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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

Week commencing 17 January 2023.  Click on headline to go direct to story : use the BACK key to return 

FIRST VIEW:  MAERSK CABO VERDE

• Wharf Talk: Cruising the East Coast – Azamara Journey
• Xeneta Container Rates Update: Week 3
• Morocco’s Port of Nador rises in the shadow of Tanger Med
• IN CONVERSATION: It’s snow joke — Russia’s noisy Antarctic seismic ship is coming to Cape Town
• WHARF TALK: SA Port Statistics for December 2022
• Wharf Talk: The annexation of Marion and Prince Edward Islands – 4th January 1948
• IMO in Yemen: Support to develop a legal framework – Enhancing maritime security
• Cape Corridor’s East London mainline has shutdown for annual maintenance
• The Russians (and Chinese) are coming! Joint naval exercise Mosi
• IN CONVERSATION: Kenya and South Africa are working to address trade barriers: where to start
• Two fuel theft suspects found dead in Johannesburg
• Transnet financial results for the first six months of year 2022/23
• WHARF TALK: LR1 tanker & story of a hero – ELAN VITAL
• Cape Town delays and bad weather in Bay of Biscay impacts on SAECS scheduling
• PIL inaugurates its first block train in Africa
• World Bank: Sharp, long-lasting slowdown to hit developing countries
• Drill for oil, and keep on drilling, Africa urged
• WHARF TALK: Norwegian Sail Training Ship – STATSRAAD LEHMKUHL
• Cape St Lucia Lighthouse vandalism latest – buildings set on fire
• Ghana’s Takoradi port to be managed & operated by Turkey’s Yilport Holding
• Transnet & Liebherr reach agreement over questionable payment to third party
• Xeneta Container Freight Rates Update: Week 2
• Global piracy incidents: Lowest levels in decades – Sustained efforts needed
• Port of Cape Town’s interim truck staging plan a fiasco
• Kalmar to supply Port of Maputo with new terminal tractors and forklift trucks
• Two new pilot boats delivered by Med Marine to Port of Misurata (Libya)
• Updates and revisions to several MSC Africa services

• EARLIER NEWS CAN BE FOUND UNDER NEWS CATEGORIES…….

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FIRST VIEW:  MAERSK CABO VERDE

Maersk Line’s container ship MAERSK CABO VERDE (IMO 9525635) heads out from Durban after working her cargo at the Durban Container Terminal earlier in January, and becomes the first our ‘Front Page’ ships for this year. The vessel arrived in port on 6 January and sailed the next after after 24 hours in port. Earlier she arrived from Cape Town and Lagos, and on departure from Durban her next port of call is Jebel Ali where she is due on the 22nd of this month.

The Hong Kong-flagged Maersk Cabo Verde, which was built in 2012 at the Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries shipyard in Samho, South Korea, has a length of 249 metres, a width of 37m and a deadweight of 61,643 tons. Her container capacity is 4,496 TEU.

The picture is by Trevor Jones

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Wharf Talk: Cruising the East Coast – Azamara Journey

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

Notwithstanding the Covid-19 lockdown era, up until this year, it has only been the two resident MSC Cruise liners that have been seen on a regular basis along the South African coast. Any other visiting passenger liner was generally making a one off stopover, usually at Cape Town or Durban, whilst moving from A to B, with South Africa merely being an intermediate stop to elsewhere.

This year, post Covid, and that all changed. The two MSC regulars are still doing the business along the coast, but a raft of other passenger liners have joined the fray. We are not talking about small expeditionary passenger vessels passing through at the end of the Antarctic cruise season, but we are talking big, and I mean big, passenger liners using Cape Town as a seasonal cruise base, and remaining on the South African coast for three months, and more. It has been a passenger ship spotters dream time.

On 13th January, the passenger liner AZAMARA JOURNEY (IMO 9200940) arrived in Cape Town, at the end of her second South Africa coastal cruise. As nearly all passenger liners do, she had priority arrival and went directly into the Duncan Dock, but she did not go alongside the Passenger Cruise Terminal at E Berth, as expected, but rather she was placed alongside D Berth.

Originally arriving at Cape Town in early December 2022, to embark on a full three month long season of conducting half a dozen cruises between Cape Town and Maputo, and back again, ‘Azamara Journey’ will always follow the same coastal cruise itinerary on each cruise. Her last departure from Cape Town, on this current season, is scheduled only in early March, so she is here for a while yet, allowing plenty of opportunity for the casual ship spotter to capture her.

Built in 2000 by Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard at St.Nazaire in France, ‘Azamara Journey’ is 181 metres in length and has a gross registered tonnage of 30,277 tons. She is diesel electric powered, and has four Wärtsilä Vasa 12V32LN 12 cylinder 4 stroke generators, each producing 6,240 bhp (4,650 kW). Whilst two are used for production of onboard domestic power requirements, the other two provide power to two GEC Alstom electric motors, which produce 6,750 kW each, to drive two fixed pitch propellers for a service speed of 18.5 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes a single Cummins 12V92T emergency generator providing 400 kW. She has no less than four Alfa Laval Aalborg Unex G-226 exhaust gas boilers, and two Alfa Laval Aalborg Unex CHB-8000 oil fired boilers. For added manoeuvrability she has two Brunvoll FU-63-LTC transverse bow thrusters providing 1,750 kW each.

Built at a cost of US$150 million (ZAR2.57 billion), ‘Azamara Journey’ is one of eight sisterships built for the now defunct Renaissance Cruises. All were originally given the uninspiring, sequentially numbered, simple names of ‘R One’ through to ‘R Eight’, with ‘Azamara Journey’ being ‘R Six’. On the collapse of Renaissance cruises as a result, mainly, of the 9-11 atrocity, four of the class went to Azamara Club Cruises, and the other four went to Oceania Cruises. Interestingly, two of the Oceania sisters will also be making appearances on the South African coast this season.

She has 355 cabins, capable of carrying 694 passengers, and looked after by a crew of 408. She has 11 decks, of which 9 of them are for passenger use. Her passenger facilities include three restaurants, four cafés, three bars, four lounges, an internet centre, a theatre, a beauty salon, spa, gymnasium, and a range of shops, plus of course, two pools and four jacuzzis.

She is nominally owned by Sycamore Partners, who are a private equity group based in New York, but her beneficial owners are Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., of Miami in Florida, with their subsidiary company, Azamara Club Cruises, also of Miami, operating the vessel. She is managed by V Ships Leisure of London.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, Azamara Club Cruises laid up all four of their vessels, with three of them being laid up in the King George V Dock, in Glasgow. It was a lengthy layup period for all three of the vessels, with ‘Azamara Journey’ being the last to return to service. She had been in her period of layup from June 2020 until August 2021, a full 15 months.

On 16th January, she was ready to sail on her third, 11 day, 12 night, cruise along the South African coast. Her unchanging itinerary would be Cape Town- Port Elizabeth- East London- Maputo- Richards Bay- Durban- Cape Town, with a return to Cape Town being scheduled for 25th January. She called at Port Elizabeth on the 17th January, East London on 18th January, will call at Maputo on 20th January, then Richards Bay on 21st January, Durban on 22nd January, and then back to Cape Town, as stated, for the 25th January.

Conducting a further three coastal cruises, ‘Azamara Journey’ will next sail from Cape Town on 27th January, returning on 6th February, followed by a departure on 8th February and returning on 18th February, before her last round trip coastal cruise departs Cape Town on 20th February and terminates on 2nd March. This will end her full summer season on the South Africa coast.

On 4th March, ‘Azamara Journey’ will sail back to Europe, ready for the European Summer season, and will call in at Walvis Bay (6th March)- Luanda (10th March)- Takoradi (14th March)- Abidjan (15th March)- Banjul (18th March)- Las Palmas (21st March)- Tenerife (22nd March)- Funchal (23rd March- Lisbon (25th March) where the cruise will terminate.

On 21st October 2022, ‘Azamara Journey’ was involved in an incident at the Greek island of Patmos, which lies in the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Turkey. A small mooring launch, which was assisting her during mooring operations, was dragged over, and sank. The tug only carried a crew of two, one of which managed to jump overboard and was picked up by another vessel. Sadly, the skipper was unable to abandon the ship in time, and lost his life.

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Added 20 January 2023

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Xeneta Container Rates Update: Week 3

 

Transatlantic trouble as extra capacity undermines freight rates

2023 has marked a change in fortunes for ocean freight rates from North Europe to the US East Coast, with both spot and long-term contracted prices falling by around 10% since the start of the year.

According to the latest data from Oslo’s Xeneta, long-term rates are now under USD 6 000 per FEU, while spot rates are below USD 6 500 per FEU for the first time since December 2021. Prior to the New Year this trade had withstood market forces with only “soft” rates declines, compared to the dramatic falls seen on other key ocean corridors since last summer.

Peter Sand, Chief Analyst at Xeneta, says the reasons behind the current decline are more complex than many may imagine.

A victim of its own success?

“We are all aware of the macroeconomic forces impacting global consumer demand and international freight volumes,” he states.

“That, and the easing congestion at ports, is pushing rates down across the board as carriers suddenly compete for business which, this time last year, was flooding through their doors. However, there’s additional forces at play when it comes to this US East Coast fronthaul.

“In short, it’s a very commercially attractive route right now. When you take freight rates and average transit times into account it offers far greater revenue and thus profitability for the carriers than competing corridors. So, with the increase in blanked sailings from the Far East, and general easing of congestion, carriers have moved available capacity to this trade to take advantage. That, as we can see, is now undermining the high rates that attracted the vessels in the first place.”

Follow the money

Sand points out that the North Europe to US East Coast trade continued to deliver exceptional profitability for carriers through to the end of last year. At a time when rates were nosediving elsewhere.

He explains: “In Q4 the average transit time here was just over 20 days, delivering an average revenue per TEU per day of USD 360 per FEU for carriers. In contrast, the revenue per TEU per day from the Far East to the US West Coast was only USD 160 per FEU. So, if you have available capacity where would you look to deploy it? It’s a no-brainer: You follow the money.”

Falling from on high

Despite the downward pressure on rates, Sand says the market needs to keep a broader sense of perspective. He notes:

“We shouldn’t lose sight of how historically strong prices are at present. If we look back to January 2021 rates for both spot and long-term agreements for the trans-Atlantic fronthaul averaged around USD 2 000 per FEU, roughly a third of today’s prices. That demonstrates just how high this trade has been flying… but also how much room there is for further falls.”

Interestingly, Xeneta’s data also illustrates that this trade is one of very few where spot prices are still above long-term rates. An important distinction for shippers that, on competing trades, may be tendering for long-term contracts at or around today’s spot rates.

“That’s not a strategy to utilise here,” Sand concludes, “as you’ll most likely end up paying over the odds in the long-term.”

For more details please visit www.xeneta.com

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Added 20 January 2023

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Morocco’s Port of Nador rises n the shadow of Tanger Med

Inspired and motivated by the success of the Tanger Med port project, which has seen Morocco’s Mediterranean port container terminal and other terminal facilities move into the top position across Africa, Morocco has announced the future development of the Port of Nador.

Based along one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, the public limited liability company ‘Nador West Med’ (NWM) has been created for the construction, development, planning, promotion and management of this industrial port and free trade zone.

The NWM project will be built along Betoya Bay, which is located on the western side of the ‘Cap des Trois Fourches’ peninsula, about 30 km as the crow flies from Nador city centre.

