnes of wheat in the port of Yuzhny / Pivdennyi, before making her way to deliver the precious cargo to the Horn of Africa, to help people on the verge of famine.

The Secretary-General, along with a group of inspectors from the Black Sea Grain Initiative UN Joint Coordination Centre for the Initiative (JCC), also boarded the vessel SSI Invincible II. The ship was on its way to Chornomorsk in Ukraine to load close to 50,000 tonnes of grain – the largest shipment to leave Ukraine since the start of the war.

Joined by the Turkish Minister of Defence, Hulusi Akar, the Secretary-General toured the Joint Coordination Center. He met the Russian and Ukrainian delegations to the JCC separately, and then for an official session of the JCC, where he thanked all the participants for their professionalism and humanity in ensuring that this initiative is a success for people around the world.

Pivotal role of Türkiye

In a press conference with Minister Akar, the Secretary-General thanked the government of Türkiye for their pivotal role in the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

The collaborative work of the teams sitting around the table at the JCC embodies what we can achieve with political will, top operational expertise, and collective effort, Mr. Guterres told journalists.

He described the ships that he had just seen in the Marmara Sea and Istanbul as only the more visible part of the solution. The other part of this package deal, he said, is the unimpeded access to the global markets of Russian food and fertiliser, which are not subject to sanctions.

The UN SG remarked: “Without fertiliser in 2022, there may not be enough food in 2023. Getting more food and fertiliser out of Ukraine and Russia is critical to further calm commodity markets and lower prices for consumers.”

The Secretary-General’s trip began on 17 August, when he arrived in Lviv, Ukraine, having travelled from New York via Warsaw.

Prior to a trilateral meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and President of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Türkiye, the Secretary-General briefly visited the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. He was greeted, and given a tour, by Volodymyr Melnyk, the rector of the university, which is considered a centre for the study of human rights.

Mr Melnyk explained the important contributions to the world’s science, international law and diplomacy made by the university and its scholars. One of the graduates of the School of International Law, Louis Son, is co-author of the UN Charter and Raphael Lemkin, another graduate, coined the term genocide.

Students from this University were later judges in the International Criminal Court or nominated for Nobel Prizes, including Jan Karski, the famous Polish diplomat who alerted the world to the on-going holocaust during the Second World War.

At the time of writing the UN chief was on his way back to New York.

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

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Transnet calls for supply of desalinated water at SA ports

Transnet on Friday issued a Request for Information (RFI) for the supply of desalination water for its eight commercial seaports.

This is in response to the water crisis affecting some of the port cities, with Cape Town in recent years and Port Elizabeth now the worst affected.

According to the announcement, the RFI is intended to gauge market appetite to design, develop, finance, operate, maintain and transfer water desalination plants at the ports of Cape Town, Durban, East London, Mossel Bay, Ngqura, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay and Saldanha.

“With the increase in water scarcity and climate uncertainty, there is a need for TNPA to improve water resilience. A sustainable water source will ensure all our commercial seaports have alternative water options for both operations and emergency purposes.” said Mishka Prinsloo, TNPA Project Manager.

TNPA ports consume approximately six million Kilolitres (KL) of municipal water per year, with an average of almost 500,000 KL a month. This is mainly due to TNPA clients utilising a significant amount of water for operational reasons.

The RFI will assist TNPA to gather information on the available technologies and timelines to deliver desalination projects at its ports.

The RFI documents can be accessed from the National Treasury’s e-tender publication portal or from the Transnet website

The RFI Responses must be submitted to TNPA by no later than 12h00 on 7 October 2022.

Requests and queries for clarification of this RFI can be emailed to desalinationrfi@transnet.net

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First LNG cargo about to be loaded from Coral Sul as LNG tanker arrives

The first liquefied natural gas (LNG) will start loading from the floating gas terminal off the northern coast of Mozambique in a matter of days, with the expected arrival of a LNG tanker coming alongside the giant FLNG CORAL SUL.

The tanker is the 94,500-dwt BRITISH VENDOR (IMO 8766578) which is expected to arrive in Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin later this week, Wednesday or Thursday (curiously, the AIS shows the tanker arriving in the port of Pemba on 10 September).

The BP-operated British Vendor will be arriving from the LNG port of Escobar in Argentina, from where she departed on 7 August 2022.

On Sunday 21 August British Vendor was passing Durban some distance offshore, heading north toward the Mozambique coast.

Her arrival will mark a highly significant day not only for Eni and its partners* in this venture, but especially for Mozambique itself as the first LNG is taken aboard a tanker from what is believed to be the world’s largest-known LNG reserves.

This is a mere eight years since the Eni-led consortium drilled the last offshore test well.

In 2018 construction began on the first floating LNG plant, to be named CORAL SUL, which went into construction in South Korea and was completed and delivered to site in 2021. Coral Sul is 432 metres in length and 66 metres wide and weighs around 220,000 tonnes.

The giant vessel cost around US$7 billion to build and is capable of liquefying 3.37 million tonnes of gas a year. In view of the energy crisis in Europe, Eni has since indicated an intention of acquiring a second FLNG for the Rovuma Basin site. This, Eni says, can be brought into service within four years.

Its entire production of LNG through Coral Sul for the next 20 years has been sold in advance to BP.

* The shareholders in the Eni-led venture are Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV), a joint 70% share held by Eni, ExxonMobil and CNODC, and 10% each held by State-owned Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH), Galp Energia Rovuma and KOGAS Mozambique, who are, no doubt, congratulating themselves for choosing the offshore FLNG route instead of a liquefying plant onshore.

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IN CONVERSATION: Ghana has developed a maritime policy. Here is what it means

Ghana’s maritime space is key to its economy.  Wikimedia Commons

George Kobina vanDyck, Regional Maritime University and Francois Vreÿ, Stellenbosch University

Ghana has an abundance of marine resources. They include fisheries, hydrocarbon reserves, inland waterways and ports that are located along important international shipping lanes. These present the country with a wide range of opportunities for ensuring food security, bridging income inequalities, attracting foreign direct investment, increasing domestic productivity, and enhancing trading conditions.

This underscores the imperative to harness and safeguard them wisely.

About 7.5 million people in Ghana live in coastal areas and double that number live about 50km away from the coast. Like many other coastal African countries, Ghana significantly relies on its blue economy for income, employment and food. The oil and gas sector has generated over $4 billion.) in revenue since commercial operations began in 2010. And about 10% of Ghana’s workforce is employed in the fishing sector, which also accounts for 4.5% of the country’s GDP.

In addition, 70% of Ghana’s trade is carried by sea through its ports in Tema and Takoradi. The Port of Tema is the largest container port in West Africa and Ghana.

But Ghana’s coastal areas also faces significant challenges in the form of what are referred to as “blue crimes”. These include ocean dumping, piracy, stowing away, drug and human trafficking, smuggling of arms, blue cyber threats and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Piracy has taken the centre-stage in Ghana and other Gulf of Guinea countries. But the other crimes also have a significant impact on the trade, government revenue and the potential developments that can accrue from the blue economy.

Certainly, Ghana cannot afford the consequences of ignoring its maritime domain. That’s why it’s developed a comprehensive National Integrated Maritime Strategy .

In a recently published paper we analyse the strategy. One thing is certainly clear: it is destined for failure without adequate political will from the highest echelons of government and without the necessary resources (financial, human resource, equipment and technology) to support strategies and actions plans.

A policy is born

The vision of the strategy is to ensure that by 2040, Ghana’s maritime space will be safe and secure with a thriving blue economy that benefits every Ghanaian. It presents an integrated approach towards achieving this vision.

The document outlines six strategic objectives that focus on safety, security, marine environmental protection, blue economy development, capacity building and cooperation. It also provides a framework for implementation and sustainability. This includes calls for the allocation of resources funded from the national budget.

The origins of the strategy can be traced to the work of the Security Governance Initiative. This is an international security initiative signed in 2016 between the US and five partner African countries. They are Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Tunisia. Its objective is to facilitate the development of expertise on national security issues to assist with key reforms in some sectors.

There was an initial focus on maritime security threats and transnational blue crimes spanning maritime, border and cyber. However, this changed after the settlement of Ghana’s maritime border dispute with Cote d’Ivoire by the International Tribunal of the law of the Sea in 2017. The settlement allowed Ghana to retain ownership of its lucrative offshore oil fields.

With Ghana’s maritime space now exceeding its landscape, there was a need to replace the existing policy with a more expansive framework. Thus the National Integrated Maritime Strategy was born.

Two drivers

The initial drivers of the strategy were both maritime security and blue economy development. Yet at the implementation workshop, some stakeholders were of the view that it seemed to be a maritime security strategy that attempted to integrate other sectors of the blue economy.

When the initial draft was being reviewed by stakeholders, this resulted in heated debates by breakout teams about prioritisation of activities. At the heart of this is the extent to which development-related stakeholders were initially involved. Stakeholder representation is crucial, particularly when there is unavailability or little use of national maritime data.

In Ghana, some stakeholders also argue that the driver for the maritime strategy must be economic in nature and not security focused. This is because safety and security play a cross-sectional role in the marine space. They further argue that economic issues including oil and gas activities, fishing, tourism, port expansion, coastal erosion and flooding due to climate change directly affect livelihoods. Therefore, the stakeholders assert that development should have been the focus and driver of the strategy from the onset. Security strategies could then be developed from threat assessments linked to the economic issues.