The new port will be close to the main East-West shipping routes for containerisation and transport of oil and gas products throughout the Mediterranean region.

The port complex consists of a medium- and long-term development potential allowing operators and potential shipowners to develop specialist visions and perspectives, including with the development of infrastructures and flexibility in planning possible future expansions.

The new port complex will also provide the ability to adapt to changes in the maritime transport sector and industry.

The deep-water port will have capacity for the development of an energy pool (handling, packaging, storage of hydrocarbons and derivatives), container trans-shipment and bulk product processing.

There will be an integrated platform/free trade zone, open to approved investors and designed to accommodate the globally active companies and supported by the port.

First port module

NWM has awarded the contract for the design and construction of the first port module to the Consortium of STFA (Turkey) – SGTM (Morocco) and Jan De Nul.

The first module includes a main embankment/breakwater over a length of approximately 4,300 metres (consisting of 148 caissons over approx. 3,000 m and 1,300 m of rock embankment with concrete acropods), and a secondary breakwater/dike of about 1,200 m (also rock & acropods).

The module allows for:

* two container terminals (concrete deck on piles) with quay lengths of 1,520 m (TC1) and 600 m (TC2); expandability by an additional 600 m), at a depth of -18 m and an adjacent container yard/platform over an area of 76 ha.

* a petroleum terminal with three tanker-berths at a depth of -20 m;

* a bulk terminal with a 360 m quay and a depth of -20m

* a diverse terminal (-11 m depth) with a ro-ro berth and a service quay

Jan de Nul’s dredger Vasco da Gama has been active in carrying out much of the dredging works, with 25 million cubic metres already dredged, accounting for 88% of the total dredging scope.

The manoeuvring zone widening the access channel to the port has also been deepened to level -22 m by the Vasco da Gama and largely levelled by Jan de Nul’s multicat DN46 with a sweep-beam in order to reach the extremely strict contractual tolerances.

Other dredging vessels involved with the giant project are the CSDs Zheng He and Ibn Battuta and the hoppers Pinta and Francesco di Giorgio. Split barges L’Aigle, L’Etoile, Boussole and Le Guerrier were brought in to start dumping the non-reusable soil material offshore.

The hopper Francesco di Giorgio took on trench dredging for the secondary breakwater in 2019, while the hopper Pinta entered the hopper stage in 2020 and 2021 to dredge the Eastern Cavalier and a first section of the trench for the Eastern Container Terminal to depth, together amounting to approx. 2 million m³.

According to Jan de Nul all that is now required of them is to carry out the final round of finishing and clearing. The final completion date of this port contract is scheduled for the end of June 2024.

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Added 20 January 2023

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IN CONVERSATION:   It’s snow joke — Russia’s noisy Antarctic seismic ship is coming to Cape Town

by Tiara Walters, Daily Maverick

Equipped with deafening airguns designed to scour Antarctica’s climate-threatened Southern Ocean for oil and gas, Russia’s flagship polar seismic vessel is set to dock in the port of Cape Town on January 26, according to ship tracker Marine Traffic.  

Owned by the Kremlin’s mineral explorer, Rosgeo, the blue and white-hulled Akademik Alexander Karpinsky left her St Petersburg home port on Christmas Day. She now follows in the wake of the US-sanctioned Lady R — the Russian cargo vessel that docked at South Africa’s Simon’s Town naval base in December, controversially in the dead of night to offload potential ammunition.

As recorded in the information exchange database of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), the 55-nation framework that governs the great, icy south through laws such as a well-known mining ban, the Karpinsky was due to visit the Davis and Mawson seas off the Indian Ocean for “marine geological-geophysical studies” in the early 2023 summer.

But it is the December-issued annual report of Rosgeo’s Arctic and Antarctic subsidiary, the Polar Marine Geosurvey Expedition, that appears to betray the mineral explorer’s remarkably brazen intentions. The Rosgeo subsidiary describes itself as a “strategic enterprise that conducts annual research aiming to implement the geopolitical interests of Russia”. It also engages in the “search and exploration of deposits of solid minerals” in waters beyond Antarctica; and “geological and geophysical studies of the subsoils of Antarctica and adjacent seas”.  

The new report, published in Russian, goes on to note the subsidiary’s research goals are “decreed” by the Kremlin and include “the creation of an information base for the assessment and scientific forecast of the mineral raw-material potential of the Antarctic”.  

Last year, the subsidiary’s oil and gas investigations were led aboard the Professor Logachev, the Karpinsky’s Antarctic sister vessel, in the Weddell Sea off South America — the same ocean where Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance ship was tracked down by South Africa’s polar research vessel, the SA Agulhas. 

“Scientific work was successfully carried out on the geological and geophysical study and assessment of the mineral raw-material potential of the subsoil of the northwestern part of the Weddell Sea,” the report concedes. The report’s definition of success is not easy to grasp — the Logachev had run aground on the Antarctic side of the Drake Passage during these very operations. 

After being refloated by the Argentine navy in early February 2022, and undergoing a hull inspection in the Antarctic gateway of Ushuaia, the dogged Logachev simply trundled back across the fierce Drake — without “significant” damage to the hull — for more of the same work.

Russia has not stopped looking for Antarctic oil and gas via Cape Town

Indeed, an exhaustive series of recent Our Burning Planet investigations shows the Karpinsky and her airguns have fired shots throughout Antarctica’s warming Southern Ocean for hydrocarbons, the building blocks for oil and gas, throughout several decades. These activities have forged ahead via Cape Town port ever since Antarctica’s mining ban became law in 1998 — which Antarctic governance experts argue allows scientific research, but not any stages of prospecting linked to commercial intent.

And the early stages of commercially weighted prospecting appear to be exactly what the Kremlin has pursued, steadily building unchallenged, detailed hydrocarbon inventories throughout the lifespan of a testable mining ban. 

According to a litany of Kremlin sources, also revealed by Our Burning Planet, there are 500 billion barrels of oil and gas simmering below the Southern Ocean — a 20 million sq km aquatic wilderness that serves as an ark for a rich diversity of uniquely adapted species. None of these Kremlin sources notes how much of Antarctica’s possible supermassive oilfields may be recoverable against the region’s fiendishly stormy conditions — nonetheless, 500 billion barrels represent a civilisation-ending largesse equal to about 15 years of global oil consumption.

And, armed with guns that can blast air kilometres into the seabed to create oil and gas maps, the Karpinsky has docked in the shadows of Table Mountain since 1998, ultimately to churn out the lion’s share of seismic surveys in the Southern Ocean.

Of more than 360,000km in surveys led by other ATS member states for a range of Antarctic research, such as monitoring volcanoes and gathering climate data, Russian airguns have blasted noise across more than 100,000km of sensitive Southern Ocean seabed every 10 seconds.

Much in the way Japan has portrayed its suspended Antarctic whale hunts as research, Rosgeo has repeatedly told Our Burning Planet its vast fossil fuels inventory is legal science permissible under the ATS.

The Kremlin’s oil and gas prospects are lately constrained by war sanctions, as well as the global shift to cleaner energies. But when we asked Russian geoscientist German Leitchenkov if sanctions changed Antarctic exposure to the possibilities of mining, he said: “I will not foresee any changed circumstances for the potential of Antarctic mining in the longer-term future.”

Leitchenkov, Antarctic geoscience head at Russia’s Research Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources of the World Ocean, in a co-authored paper suggested the ATS was a “gentleman’s agreement”.

The decorated geoscience professor told us he also worried about Antarctic environments and that, since the mining ban, scientists from different countries had published reports on Antarctica’s mineral resources. 

The mining ban does not expire, but in 2048 it can be amended should just one ATS member state — hawkish powers like China and the US are among them — call for it. 

South Africa and Russia — an awkward dance 

Like Russia, South Africa is a 1959 founding signatory of the Antarctic Treaty, the bedrock agreement of the ATS, but the government’s polar authorities have repeatedly ignored our detailed questions on how South African port facilities may continue to enable the Kremlin’s geopolitical interests in the Southern Ocean — and the remote Antarctic continent encircled by those waters. 

Also offering refuge to the Ukrainian polar research vessel Noosfera, South Africa has adopted a controversial “non-aligned” approach on Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine — where thousands of civilians have been killed since the February 24 invasion.

But, if non-alignment is formal diplomatic policy, South Africa is yet to denounce its 2021 memorandum of understanding with Russia. This seeks “to coordinate positions” at key gatherings, including annual consultative talks, and separate yearly meetings in Hobart, Tasmania — where Russia and China in 2022 used a consensus-based decision-making system to strike down marine parks for a sixth year in a row. 

There is no evidence to suggest that South Africa has coordinated positions with Russia to oppose marine parks — even so, the government has no memorandum of understanding with Ukraine, which happens to chair the ATS’s hotly contested marine park negotiations in 2023 and 2024. 

At the Hobart as well as Berlin’s mid-year talks, the South African delegation was notable for not joining several other ATS members walking out on Russian speeches.

‘Protest against the docking of the Karpinsky ship in Cape Town’

The Ukrainian Association of South Africa has condemned the Karpinsky’s repeated visits to South African shores, saying this flouts the ATS’s cornerstones, which devote Antarctica to scientific and peaceful use. 

“Allowing Russian ship Akademik Alexander Karpinsky to continue researching hydrocarbon resources in the Antarctic goes against the principles of the Antarctic Treaty of which South Africa is part,” the association told Our Burning Planet, citing widespread environmental and infrastructural damage caused by the invasion. 

In October, Russian missile attacks across Kyiv partially damaged Ukraine’s polar headquarters — missing by metres servers holding the longest-running ozone and climate records in the Antarctic.

“The trouble is that Russia is using hydrocarbons as part of its military aggression against neighbouring states, specifically targeting the Ukrainian energy system to cause the mass suffering of civilians,” says the association. “We call on all South African environmental organisations to protest against the docking of the Karpinsky ship in Cape Town.”

Noise wars on marine life

According to senior academia, Russia’s Cape Town-enabled seismic surveys raise questions about the credibility of the ATS to protect the Antarctic against potentially unscrupulous operations — even as melting sea ice hit historic lows last year.

Also exposed by Our Burning Planet’s new series of investigations in December, Antarctic state officials charged with protecting the icy south have for some 25 years been aware of the human noise war raging below the Southern Ocean — which has likely damaged ecosystems and stressed out, injured and even killed sensitive species.

The sources of that sonic onslaught come from Antarctic seismic scientific vessels, such as at least 60,000km in profile lengths contributed by Germany’s Polarstern, which also recently passed through Cape Town; as well as the cavitating propellers, rumbling engines and piercing sonar-based echo sounders of fishing fleets. 

In June, we also noted that 100,000-plus sightseers were likely to descend on the region for the first time ever in a single season — threatening to enter the already climate-stressed habitats of emperors, the world’s largest penguin now facing functional extinction in decades without drastic action. Among other marine life, blue whales, elephant seals, colossal squid and even seafloor creatures without hearing organs may suffer substantial stress and harassment when thousands of humans sail into their home every summer.

There is no precautionary freeze in sight to limit these metastasising numbers — the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (Iaato) has passed the buck to ATS governments, arguing in an annual report it is up to them to draw a line in the snow.

“As a trade organisation,” the association “was not in a position to limit tourism trade or cap tourist numbers” — it says in the ATS’s December-issued annual report. According to the association, it already has tools “to support environmentally responsible travel”. 