Important new tool

Ghana is a relatively young maritime nation. Traditionally, the ocean has been used for fishing but there is now increased multiple use of the marine space. Hence the integrated strategy is crucial to the development, safety and security of the blue economy.

In the regional context, it is an essential linchpin for the Yaounde Code of Conduct Architecture. This was signed in 2013 by 25 countries in the West and Central African region with the aim of assisting the regions in addressing an array of maritime crimes affecting the region.

The progress of Ghana with this policy will be a learning platform for other African countries. For example, South Africa is in the process of addressing its own maritime security interests. Of particular importance is how the process Ghana followed serves as a catalyst to advance and direct the South African endeavour.

As both the process, as well as the eventual strategy each holds its own intrinsic values for success, it is the consultative process Ghana followed and situating the integrated strategy at high political office that serve as good guidance for South Africa.

George Kobina vanDyck, Dean of Maritime Studies, Regional Maritime University and Francois Vreÿ, Research Coordinator, Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa, Stellenbosch University

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

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ITF Inspectors recover seafarers’ unpaid wages

Last year, union ship inspectors recovered more than US$37 million in unpaid wages owed to seafarers, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) revealed in figures published on 19 August.

The ITF’s 125 inspectors and coordinators completed 7,265 inspections in 2021 to support thousands of seafarers with wage claims and repatriation cases, despite Covid-19 restrictions preventing inspectors’ ability to board ships for much of the year.

ITF Inspectors get their name because they board and inspect ships. They educate seafarers about their rights and support crew to enforce these rights. The officials cover more than 100 ports across 50 countries.

Inspectors are trained to look for exploitation, overwork – even for signs of forced labour and modern slavery. On many vessels, Inspectors have the right to examine wage accounts, employment contracts, and to review recorded hours of work and rest.

In the words of Steve Trowsdale, the ITF’s Inspectorate Coordinator: “It is not uncommon for crew to be paid at the wrong rate by a ship owner, or less than the rate set out in the employment agreement covering the ship.

“Crew can generally work out when they are being underpaid. And that is when they contact us. ITF inspectors help seafarers recover what is owed to them.”

Altogether, the ITF clawed back US$37,591,331 in unpaid wages and entitlements from ship owners in 2021.

Trowsdale added that the makeup of seafarers’ wage claims was changing: “Concerningly, we are seeing a rise in the number of seafarers reporting non-payment of wages for periods of two months or longer, which actually meets the ILO’s definition of abandonment.

“Seafarers might think it is normal to go unpaid for a couple of months, waiting for a ship owner to sort out financing, but they need to be aware that non-payment can also be a sign that a ship owner is about to cut them loose and leave them abandoned.”

The ITF reported 85 cases of abandonment to the International Labour Organization (ILO) last year, an historic high. In many of those cases, abandoned crew had already been waiting on several weeks’ or months’ unpaid wages – including those aboard the storm-hit mv Lidia.

ITF inspector based in Hong Kong, Jason Lam, helped eight Burmese seafarers who were crewing the Lidia recover almost US$30,000 in unpaid wages after their vessel ran aground in October 2021, after a typhoon had left them close to shipwrecked. The ship owner refused to pay the two months’ wages he owed them, abandoning them and ruling out any assistance to get them home.

Weeks of campaigning by Lam on behalf of the seafarers had an impact, and on 2 November 2021, the crew flew home – full wages in hand.

Amidst crew change crisis, ITF inspectors got thousands of seafarers home

Trowsdale said Inspectors did not let Covid-19 barriers stop them from supporting seafarers in need, instead adapting and finding new ways of working.

He commented: “I am extremely proud of the work of our inspectors have done to support seafarers in the last year, often working in the face of incredibly difficult circumstances.

“It has always been incredibly important for our team to be able to physically get to seafarers – to board ships and educate crew on their rights. So, when Covid-19 restrictions presented a challenge to inspectors to board vessels, there was a real question: What will happen to the seafarers who need us?”

As the crew change crisis worsened in early 2021, a flood of requests filled the ITF’s inboxes from crew desperate to sign off and get home. Covid-related border restrictions were the underlying reason for the crew change crisis, which impacted an estimated 400,000 seafarers at the worst point of the crisis. On some ships, other more sinister factors were at play in keeping crew from their families.

Trowsdale concluded by saying: “There is evidence that some shipowners were using Covid-19 as an excuse to keep seafarers working beyond their initial contracts and in complete violation of those seafarers’ human and labour rights.

“Thankfully, our team was wise to what was going on and despite everything we got thousands of seafarers home.”

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

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