Airguns: ‘Not a controllable source’ 

 “There is no question in my mind these seismic airgun surveys — regardless of use — cause considerable habitat degradation in the Antarctic, impacting many sensitive species from krill and fish to whales,” Dr Lindy Weilgart, a Canada-based marine biologist with Dalhousie University and the non-profit group OceanCare, told us. Weilgart in 2021 co-authored the first analysis on how noise from deep-sea mining might harm species.

The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, the ATS non-profit environmental observers, had tabled none other than the marine biologist’s warnings to a 2003 annual meeting attended by member states. Possible impacts on marine species included miscarriages; injury; disease; vulnerability to predation; changes in appetite; disrupted mother-calf bonds; panic; anxiety and confusion.

Major research gaps remain, Weilgart and other scientists have told us, and must be urgently closed up.  

But “in extreme cases”, a pioneering review paper led by Curtin University in Perth has also noted: “Intense noise sources such as large seismic arrays or underwater explosions can cause immediate injury or even mortality, especially to smaller planktonic animals.”

“Some national research vessels are built to be very quiet,” says Russell Leaper, a whale and underwater acoustics specialist with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). But he adds, airguns “are not a controllable source”. 

So, while solutions like marine vibroseis arrays already exist, he says, airguns are “a bit like using the sound system from a large stadium for a concert in a village hall”. 

Creecy of the Ice    

Meanwhile, South African Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has been in East Antarctica this week, staying at Belgium’s ultra-eco Princess Elisabeth research station among other high-level diplomatic guests, including French polar ambassador Olivier Poivre d’Arvor. 

On his Facebook page, Poivre d’Arvor shared a photo of himself with the snow-suited Creecy in a jaunty neon hat, noting that fellow ATS founding members France and South Africa shared marine-conservation ambitions. French president Emmanuel Macron at COP27 in Egypt called for a ban on seabed mining, but authorities in Paris did not immediately clarify France’s position on Russia’s Antarctic maritime activities. 

“I will try to get back to you as soon as possible to clarify France’s position on these issues,” said Vigdis Beaussier, a spokesperson for the French embassy in South Africa. “However, I will need to forward [your] query on Russian activities in the Southern Ocean and France’s position on noise pollution to the Foreign Office in Paris as it goes beyond the mandate of our embassy.” 

For her part, Creecy would “have an opportunity to learn more about the first zero-emissions research station in Antarctica” while staying with the Belgians, South Africa’s environment department noted in a statement. 

Belgium also uses Cape Town as its gateway.

“The Belgians have expressed their desire to sharing [sic] Best Practice to improve the environmental performance of the South African Research Infrastructure in Antarctica,” the department says, adding that a visit to South Africa’s own Queen Maud Land research station was also scheduled this week.

Neither government responded to Our Burning Planet’s questions on why South African research infrastructure appeared to be in need of environmental improvement. 

They also did not respond to questions on whether Belgium’s best practice counsel to the South African government would include recommendations on how Cape Town gateway facilities might be “improved” for activities that support, rather than undermine, Antarctic conservation efforts. DM/OBP

This article first appeared on Daily Maverick and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Added 20 January 2023

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Wharf Talk: SA Port Statistics for December 2022

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

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

Motor vehicles are measured in vehicle units are included in tonnage on the basis of 1 tonne per unit.

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

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

Port Statistics continue below…..

Figures for the respective ports during December 2022 are:

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

PORT	December 2022 million tonnes
Richards Bay	6.517
Durban	6.735
Saldanha Bay	4.686
Cape Town	1.396
Port Elizabeth	0.811
Ngqura	1.218
Mossel Bay	0.038
East London	0.133
Total all ports	21.355 million tonnes

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

PORT	December 2022 TEUs
Durban	214,325
Cape Town	64,557
Port Elizabeth	7,748
Ngqura	38,811
East London	2,136
Richards Bay	0
Total all ports	327,577 TEU

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

PORT	December 2022 CEUs
Durban	41,892
Cape Town	0
Port Elizabeth	10,226
East London	12,877
Richards Bay	0
Total all ports	64,995

SHIP CALLS for December 2022

PORT	December 2022 vessels	gross tons
Durban	238	9,057,352
Cape Town	121	3,626,214
Richards Bay	112	4,499,642
Port Elizabeth	60	1,780,566
Saldanha Bay	43	2,778,640
Ngqura	49	1,767,413
East London	25	841,316
Mossel Bay	23	385,361
Total ship calls	671	24,736,504

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

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Added 19 January 2023

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Wharf Talk: The annexation of Marion and Prince Edward Islands – 4th January 1948

Story by Jay Gates

A 75th Anniversary is a big deal in anyone’s book. Around the world, when such an august occasion comes around, on a national level, the nation celebrates. When it is the 75th anniversary of the acceptance of a nation’s only overseas territory, and one that is both internationally acclaimed and ecologically precious, then the nation celebrates big time to celebrate its fortunate position to be the guardian of something so special.

Except that in South Africa you don’t! You don’t advertise it, you don’t celebrate it, you don’t proudly proclaim it. In fact, you do diddly-squat. Because, most folk will not have even been aware that a 75th anniversary, of a major national milestone, passed by just two weeks ago.

When the Geography section of your favourite Pub Quiz comes round, one of the questions that has been asked, or is likely to be asked, is to name the only overseas territory that South Africa possesses. The answer is to be found in your atlas, or on your desk globe, in the sub-Antarctic, down in the roaring forties region of the South Indian Ocean.

On February 4th 1663, the Amsterdam Chamber VOC East Indiaman ‘Maerseveen’, under the command of Barend Lam, arrived in Table Bay, from Texel in Holland. Built in Amsterdam in 1660, and 52 metres in length, ‘Maerseveen’ sailed from Cape Town on 19th February, bound for Batavia, and in company with ‘Dina’, another VOC vessel.

On 4th March 1663, ‘Maerseveen’ logged the sighting of two islands in latitude 41° South, and with a longitude Southeast of Cape Agulhas. He gave the islands the name of the two vessels, with the larger island called ‘Maerseveen’, and the smaller island named ‘Dina’. Barend Lam returned to Cape Town, with ‘Maerseveen’, on 13th March 1664, with news of his discovery.

No further sighting of the islands was made by any VOC vessel en-route to, or from, the Dutch East Indies. Over thirty years later, in early 1699, the VOC station at the Cape was running out of wood, and the Governor of the Cape, Simon van der Stel, ordered the VOC vessel ‘Wesel’ to go in search of the two islands, and to establish if they could be a source of wood for the Cape.

The ‘Wesel’, a small two masted Galliot, was built in Amsterdam in 1695, for the Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC, and was a mere 21 metres in length, with a crew of 14 men, and under the command of Philip Ter Kuys. They sailed from Cape Town on 31st March 1699, heading for the position of 41° South.

Arriving there on 9th April, the ‘Wesel’ searched the area until 15th April, without success, and having not found the islands, returned to Cape Town, where they finally arrived back on 13th May 1699. The islands remained undiscovered for almost 75 years.

On 2nd December 1771, the French vessels ‘Mascarin’, and ‘Marquis de Castries’ arrived in Table Bay, from Port Louis in Mauritius. The two vessels were under orders from the French Government to explore southern latitudes, and to find the elusive southern continent, Terra Australis Incognita. The expedition was led by Marion Dufresne, with Jules Crozet as his Deputy Commander. They sailed from Table Bay on 28th December 1771 and headed into the South Indian Ocean.

On 13th January 1772, land was sighted in position 46° South. However, the weather was very foggy, and generally poor, and neither vessel was able to close on the land they saw to the south and confirm if it was a cape, a promontory, or part of an island. However, they were convinced that they had discovered the long lost continent, and named the land, Terre de l’Espérance (Land of Hope). The small island to the north they named Ile de la Caverne. After a collision in the poor weather, and now unable to manoeuvre properly, they departed and headed East.

Sadly, on 12th June 1772, at Motorua Island, in the north of New Zealand, Marion Dufresne was murdered by local Maoris, and became a victim of the Maoris predilection for ‘Long Pig’, i.e. they ate him. Jules Crozet took over command of the expedition returning, via the Philippines, to Mauritius on 8th May 1773.

Two years later, on 21st March 1775, Captain James Cook, on his second voyage of exploration, arrived in Table Bay, with HMS Resolution and HMS Adventure, en-route back to England. On this voyage he had proved that Terra Australis Incognita, if it indeed existed, lay far south of 70° South, as he had completed a circumnavigation below this latitude.

Whilst in Cape Town he met Jules Crozet, who was now Captain of the French East Indiaman ‘Ajax’, and on a voyage to the French enclave of Pondicherry in India. Crozet told him about the discoveries made by Marion and himself, of Terre de l’Espérance, the Iles Froid, and other discoveries in the South Indian Ocean, and the South Pacific. He gave Captain Cook charts he had made of the voyage. Cook sailed on 27th April 1775 for England, with a view of returning and searching for Crozet’s discoveries.

And so it came to pass. On 18th October 1776, Captain James Cook once more anchored in Table Bay, now with HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery. This was his third voyage of exploration and, as promised to Jules Crozet, he sailed on 1st December 1776, bound for Terre de l’Espérance.

On arrival, he confirmed what he already knew, that Terre de l’Espérance was indeed an island. He named the two islands (Terre de l’ Espérance, and Ile de la Caverne) as the Prince Edward Islands, who was the fourth son of King George III, and the father to the future Queen Victoria. Its position was 46° South 35° East. Unbeknownst to Dufresne, Crozet or Cook, the two islands were likely ‘Maerseveen’ and ‘Dina’ that had been poorly charted over 110 years before.

Captain Cook claimed the islands for King George III, and sailed on to confirm the position of the Iles Froid, which became known as the Crozet Islands, and Kerguelen Island. The larger of the Prince Edward Islands was later renamed Marion Island, after its supposed first discoverer.

As with Marion Dufresne, James Cook continued with his voyage into the South Pacific, and when he reached the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), he also became a victim of ‘Long Pig’. The expedition returned back to Cape Town in April 1780, but without the great Captain Cook.

Over the next 170 years, the now charted Prince Edward Islands invited visits by sealing gangs from Cape Town, England, New England and Canada, who left their mark by scratching their ships name and date on rocks on the beach. Further voyages of exploration by the Royal Navy with Captain James Clark Ross on HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, and George Nares on HMS Challenger passed by. Visits were made to determine if survivors of the lost Waratah had been marooned on the island, and HMS Neptune paid a visit in World War Two to ensure that the Nazis had not set up any bases there.

The end of the Second World War, precipitated the start of the Cold War, and the British Government wanted to ensure that the Prince Edward Islands were firmly under the ownership and control of British authorities. Thus were the secretive plans for ‘Operation Snoektown’ drawn up in late 1947.

On 21st December 1947, HMSAS Transvaal (K602), under the command of Lieutenant Commander John Fairburn departed from Cape Town with secret orders. She was to make haste to Marion Island with an onboard cargo of specialist personnel and their stores. She arrived off Marion Island on Christmas Day 1947. Four days later, on 29th December, off what is now known as Transvaal Cove, a naval party landed. They were there to perform a singular act, that of the annexation of Marion Island, on behalf of the British Crown.

The annexation event was recorded by securing a brass plaque to a stone cairn that had been built for that purpose. A document known as a ‘Deed of Sovereignty’ was left in a cylinder next to the cairn. This formal ceremony of annexation was carried out prior to the start of permanent occupation of the island, which took place on 4th January 1948, 75 years ago. South Africa was now the official occupier of her first overseas territory. The 75th anniversary of this momentous occasion occurred on 4th January 2023, but the occasion passed by unnoticed by most folk in South Africa.

HMSAS Transvaal then sailed across to adjacent Prince Edward Island to formally annex this island with the same ceremony. Again, a cairn was raised, and a brass plaque, together with a Deed of Sovereignty was deposited at the location, now known as Cave Bay. The next day, 5th January, on completion of her two annexation ceremonies, HMSAS Transvaal set sail for Cape Town, where she arrived back on 10th January.

Both ceremonies of annexation were ostensibly carried out to prevent the islands being used by a foreign power as a military base, capable of being used for the placement, and launch, of long range missiles.

Meanwhile, on the same day, on 5th January 1948, HMSAS Good Hope (K432), under the command of Commander Henry Fougstedt, sailed from Cape Town, again under the secret umbrella of Operation Snoektown, bound for Tristan da Cunha where she arrived on 11th January. Her job was to collect six Tristan Islanders and two of the special Tristan Boats, which would be required for use at Marion Island.

After loading her special cargo, and additional islander supplies, HMSAS Good Hope sailed from Tristan da Cunha on 13th January, arriving back in Cape Town on 18th January. From there, she bunkered and took on timber and more stores, before sailing once more on 23rd January. This time she was bound for Marion Island, where she was expecting to rendezvous with HMSAS Transvaal, and a third South African Navy frigate that had also made her way there, HMSAS Natal (K430).

HMSAS Natal, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Paul Dryden-Dymond, had sailed from Cape Town on 7th January 1948 for Marion Island, ostensibly to replace HMSAS Transvaal. She was carrying equipment needed to set up a permanent base, including wire netting, timber and bagged coal. She arrived off Marion Island on 12th January.

The building of a major base, to be manned year round, would need the amount of materiel, equipment, fittings and stores that could not possibly be carried by a naval Frigate. So, a merchant cargo vessel was brought into the operation.

The Government Guano Islands Department operated a small coaster, Gamtoos, under the command of Captain Walter Finlayson. She was loaded in Cape Town harbour with the requisite base cargo of hut panels to the new base. She also carried an extra 100 tons of coal in bags, to add to the 160 tons in the bunkers, to give the ship an extended endurance of 25 days. She sailed from No.4 South Arm, in the V&A Basin, on 12th January 1948, bound for Marion Island.

Captain Wally Finlayson, previously a Lieutenant-Commander, had a large complement of 95 men aboard. Other than her normal crew, she carried 20 experienced boatman used to working the guano islands with a decked motor boat Aqua and two double-ended “flat boom” boats aboard. She also carried an additional 33 South African Army sappers, two PWD carpenters to erect the new base, governmental representatives, and newsreel filmmaker Ken Sara of the African Mirror, and journalist and author John Marsh who would write the book documenting Operation Snoektown, named ‘No Pathway Here’.

On arrival at Marion Island, Gamtoos was assisted by HMSAS Natal to make her approach to Transvaal Cove, in order to offload her cargo. HMSAS Natal led the way by cutting a channel through the thick forests of Kelp that lay in front of Transvaal Cove. On 28th January, HMSAS Good Hope arrived, and relieved HMSAS Natal, which then sailed for Cape Town the next day, 29th January.

HMSAS Good Hope then proceeded to land her cargo of timber, needed to set up the new base. She then conducted a thorough coastal survey around the island, and after a fortnight she was herself relieved by the return of HMSAS Transvaal, which had sailed from Cape Town on 12th February, with mail and stores, arrived back at Marion Island on 15th February.

HMSAS Good Hope sailed on the same day, 15th February, back to Cape Town. HMSAS Transvaal remained on station off Marion Island until 2nd March.

Over the next few months, the three frigates, and Gamtoos, went back and forth from Cape Town, assisting with the building of the new base. On one future assignment, HMSAS Natal sailed from Cape Town on 3rd March, arriving at Marion Island on 7th March. On this voyage she carried not only kerosene fuel for the new base, but also livestock.

She remained off the base until 20th March, and in that time her crew assisted with some of the construction work of the base, by providing technical assistance with the electrical supply set-up, and other important domestic services requirements.

The new base was ostensibly a Meteorological Station, complete with a South African Post Office. The leader of this new base was to be Lieutenant Commander Allan Crawford.

The three South African frigates all started life as Loch Class Frigates, of which 28 of the class were completed for service in the Second World War. HMSAS Good Hope was the first of the three frigates to be launched at the Blyth Shipbuilding yard in July 1944. She was to be named HMS Loch Boisdale, but transferred to the South African Navy before completion, and renamed HMSAS Good Hope, entering service in December 1944.

She was the fourth British naval ship, of either the Royal Navy or Commonwealth Navy, to carry that name. Her original name was that of a loch (lake) located on the Scottish Outer Hebrides island of South Uist. In South African Naval service, her heraldic shield was that of the official coat of arms of the Cape Province.

HMSAS Natal was next to join the South African Navy. She was launched in June 1944 at the Swan Hunter shipyard, as HMS Loch Cree. Again, she was also transferred across to the South African Navy before completion in March 1945, and renamed HMSAS Natal. She was the fourth naval vessel to bear that name. Loch Cree was a lake in Galloway, in Southern Scotland. Her heraldic shield was that of the official coat of arms of the Natal Province.

The final of the trio of Loch Class frigates to join the South African Navy was HMSAS Transvaal. She was launched in August 1944 at the Harland and Wolff shipyard, and named Loch Ard. As with the other two frigates, she was transferred to the South African Navy prior to completion in May 1945, where she was renamed HMSAS Transvaal. Loch Ard was a lake in the highlands of Stirlingshire. Her heraldic shield was that of the official coat of arms of the Transvaal Province.

All of the Loch Class frigates were 94 metres in length, with a displacement tonnage of 1,435 tons. Steam was provided by two Admiralty, 3 drum, boilers providing 5,500 bhp (4,100 kW), and driving 4 cylinder, shaft reciprocating, vertical triple expansion, engines which drove two fixed pitch propellers for a service speed of 20 knots. They had an endurance of 9,500 nautical miles at a speed of 12 knots. They were manned by 10 Officers, and up to 120 Crew.

They were originally all armed with a single 4” Mk.5 Main Gun, a single Quad 2 pounder gun, and two twin 20mm Oerlikon cannons. For anti-submarine operations they had two Squid triple barrel mortars, and one depth charge rail, with two depth charge throwers.

All three frigates made many more visits to Marion Island over the next decade, and until the bespoke ‘RSA’ entered service in 1961. All of them had long and distinguished naval careers, with HMSAS (SAS) Natal being sunk off False Bay, as a target, in September 1972, HMSAS (SAS) Transvaal being sunk in False Bay as an artificial reef in August 1978, and HMSAS (SAS) Good Hope also being sunk in False Bay as an artificial reef in December 1978.

The government cargo ship Gamtoos was built in 1937 by Scott and Sons, at Bowling on Clydeside. She was 61 metres in length and had a gross tonnage of 797 tons. She was powered by a single boiler, providing steam to an Aitchison and Blair, 3 cylinder, triple expansion engine, driving a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 9 knots. She also had a long and distinguished career, and was scuttled off Cape Town in June 1976.

Today the importance of Marion Island cannot be understated. She is home to no less than four species of Penguin, five species of Albatross, including half of the world population of the glorious Wandering Albatross, as well as almost 30 species of other seabird, and two species of seal. It is one of the most important locations of sub-Antarctic wildlife on the planet. Its management has been, up to now, without equal, and yet with few acknowledgements amongst those that know, her 75th anniversary under the South African flag passed unnoticed.

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IMO in Yemen: Support to develop a legal framework – Enhancing maritime security

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has been assisting the Maritime Affairs Authority, Yemen, to put in place a legal framework that gives full and complete effect to IMO instruments dealing with maritime security.

The five-day workshop held from 8-12 January in Aden aimed to sensitize national stakeholders on the content of IMO circular MSC.1/Circ.1525 on Guidance for the development of national maritime security legislation, in order to develop national legislation giving full and complete effect to the relevant maritime security measures (SOLAS chapter XI-2 and the ISPS Code); as well as on the objectives of the Red Sea Project.

The workshop was hosted by the Maritime Affairs Authority, Yemen, and brought together 36 participants from the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs Authority, Yemen Gulf of Aden Ports Corporation and Yemen Arabian Sea Ports Corporation.

This was part of the programme of activities under the multi-year Regional Programme for Maritime Security in the Red Sea Area which is funded by the European Union and jointly delivered by IMO, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Under this programme, IMO aims to assist participating countries to enhance maritime security and safety in the Red Sea Area, in line with the 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy.

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Cape Corridor’s East London mainline has shutdown for annual maintenance

Transnet Freight Rail has begun its annual maintenance of the Cape Corridor mainline to East London.

The annual maintenance programme, which is set to improve TFR’s operational efficiencies is being carried out this week during which no trains are being run.

Cape Corridor’s East London annual maintenance will improve operational efficiencies [East London, 18 January 2022]. Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) on Monday kick-started its Annual Maintenance Shutdown on the Cape Corridor’s East London mainline which is set to improve the company’s operational efficiencies.

The annual maintenance programme will continue for seven days until 22 January over 629km of the railway network covering the areas from East London to Springfontein (Free State) and from Springfontein to Noupoort (Northern Cape).

Some of the planned activities for this shutdown include ballast screening which is done to ensure that there is enough cushioning for the sleepers, which is necessary for providing proper drainage and elasticity to the track. Without it, the performance of the track will be affected.

There will also be removal and replacement of damaged sleepers and tiger wire installation, amongst others.

TFR says the annual maintenance shutdown will help in improving the network availability and reliability and improve the track condition and its safety standard. TFR will also power-up the line using the aluminium wire that has lesser risks of vandalism (theft).

The entire operation is designed to also benefit local communities as more than 150 short term employment opportunities have been created. This is done through local sourcing of equipment and services necessary for the optimal execution of the maintenance programme.

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The Russians (and Chinese) are coming! Joint naval exercise Mosi

For ten days next month (February) the seas between Durban and Richards Bay will be the scene of unusual naval activity as an exercise named Mosi II takes place with the involvement of naval vessels from Russia, China and South Africa.

The content of of naval units has not been revealed but will likely involve several Chinese ships that have been on patrol for the past three months in the Gulf of Aden region. If so these ships will have been replaced by other Chinese naval units on rotation, if it goes according to a previous Chinese naval visit.

Details of the two Russian ships have also not been disclosed – nor for that matter has the South African Navy component, although the local unit will most likely consist of the inshore patrol vessel SAS King Sekhukhune II out of the Durban Naval Base and just possibly one of the frigates or a submarine, provided that either are available at the time.

Such is the sorry state of the SA Navy that had it not been for the recent delivery of the new patrol vessel then the navy might have found itself in an embarrassing position of being unable to send a ship to sea.

Other local military units likely to be involved are the SA Air Force, and various components of the South African National Defence Force including the maritime reaction squadron.

A virtual planning conference for Exercise Mosi involving the three navies took place in December.

The vessels involved will go alongside in Richards Bay on 17 February where several naval activities are planned until 14 February. Courtesy calls may be made at Durban though this has not been confirmed.

Exercises offshore between the two ports on 25/26 February will include search and rescue, vessel in distress, officer of the watch manoeuvres and gunnery, force protection and air defence exercises.

Russian Foreign Minister calls in SA

Whether by design or just a coincidence, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, will arrive in South Africa on Monday next week for talks with his South African counterpart and other government officials. This is his first visit here since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

Lavrov has paid a number of visits to other African countries in an effort to garner support for Russia’s activities in Europe. According to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), the minister of international relations and cooperation, Naledi Pandor, will be hosting Lavrov “for bilateral talks”.

Given the attitude of the South African government so far in regards to the European conflict, there is unlikely to be any criticism made of Russia’s bombing of civilian sites across Ukraine, and Lavrov will no doubt feel welcome.

Likewise in Richards Bay next month the red carpet will go down for the two Russian ships when they arrive in port. Much as was the case when a sanctioned Russian ship, the Lady R, was allowed to berth in the naval base at Simon’s Town and carry out mysterious unknown cargo handling mostly at night.

The irony is that South African trade with Russia is of much less consequence, when taken in comparison with trade with other parts of Western Europe. But, it seems, political ideology here is more important than trade. Shadow Defence Minister Kobus Marais of the Democratic Party, warned that this bias in favour of the Russian invasion can alienate South Africa from other important partners in the West.

He said that the naval exercise was in the best interests of Russia and was “another bad judgement, an embarrassment.”

Also ignored are the results of a poll conducted by The Brenthurst Foundation that showed the majority of South African thought Russia was at fault over the Ukraine invasion and ought to withdraw.

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IN CONVERSATION: Kenya and South Africa are working to address trade barriers: where to start

XN Iraki, University of Nairobi and Paul Odhiambo, The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)

Trade volumes between Kenya and South Africa have always been minimal compared to each country’s engagement with its other major trading partners. But in recent years, leaders of the two countries have been taking steps to stimulate trade. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa was on the same mission late last year when he addressed the Kenya-SA Business Forum in Nairobi. We asked trade and foreign policy analyst Paul Odhiambo and economist XN Iraki about the trade obstacles between the two countries and how these can be overcome.

What are the major imports and exports between South Africa and Kenya?

Paul Odhiambo: Kenya’s exports to South Africa (in 2020) included gold, soda ash and cut flowers. In 25 years, the exports of Kenya to South Africa increased at an annualised rate of 0.49%, from US$30.7 million in 1995 to US$34.6 million in 2020.

Kenya also unveiled its plans to start exporting meat to South Africa from December 2022.

South Africa exported US$513 million to Kenya in 2020. The main products exported from South Africa to Kenya were coal briquettes, delivery trucks and semi-finished iron. Over the last 25 years, South Africa’s exports to Kenya increased at an annualised rate of 2.94%, from US$249 million in 1995 to US$513 million in 2020. The two countries have rarely traded in services with each other.

What are the obstacles to trade between Kenya and South Africa?

XN Iraki: Johannesburg and Nairobi are geographically close to each other, about a four-hour flight. But traders face administrative barriers selling across different trading blocs. That is because South Africa is a member of the Southern African Customs Union while Kenya is in the East African Community. These blocs apply external tariffs and other administrative measures that restrict entry of non-members into their markets.

History has also played a role in weakening trade between the two states. Kenya did not support South Africa’s liberation from apartheid in the same way that, say, Tanzania did (by training and harbouring freedom fighters). The lukewarm relationship that has characterised past diplomatic engagements implies South Africa may not have forgiven Kenya for that history.

Another challenge revolves around the items of trade. South Africa mainly exports minerals, which Kenya may not need. Similarly, Kenya exports agricultural commodities like tea and coffee that South Africa has been able to order easily from its neighbours.

In addition, Kenya has traditionally looked to the west for trade, and more recently to China. South African traders will have to compete with the now established trade channels of rivals from these traditional partner states.

And finally, simple things like visa requirements also hurt trade flow. For a long time, Kenyans have had to pay visa fees and provide proof of sufficient funds and return flight tickets to be allowed to travel to South Africa.

What are the unexploited opportunities?

Paul Odhiambo: Kenya and South Africa have huge untapped potential for trade. Kenya ran a trade deficit of KSh40.1 billion in 2021 – that’s the difference in value between what Kenya bought from South Africa (KSh44.07 billion) and the KSh3.96 billion worth of goods that it sold there.

Kenya could export a lot more to South Africa, if it explored the existing market opportunities. It has lots of agricultural products like avocados, tea, coffee and pineapples which could be exported to South Africa once market entry barriers are reviewed to boost fair competition with products from neighbouring states. Those barriers include stringent quality standards. As an example, Kenya exported to South Africa tea worth US$1.07 million in 2021. It could export coffee, avocados and other tropical fruits and spices which it produces in plenty as these have a market in South Africa.

South Africa’s services sector is also opening up for trade. For example, South Africa will need teachers of Kiswahili because it recently unveiled plans to introduce the language as a taught subject in its classrooms.

How should the two states improve their trade relations?

XN Iraki: The recent visit by President Ramaphosa signals that South Africa is keen to build on the memorandum of understanding on trade and investment that the two states signed in 2016.

They should also strive to operate within the same economic bloc. The move by the East African Community, Southern African Customs Union and the Common Market for Southern and Eastern Africa to harmonise their tariffs under the African Continental Free Trade Area is a major step towards eliminating some of the barriers to trade between the two states. The continental market deal is also expected to harmonise quality standards for traders across Africa.

At a bilateral level, visa requirements should be removed or processing of the documents made more efficient. The recent decision by President Ramaphosa to reciprocate an approach that allows South Africans to visit Kenya visa-free for up to 90 days in a calendar year was a step in the right direction.

The two countries should also have their citizens learn about one another in schools. The decision to introduce Kiswahili in 90 South African schools as an optional subject was a welcome move. Having recently been approved as one of the official languages of the African Union, Kiswahili may have a wider appeal among the population of member states such as South Africa.

Likewise, more cultural and educational exchange would help deepen the trade ties between the two states.

In all, Kenya should focus on exploiting the existing untapped potential so as to drive the exports.

XN Iraki, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, University of Nairobi and Paul Odhiambo, Foreign Policy Analyst, The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)

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

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Two fuel theft suspects found dead in Johannesburg

 

In the latest fuel theft attempt incident over the recent weekend, the bodies of two suspected perpetrators have been found, one in the structure and one in the tunnel leading to the petroleum pipeline near Kibler Park in Johannesburg.

It is suspected that they were overcome by fumes while trying to siphon petrol from the pipeline on Saturday night. The structure and tunnel were demolished on Sunday.

Transnet said in a statement that the incident over the weekend is a harsh reminder to perpetrators that tampering with the petroleum pipelines and associated infrastructure can lead to disastrous consequences, including personal injuries and fatalities, extensive environmental damage and fire.

During the current financial year Transnet has had 90 fuel theft incidents and together with its specialised tactical teams, inclusive of aerial and ground support, they have made 68 arrests (inclusive of 2 kingpins). According to Transnet this demonstrates the commitment to halt the onslaught of criminal activities and keep South Africa’s pipelines and communities safe.

“The perpetrators will face the full might of the law as tampering with the pipeline, or colluding to tamper, is a Schedule 5 offence in terms of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act, Act 18 of 2015 and all perpetrators are charged accordingly.”

Petroleum retailers and members of the public are urged to refrain from buying fuel from unregistered traders, in order to curb the demand for illegal petroleum products and to join in the fight against petroleum theft.

Transnet says it will act with the full might of the law to deal with all would-be perpetrators and organised crime syndicates planning to steal fuel from the pipeline network.

In addition, members of the community are requested to report any suspicious activity, bakkies, tankers or activity near the company’s infrastructure by calling the toll-free number 0800 203 843, or by reporting the matter to the nearest police station.

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Transnet financial results for the first six months of year 2022/23

Transnet’s consolidated financial results for the six months ended 30 September 2022 were recently made available.

Salient features:

• Revenue increased by 2.0% from R35,4 billion to R36,1 billion
• EBITDA is down by 2.5% from 13,3 billion to R12,9 billion
• Profit for the period is R159 million (2021: R78 million loss)
• Cash generated from operations after working capital changes is R11,9 billion
• Gearing is at 43.7%
• Rolling cash interest cover (including working capital changes) is 2,1 times
• Capital investment to sustain and expand operations is R6.0 billion
• Debt service of R36.1 billion in capital repayments and interest paid

Transnet’s performance for the period is underpinned by significant operational disruptions, associated with the floods in KZN at the start of the financial year and the continuing binding constraints of vandalism of infrastructure, including fuel and cable theft, as well as the unavailability of locomotives.

The underperformance of Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), which contributes 45% of total revenue, is mainly driven by the challenges mentioned above and resulted in Transnet not meeting the cash interest cover ratio of 2.5x for some lenders. However, all the affected lenders have provided the required waivers to Transnet. The agreement reached with CRRC E-Loco Supply, if successfully implemented, is expected to unlock the bottlenecks related to the availability of locomotives on key corridors, including the coal and iron ore lines.*

* This did not pan out as hoped – see Africa Ports & Ships report Impasse, as Transnet locks horns with Chinese loco builder, CRRC E-Loco Supply

OUTLOOK

According to Transnet there is meaningful progress in the implementation of their strategy to grow and fix the core of their operations and partner with the private sector to improve efficiencies and increase capacity.

Significant transactions that give effect to the growth and operational improvement strategy are progressing well, chief amongst these are the following, says Transnet:

• Durban Container Terminal Pier 2 (DCT2) and Ngqura Container Terminal (NCT) – Request for proposals (RFP) closing 3 February 2023; a final decision is expected by the end of the financial year (31 March).
• Richards Bay Liquefied Natural Gas – Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has issued the RFP for the construction of an LNG terminal at the Port of Richards Bay, following a successful Request for Information (RFI) phase.
• Transnet Pipelines (TPL) has started negotiating with their preferred partner on the Joint Development Agreement enabling them to participate in the TNPA tender for the LNG terminal.
• For Boegoebaai Port and Rail development [Northwest Cape), an RFQ was issued which closed at the end of November 2022. Evaluations are underway.
• Traxtion Rail was awarded a slot on the Kroonstad to East London line, in the pilot phase of the process to sell slots to third party operators.
• Ngqura Manganese Export Terminal – the RFP for the financing and construction of the terminal is due to close in March 2023, after which the preferred partner will be appointed.
• The feasibility for the 6 million ton expansion of the manganese line is due for completion at the end of the financial year, at which point a fast-tracked procurement process will commence.
• Transnet Freight Rail and Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) have commenced the procurement process to enter into long term Master Service Agreements for maintenance of locomotives and cranes. This will significantly improve reliability of these crucial assets and start the process of entrenching a maintenance culture in Transnet.

These financial results were reviewed by the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA). The AGSA issued an unmodified review report with no material findings. Any reference to future financial performance included in Transnet’s financial results for the six months ended 30
September 2022 has not been reviewed or reported on by the Company’s statutory auditors.

In terms of section 6.17 of the JSE debt listing requirements, the Group’s reviewed condensed consolidated financial results for the six months ended 30 September 2022, are available on Transnet’s website.   source: Transnet

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WHARF TALK: LR1 tanker & story of a hero – ELAN VITAL

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

It may now be 2023, but there is still the odd vessel, or rather a lot of them if the truth be told, that had arrived off their South African discharge port in 2022, and have only now just managed to complete their multiple discharges, cleared away from the South African coast, and are now heading north for their next charter in distant lands.

Back on 28th December, as the old year was running down, the LR1 tanker ELAN VITAL (IMO 9252943) arrived at the Table Bay anchorage, from Mangalore in India, and went to anchor over the New Year holiday period. On 2nd January at 14h00, she entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock and going alongside the long berth in the Tanker Basin.

Built in 2003 by STX Shipbuilding at Jinhae in South Korea, Elan Vital is 228 metres in length and has a deadweight of 71,522 tons. She is powered by a single HSD MAN-B&W 6S60MC 6 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 16,913 hp (12,265 kW), driving a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 14 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three generators providing 960 kW each, and an emergency generator providing 184 kW. She has a single Alfa Laval Aalborg CHR exhaust gas boiler, and two Alfa Laval Aalborg CHO oil fired boilers.

She has been clearly been retrofitted with an exhaust gas scrubber unit, and this unit has had been fitted in a sort of ‘halfway house’ manner, in which it is neither just plonked behind the funnel, and neither blended into the existing funnel, but has been painted to blend into the existing funnel, so at first glance looks balanced and well fitted.

Unusually for a LR1 sized tanker, ‘Elan Vital’ has an ice classification of Ice Class 1C, which means that she is capable of operating in first year Baltic Sea ice thickness of 0.4 metres. In this pirate infested day and age, she clearly has burglar bars fitted to all portholes that face out onto an open deck, to deter those nefarious characters from unwanted ‘breaking and entering’.

Nominally owned by PST Energy 6 Shipping LLC, ‘Elan Vital’ is both operated and managed by Product Shipping and Trading SA, of Athens, whose houseflag she displays on her funnel. As an LR1 sized tanker, ‘Elan Vital’ has 12 cargo tanks, with a cargo carrying capacity of 80,466 m3, and she can carry three grades of product at the same time, with an ability to operate up to three cargo pumps simultaneously, all capable of pumping at a rate of 2,500 m3/hr.

Simple maths tells you that if she was operating to her maximum capacity, and discharged using one pump only, she could be discharged in 33 operating hours, and if all three pumps were operating together, then she would be discharged in just 11 operating hours.

One thing that the casual observer can never know about any vessel that is passing by, is what kind of history the vessel has, and if that history is something to be proud of. In August 2021 ‘Elan Vital’ engaged in an act of seamanship that was recognised by none other than the IMO.

On 2nd August 2021, the cargo ship ‘Suvari H’, on a voyage from the Indian port of Kandla, in the Gulf of Kutch, bound for Bossasso in Somalia, declared an emergency in rough seas, whilst 180 nautical miles south of the coast of Pakistan in the Arabian Sea. She began sinking, causing the crew of 18 to abandon ship. The Karachi MRCC in Pakistan deployed a Pakistan Air Force maritime patrol aircraft to locate the vessel, requesting ‘Elan Vital’ to proceed to the scene of the sinking.

In extremely poor weather condition, with fading light, and heavy seas, the Captain of ‘Elan Vital’ was able to manoeuvre his vessel and rescue five crewman from the ‘Suvari H’, who were in a lifeboat. He was then redirected to a life raft that the aircraft had spotted, where he again manoeuvred his vessel in rough seas to enable a further five crewmen to be rescued. Finally, a second search aircraft located another liferaft, and once more ‘Elan Vital’ headed to that location, and was able to rescue a further three crewman in that liferaft. In all, ‘Elan Vital’ was able to rescue 13 of the 15 crewmen who were saved that night.

In November 2022, over a year later, the annual IMO Awards ceremony, were held to recognise exceptional bravery at sea. In that ceremony, Captain Kakha Bezhanidze, from Georgia, who commanded ‘Elan Vital’ on that lifesaving voyage, was presented with a prestigious Letter of Commendation in that awards ceremony, for his acts of seamanship that saved the lives of the 13 lucky seamen from the ‘Suvari H’.

The IMO Awards for Exceptional Bravery at Sea was established to provide international recognition for those who, at the risk of losing their own life, perform acts of exceptional bravery, display outstanding courage in attempting to save life at sea, or attempt to prevent, or mitigate, damage to the marine environment. Such acts of bravery may also involve extraordinary skills, in very difficult conditions, or any other display of outstanding courage.

In 2022, a total of 31 nominations were submitted by Member States, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), in consultative status with the IMO. The nominations were examined by an Assessment Panel, which included representatives of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA), the International Federation of Shipmasters’ Associations (IFSMA), the International Salvage Union (ISU), the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

The Assessment Panel then submitted its recommendations to a Panel of Judges, consisting of the Chairs of the Council, and the Committees of IMO, who met in June 2022 to select the recipients of the Awards. Finally, the IMO Council, at its 127th session, held between 11th and 15th July, endorsed the recommendations for the awards. Nobody would argue that the Letter of Commendation awarded to Captain Kakha Bezhanidze was not rightfully earned.

On the 9th of January, after a discharge period of 7 days in Cape Town, or over 170 hours, to complete only a partial discharge (remembering the vessel is capable of completing such a discharge in a leisurely 33 hours, or an extremely efficient 11 hours), ‘Elan Vital’ was ready to sail. She departed Cape Town at 18h00 in the early evening, bound for Ngqura in the Eastern Cape. She arrived at the Port Elizabeth Anchorage at 18h00 on 11th January, and remained at anchor in Algoa Bay for just over two days.

At 21h00 on 13th January, ‘Elan Vital’ entered Ngqura harbour, and spent the next 40 hours completing her discharge of fuel products bound for the local distribution network. At 14h00 on 15th January, she sailed from Ngqura, bound for her next orders at Fujairah in the UAE.

For the nomenclature aficionado, ‘Elan Vital’ comes from the French language, and is translated as either ‘Vital Impetus’, or ‘Vital Force’, and was given as a hypothetical explanation for both the evolution, and the development, of all organisms. It was first found in the works of the Ancient Greek philosopher, Posidonius, who postulated that a ‘Vital Force’ was emanated by the sun to all living creatures on the Earth’s surface. If the thoughts of Posidonius were ever true, it is probably the reason why we feel so good when we raise our faces to the sun on a beautiful summer’s day.

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Cape Town delays and bad weather in Bay of Biscay impacts on SAECS scheduling

According to an advice issued by Ocean Network Express (ONE), the South Africa Europe Container Service (SAECS) in which ONE is a partner, has been impacted once again by operational delays in the Cape Town Container Terminal, coupled with adverse weather conditions in the Bay of Biscay.

ONE describes this service as their South Africa Rainbow Express Service (SRX).

As a result of these complications, says ONE, changes have had to be made to the proforma line-up of ships on the service.

M/V Santa Teresa v.225N will arrive in Europe one week behind proforma schedule where she will take the position of M/V Mehuin v.225N, arrival in Rotterdam on 24 January 2023 (ETA)

M/V Santa Rita v.230S will delay her arrival in Ngqura (Coega) to 31 January 2023 (ETA) to slot into the position of M/V MOL Presence v.230S.

M/V MOL Presence v.230S is expected to arrive in Algeciras on 21 January 2023 (ETA) and will take the position of M/V Santa Cruz v.230S for her onward voyage.

The tentative revised schedule is available from ONE on its website https://www.one-line.com/

Cape Town Port Congestion:  Watch short Youtube [0:35] video taken yesterday (17 January) of problems at one of the port truck staging parks near the container terminal entrance.

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PIL inaugurates its first block train in Africa

Pacific International Lines, better known simply as PIL, has inaugurated its first block train in Africa, with a special initial train carrying 48 forty-foot containers (FEUs) from the port at Mombasa to the inland terminal near Nairobi.

The 48 FEUs carried a selection of goods brought to Kenya on board a PIL container ship which docked at the Mombasa Container Terminal. The containers were packed with food products, electronic goods, furniture, garments and various machinery items.

The block train ended its journey at the Embakasi inland depot near Nairobi.

Africa has become a key region for PIL. Its ships call at East African, South African and West African ports and internationally. The company intends leveraging its strong network already established in various parts of the continent to improve on and provide a fast and integrated transportation option to customers ‘final mile’ requirements.

This will also support customers with their sustainability efforts aimed at reducing carbon emissions, which aligns with PIL’s goal to being a sustainable shipping line.

This first block train in Africa for PIL was not its first anywhere, the company having rolled out similar services in China and Thailand in late 2022.

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World Bank: Sharp, long-lasting slowdown to hit developing countries

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

Growth in emerging markets and developing economies will be hit hard over the next two years, according to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report issued on 10 January and available here.

Global outlook

To quote World Bank Group President, David Malpass, “The crisis facing development is intensifying as the global growth outlook deteriorates.  Emerging and developing countries are facing a multi-year period of slow growth driven by heavy debt burdens and weak investment in business.”

Global recession predicted

The report projects that growth in advanced economies is to slow from 2.5 per cent in 2022, to 0.5 per cent in 2023. Over the past two decades, slowdowns of this scale have foreshadowed a global recession.

On Africa

With regard to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects this 198-page document has two important sections of relevance to our readers. These concern the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Sub-Saharan Africa.

MENA

With regard to MENA we are reminded that output in the Middle East and North Africa region rebounded in 2022, expanding by an estimated 5.7% — the region’s highest growth rate in a decade—as oil exporters enjoyed windfalls from increased oil and gas prices and rising production.

The rebound also reflected the ongoing recovery in services from their pandemic slump. Nonetheless, the region is still characterised by widely divergent economic conditions and growth paths, high levels of poverty and unemployment in many countries, low labour productivity growth, elevated vulnerabilities, and fragile political and social contexts. Rising inflation and tightening financing conditions have weighed on consumer spending, which stagnated across the region in the first half of the year.

Authorities in many countries stepped in to help stabilise economic activity by raising spending. In Saudi Arabia, for example, activity was supported by a government relief package, equivalent to 0.5% of GDP, to help households cope with the rising cost of living.

Sub-Saharan Africa

As for Sub-Saharan Africa we learn that growth in the region slowed to an estimated 3.4% in 2022, as weakening external demand, high inflation, and tightening global financial conditions dampened regional activity. Soaring food and energy prices, stemming partly from the war in Ukraine, triggered sharp cost-of-living increases across the region, leading to millions more people falling into food insecurity and poverty.

This region accounts for about 60% of the world’s extreme poor, growth in per capita income over 2023-24 is expected to average just 1.2%, a rate that could cause poverty rates to rise, not fall.

Global demand for many non-energy commodities softened, adversely affecting the region’s exporters of industrial metals. Fiscal space needed to protect the poor has been depleted in many countries, while rising borrowing costs and muted growth prospects have sharply worsened debt dynamics.

An overall view

The regional outlook for 2023-24 is for only a modest pickup in growth and a slow rise in per capita incomes, dimming prospects for a rapid reversal of recent increases in poverty. Risks are tilted to the downside. A more pronounced weakness in major economies, further increases in global interest rates, higher and persistent inflation, fragility, and increased frequency and intensity of adverse weather events could further slow growth across the region, exacerbating poverty and leading to debt distress in some countries.

A WBG Flagship document

Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group Flagship Report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies, on a semi-annual basis (in January and June). Each edition includes analytical pieces on topical policy challenges faced by these economies.

*  The material above is taken from World Bank 2023 Global Economic Prospects, January 2023. Washington, DC: (World Bank. doi:10.1586/978-1-4648-1906-3. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO)

The edited text above is an adaptation of an original work by The World Bank. Views and opinions expressed in the adaptation are the sole responsibility of the author or authors of the adaptation and are not endorsed by The World Bank.

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Drill for oil, and keep on drilling, Africa urged

It is criminal for Africans to abandon oil and gas, OPEC President says

OPEC President for 2023, Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, has emphasised the importance of oil and gas development in Africa, and says exploitation of the continent’s natural resources will serve to reduce energy poverty while establishing an independent path towards a just and inclusive energy transition.

Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima who is also Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, was speaking during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, which took place in Washington D.C. in mid December.

With calls by Western forces for Africa to shift immediately away from the use of fossil fuels, the OPEC president discussed how mounting pressure to abandon the continent’s natural resources have impacted Africa’s socioeconomic development.

With dwindling oil and gas projects and major divestments occurring throughout the industry, Africa’s vast, newly discovered oil and natural gas assets are threatened.

“What we are not going to do, is abandon a resource that can change our countries,” he stated, adding, “We will continue drilling because we need it. Anyone asking African countries not to develop fossil fuels, is criminal.”

He said it is criminal because “they are telling us that we do not have the right to develop.

“The largest number of members of OPEC, this year, are African countries. Mozambique is going to become the biggest supplier of gas, Senegal will become a big supplier of gas, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea will become big suppliers of gas. So, what you will have in 2035, you will have the African continent serving as the biggest supplier of oil and gas.”

The Minister argued that fossil fuels have an important role to play in the global energy transition and stand to bring reliable energy to the hundreds of millions – 600 million in sub-Saharan Africa – of Africans who lack access to energy. As a catalyst for industrialization, economic growth, and greater stability for Africa, the exploitation of fossil fuels will be used to expand the continent’s wealth and energy security, he emphasised.

Africa not responsible for the climate crisis

“We are not responsible for the climate crisis; the climate crisis has two players: the producers and the consumers,” the Minister stressed, highlighting, “And what’s driving it, is the demand. You need the resources to be able to develop and we will continue to do so.

“Whoever is willing to come to our country and develop our resources, I guarantee you, you will be welcomed and will make money.”

Serving as one of the continent’s most significant impediments to socioeconomic development, energy poverty eradication will require an immense, concerted effort, and necessitates the utilization of all energy resources available within Africa. As such, natural gas, which is found in abundance throughout Africa, will be a crucial tool to decarbonize the continent in pursuit of global climate sustainability goals.

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WHARF TALK: Norwegian Sail Training Ship – STATSRAAD LEHMKUHL

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

The year starts with what the youth would call ‘a Banger’! It is a rare occurrence for South Africans to see a windjammer, and when a ‘Tall Ship’ calls, it makes the news, and for all the right reasons. There can be nothing more beautiful to the eye than to see a tall ship gliding serenely into port. Casual maritime observers in Cape Town will have noticed just that very thing last week.

On 12th January, just after noon, the Norwegian Sail Training Ship ‘Statsraad Lehmkuhl’ (IMO 5339248) arrived off Cape Town, after a nine day voyage from Maputo in Mozambique. She entered Cape Town harbour and proceeded into the Duncan Dock and straight to the Passenger Terminal at E Berth.

After completing formalities, and getting herself all ‘Shipshape and Bristol fashion’, she was shifted the next day, 13th January at 1100, and moved around to the V&A Basin where she was berthed at No.2 Jetty, and where she was greeted by a crowd of Norwegian flag waving locals. She will remain in Cape Town until 20th January, and as it always should be for a vessel such as this, she will be fully visible within the V&A to tourists and locals alike, who wish to simply walk up and gaze at such a beautiful sight.

Launched on 14th January 1914, from the Johann C. Tecklenborg AG shipyard, at Geestemünde, close to Bremerhaven in Germany, she was originally christened as ‘Grossherzog Friedrich August’, and named after the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, who was a member of the ruling Hohenzollern Prussian Royal Family.

With a hull length of 85 metres, but an overall length of 98 metres, due to her bowsprit, ‘Statsraad Lehmkuhl’ has a gross tonnage of 1,516 tons. Built as a three masted steel Barque, which means her fore and main masts are yardarm ‘square sail’ fitted, and her mizzen mast is fore and aft ‘spanker sail’ fitted, she stands 48 metres high at the highest point of her mainmast. She can raise no less than 22 sails, with a maximum sail area of 2,026 m2.

Under sail she can reach speeds as fast as 18.5 knots, whilst under engine power she can attain a speed of 11 knots. Her standby engine is a Rolls-Royce Bergen 6 cylinder diesel engine producing 1,125 hp (827 kW), which is mainly used to provide domestic power services onboard ‘Statsraad Lehmkuhl’. As in right in this modern age, she has been fitted with a hybrid power system, and since 2019 has operated with an additional Rolls-Royce Kongsberg battery bank providing 370 kWh of additional power both able to provide domestic power, as well as power to her screw whilst on passage with little wind for the sails.

After the First World War, she was handed over to Great Britain as a war reparation, and in 1921 she was sold on to the Norwegian Shipowners Association for a cost of NOK425,000. Her sale to Norway, to further sail training for Norwegian Merchant Navy officers and crew was at the instigation of Kristofer Lehmkuhl, who was a Norwegian Government Cabinet Minister, better known as a Statsraad, and she was renamed in his honour.

She was built with three other sisterships, all as German Merchant Navy Sail Training Ships for the Deutscher Schulschiff Verien, of Oldenberg. Amazingly, all four of them are all still in existence today, ‘Statsraad Lehmkuhl’ is a sister to ‘Dar Pomorza’ (ex Princess Eitel Friedrich), ‘Duchess Anne’ (ex Grossherzogin Elisabeth), and ‘Schulschiff Deutschland’.

The shipyard which created the four barques, was also famous for building three other magnificent sailing vessels for the Ferdinand Laisz Company of Hamburg, better known as the famous ‘Flying P Line’. The three ships were Potosi (a five masted barque), Pruessen (the only five masted ship ever built), and the Padua (a four masted barque), which is now operated as ‘Kruzenshtern’ by the Russian Baltic State Academy at Kaliningrad.

During the Second World War, ‘Statsraad Lehmkuhl’ was seized by the Nazis at Bergen, when they invaded Norway in 1940. She was renamed ‘Westwärts’ and used as an accommodation ship by the Nazi Kriegsmarine. She was returned to Norway in 1945, and resumed her current name. In a twist of irony, she sailed for the German Navy in 2000, when she was chartered to replace their own sail training ship ‘Gorch Fock’, when she was being refurbished and restored.

She is now owned, and operated, by the charitable Stiftelsen Seilskipet Staatsraad Lehmkuhl, or known in English as the ‘Staatsraad Lehmkuhl Foundation’. She carries 20 permanent crew, 10 voyage volunteers (teachers etc.) and can carry up to 150 sail trainees.

Her current voyage is known as the ‘One Ocean Expedition’, and is a part of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) ‘Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development’, which is currently running from 2021 until 2030. The ‘One Ocean Expedition’ aboard ‘Statsraad Lehmkuhl’ began back in August 2021, when she sailed from the Norwegian port of Arendal, on a 21 month circumnavigation of the planet.

For this voyage, she was specially equipped with a suite of scientific instrumentation to enable her to measure oceanic CO2 levels, eDNA sampling, micro-plastics, ocean acidification, conductivity, temperature, wave heights and water samples from depth. She was also fitted with special hydrophones to enable her to record, and collect, oceanic noises.

Despite being 109 years old, this is the first circumnavigation that ‘Statsraad Lehmkuhl’ had undertaken. The voyage is expected to cover over 55,000 nautical miles, and will end up taking in 38 port calls in those 21 months, with Cape Town being the 35th port call in her itinerary, and the termination port for the 36th leg of her circumnavigation.

For her last two legs back to Norway, ‘Statsraad Lehmkuhl’ has been chartered to the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy, and will be crewed with a mix of marine scientists and Norwegian Navy officer cadets. However, her voyage from Maputo to Cape Town had her on charter to the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre, of Bergen in Norway, who are engaged in oceanographic and climate change research.

For her cruise from Maputo to Cape Town, she was crewed by 60 students, who were all studying for their Masters or Doctorate degrees, and who were all using the cruise to take part in the Advanced Ocean Synergy training course. This course is a collaboration between the Nansen Centre (NERSC), and the European Space Agency (ESA). Her scientific students came from countries as diverse as Sweden, Greece, Germany, Brazil, Madagascar, Cameroon, Angola and South Africa, but interestingly no-one from Mozambique. One of the South African scientists was a female post-Doctoral fellow, from the University of Cape Town, and studying Marine Ecology.

Additionally, students from both Glenwood High School, from Durban, and from the Durban Girls High School, took part in this cruise aboard a tall ship. It will have been an experience which none of them will ever forget. All of the students would combine oceanographic studies with traditional sail training and watch duties.

After crossing the Indian Ocean from Djakarta in Indonesia to Port Louis in Mauritius, and then Mauritius to Mozambique, the ‘raison d’etre’ for the cruise leg from Maputo to Cape Town was to conduct a study into the Agulhas Current, that great river of tropical water that flows along the east coast of Southern Africa.

The warm Agulhas Current flows south from the Equatorial regions of East Africa, down through the Mozambique Channel, and along the South Africa coast until it meets the north flowing cold Benguela Current, off Cape Agulhas. It transports more than 70 million m3/second of water, which makes it one of the greatest ocean current systems in the world, i.e. it transports twice the amount of water than that of the more famous current, the North Atlantic Gulfstream.

The cruise from Maputo to Cape Town was not a direct course along the coast, but rather it was a deliberate set of multiple zig-zags that crossed, and re-crossed, the Agulhas Current, on no less than six occasions, to allow sampling and studies to take place both within the current, and on either side, in both the deep oceanic waters, and the shallow coastal waters of South Africa.

Remaining in Cape Town until 20th January, ‘Statsraad Lehmkuhl’ will then set sail for Natal, but not the South African destination, but rather the northern port of Brazil, where she expects to arrive on 17th February. From there she will sail into the Caribbean Sea, to San Juan in Puerto Rico, and then across the North Atlantic Ocean, and home to Bergen in Norway, where her first great voyage of circumnavigation is scheduled to end on 15th April.

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Cape St Lucia Lighthouse vandalism latest – buildings set on fire

On 21 November we reported the vandalism and trashing of the Cape St Lucia Lighthouse and complex on the Zululand coast of KwaZulu-Natal. You can see that report by CLICKING HERE

The vandalism and utter destruction of the lighthouse complex and much of the historic lighthouse itself is understood to be the result of one of the so-called ‘business forums’ consisting of groups of individuals (thugs) who move about the countryside looking for opportunities to sabotage infrastructure and equipment. This is followed by them preventing the efforts of law enforcement and other officials from attending the scene of the damage. The ‘forums’ then insist on their members being appointed to carry out the necessary repairs.

Vandalism and deliberate destruction followed by extortion and the authorities appear useless in preventing this from escalating.

Considering that the recent massive derailment of a Richards Bay-bound coal train is thought to have been caused by sabotage, and that a ‘business forum’ attempted to prevent Transnet repair teams from attending the accident, which is not that far from the St Lucia lighthouse, there ought to be concern about further such action.

In event’s relating to the lighthouse vandalism, Transnet Lighthouse Service personnel had to arrange a police escort to visit the site to assess the damage, which was found to be extensive.

Fire

Last week the crew on a passing fishing vessel observed from out at sea what appeared to be a fire at the lighthouse complex. The photographs shown here were taken from this vessel and greater detail could not be immediately assessed owing to the thick bush along that part of the isolated coast.

This was brought to the attention of Africa Ports & Ships and we referred the matter with Transnet, who confessed they had no knowledge of any fire at the site.

In response to our queries however, Transnet has since advised that they are now able to confirm there was a fire at the lighthouse site.

Transnet says that on Thursday 12 January 2023 an onsite assessment was carried out under police escort. This revealed that the remnants of the Lightkeepers quarters that was vandalized last year (November) were set on fire. “It is unknown who is responsible for starting the fire.”

We asked if the same group had been responsible and were told they were unable to confirm if this was the case.

“However, a suspicious telephone call was received by staff in Richards Bay close to the time of the incident. The person claimed to be a detective and reported to have found the stolen items from the lighthouse. The individual demanded R3000 rands in order for the goods to be returned. This was reported to the police accordingly.”

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Ghana’s Takoradi port to be managed & operated by Turkey’s Yilport Holding

 

The port of Takoradi in Ghana is to be managed and operated in future as a joint venture between the Turkish port operator, Yilport Holding and Ibis Tek, the current operator.

This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, which comes into being as from 1 April 2023.

The new port operating company will be known as Yilport Takoradi Port Management Company, in which Yilport holds 70% of the shares and Ibis Tek the balance of 30%.

Also in terms of the agreement, the existing small container terminal is to be developed in three stages to increase its capacity to 2.5 million TEU annually.

In addition, multi-purpose berths for liquid, bulk and general cargo operations capable of handling up to 20 million tonnes in capacity will be developed.

The plan is also to build new access roads and gate facilities to improve te flow of cargo in and out of the Takoradi port. A state-of-the-art port complex will be developed in three stages with an investment of US$ 700 million envisaged.

Other plans call for a further two terminals, the Tacotel Inland Terminal consisting of a 270,000m2 container handling facility about 2 kilometres from the port, and the Marshall Oil Jetty Terminal. A tank farm capable of handling 2.5 million tons of liquid products annually is also on the drawing boards.

On the marine side, the port will be deepened to allow for a draught of between 14 and 16.5 metres and the quayside berths will be extended to a length of 2.5 kilometres.

“Takoradi Port will be Yilport’s first step into the African continent, and it will be a gemstone in our vision to rank among the top 10 global container terminal operators by 2030,” said Yilport Holding chairman & CEO, Robert Yuksel Yildirim.

“Takoradi Port has great potential to serve the African and Atlantic marine trade.”

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Transnet & Liebherr reach agreement over questionable payment to third party

In a further reflection of the corruption that has existed at the state-owned companies (SOC) in South Africa, and with their respective suppliers revealing it takes two sides to conduct a questionable transaction, it has been announced that Transnet and the Special Investigating Unit have reached a settlement with international crane supplier, Liebherr.

As the year 2022 came to an end Transnet SOC Ltd and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) concluded a settlement agreement with Liebherr in respect of the award of two tenders in 2013 and 2014 for the supply of cranes to Transnet.

The SIU found that the decision to award the tenders was irregular. Transnet, the SIU and Liebherr accordingly agreed that the decision to award the tenders should be reviewed and set aside.

Liebherr supplied all the cranes under the contracts, which are in use and will continue to be used by Transnet Port Terminals.

Investigations also found that Liebherr had paid USD3.2 million (approximately R54 million) to Accurate Investments Limited, a sales agent appointed by Liebherr, at the time the two tenders were awarded by Transnet.

As things stand, the SIU did not find evidence that the payments were corrupt or fraudulent; nevertheless, as part of the settlement, Liebherr agreed to repay the total sum paid to Accurate Investments Limited to Transnet on a without prejudice basis.

The settlement agreement also provides for an audit of the supplier development obligations under the contracts. Should the audit determine that Transnet suffered any losses, the settlement agreement provides a mechanism for the resolution of the matter.

It is envisaged that Transnet and the SIU, with the concurrence of Liebherr, will launch the review application this year in the High Court or the Special Tribunal.

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Xeneta Container Freight Rates Update: Week 2

 

Chinese New Year fails to bring joy for carriers, as blank sailings soar

In a stark display of the weak demand undermining the containerised ocean freight industry, the latest data from Xeneta reveals carriers blanked more than six times the number of sailings on the main Asia to US West Coast corridor leading up to Chinese New Year as they did in the equivalent period of 2019. And, according to Xeneta, this may be just the tip of the iceberg, as current data only counts blanked sailings announced before 6 January, with the New Year arriving on 22 January.

Going nowhere fast

The Oslo-based firm, which crowdsources real-time ocean freight rate data from global shippers, notes that, in the four weeks leading up to the holiday, carriers announced the blanking of 220,489 TEU on the trade. This is a dramatic increase from the 29,796 TEU blanked in the same period of 2019, the last full pre-pandemic year.

Other leading corridors also suffered, with the Asia – North Europe trade seeing blanked sailings increase 715% against 2019 figures, currently standing at 226,000 TEU, while those from the Far East to the US East Coast climbed by 340% to 140,000 TEU.

Bad omen

“This really does demonstrate the low level of demand gripping the industry at present,” states Peter Sand, Xeneta’s Chief Analyst. “In a normal year, we tend to see very few blanked sailings in the run up to this major Chinese holiday, as shippers stock up on their inventories. So, this is a worrying development for carriers, and, no doubt, a bad omen of what’s to come for the year ahead.”

Sand adds that the week of the holiday itself has also seen a reduction in activity, with blanked capacity on the Asia to the US West Coast route currently standing at 57,970 TEU, a steep increase from the 6,800 TEU blanked in 2019.

Time will tell

“And these figures will likely increase in the run up to 22 January,” he notes, “as will the number of blanked sailings in the four following weeks, when carriers traditionally limit their offerings in line with the drop in Chinese manufacturing and subsequent exports. At the moment there’s some 68,000 TEU of blanked capacity announced for this post-New Year period, which is actually less than 2019. That said, there’s still plenty of time left for carriers to remove further capacity – so expect this year’s total to eclipse 2019’s.”

Despite the subdued outlook, Xeneta’s analysis shows that blanked sailings were actually far greater in number last year. However, this was, as Sand points out, an exceptional situation.

No strain, just pain

He explains: “The current levels are about half of the blanked capacity seen around New Year 2022. However, that was due to huge strains on global supply chains, with congestion and a lack of equipment derailing schedules. In some cases carriers were forced to add weeks to round trips making it impossible for ships to get back in time for their next scheduled departure.

“This year is very different. It’s a clear issue of depleted demand – as we can see by the falling ocean freight rates as carriers compete for business – rather than either congestion, covid or any other ‘structural’ challenges.

“In conclusion, it’s difficult to see much New Year cheer on the horizon for the industry right now.”

For more visit www.xeneta.com

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Global piracy incidents: Lowest levels in decades – Sustained efforts needed

The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) calls for efforts to be sustained worldwide as maritime piracy and armed robbery attacks reached their lowest recorded level in almost three decades.

The ICC IMB’s annual report recorded 115 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in 2022 – compared to 132 in 2021 – with half of them occurring in Southeast Asian waters, particularly in the Singapore Straits, where incidents continue to rise.

Perpetrators were successful in gaining access to vessels in 95% of the reported incidents broken down as 107 vessels boarded, two vessels hijacked, five attempted attacks and one vessel fired upon. In many cases vessels were either anchored or steaming when boarded, with nearly all the incidents occurring during the hours of darkness.

Caution urged in the Gulf of Guinea

The continued and much needed reduction is attributed to an overall decrease of piratical activity in the highly risky waters of the Gulf of Guinea – down from 35 incidents in 2021 to 19 in 2022. Sustained efforts are however needed to ensure the continued safety of seafarers in the Gulf of Guinea region, which remains dangerous as evidenced by two incidents in the last quarter of 2022.

In mid-November a Ro-Ro vessel was commandeered by pirates, around 28nm SW of Turtle Islands, Sierra Leone. All crew were taken hostage and the pirates tried to navigate the vessel through shallow waters resulting in the vessel running aground. The crew managed to free themselves and took refuge in the citadel until the Sierra Leone authorities boarded the vessel. In mid-December, a Suezmax tanker was also fired upon, 87nm NW of Bata, Equatorial Guinea.

IMB Director Michael Howlett said: “The IMB applauds the prompt and decisive actions of the international navies and regional authorities in the Gulf of Guinea which have positively contributed to the drop in reported incidents and ensuring continued safety to crews and trade. Both these latter incidents do however cause concern and illustrate that efforts to enhance maritime security in the region must be sustained.”

Masters are also strongly encouraged to follow industry Best Management Practice recommendations in these waters.

Incidents on the rise in the Singapore Straits

A third of all incidents reported globally in 2022 have been in the Singapore Straits with underway vessels successfully boarded in all 38 incidents. The majority of vessels boarded were over 50,000 dwt, including six laden vessels over 150,000 dwt. While these are considered low level opportunistic crimes and fall under the definition of armed robbery, crews continue to be at risk. In the 38 reported incidents, two crew were threatened and four were taken hostage for the duration of the incident. It has also been reported that in at least three incidents a gun was used to threaten the crew.

IMB Director Michael Howlett added: “We commend local authorities for investigating nearly all reported incidents. Being one of the most crucial and busy waterways for trade, these incidents continue to be a cause of concern as they not only have an impact on crew safety but also potential navigational and environmental consequences.”

The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre also believes there is a degree of under reporting as well as late reporting of incidents from these waters and encourages Masters to report all incidents as early as possible so that local authorities are able to identify, investigate and apprehend the perpetrators.

Incidents reported in the Indonesian archipelago remain at relatively low levels thanks to the continued efforts of the Indonesian Marine Police.

Threat subsists in South America

Despite a noticeable decrease in the number of reported incidents in Central and South American waters, ports in Brazil, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico and Haiti continue to be affected by the crime of armed robbery. The reduction is partially attributed to the decrease in reported incidents in Callao anchorage in Peru which saw a 33% decrease compared to 2021.

The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre

Founded at a time when seafarers had little option to report incidents, IMB PRC remains a single point of contact to report all crimes of maritime piracy and armed robbery, 24 hours a day. Since 1991, their prompt forwarding of reports, and liaison with response agencies, broadcasts to shipping via GMDSS Safety Net Services, and email alerts, all provided free of cost, help the response against piracy and armed robbery globally.

As evidenced by the standing up of multiple regional co-operation, reporting and response mechanisms, its reports have over time increased awareness, resulting in the allocation of adequate resources to make waters safer.

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

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Added 17 January 2023

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Port of Cape Town’s interim truck staging plan a fiasco

A plan by the Port of Cape Town to introduce a truck staging parking area in the rough vicinity of the entrance to the Port of Cape Town’s container terminal, has had an opposite effect and has since been scrubbed.

The ‘interim’ truck staging area was designed to handle the overflow of trucks waiting to enter the port container terminal once the operational terminals receiving area had reached full capacity.

Instead of congregating outside the gates and along the access roads the trucks were supposed to proceed in an orderly fashion to the interim staging facility and there to await a call to move towards the terminal.

This was to be managed by way of a signed ticket issued to each arriving truck at the interim terminal. Only truck drivers in possession of such ‘tickets’ would be allowed access to the actual terminal, regardless of any Transnet Port Terminals’ booking system that might be in operation.

This meant that even if a truck operator had an appointment for a certain time to enter the terminal and deliver its container, the truck driver was still required to first call at the interim staging area and ‘get a signed ticket’. The problem with this was that the queue at the new facility soon became several kilometres in length and it could take five or six hours before the ticketing facility was finally reached, by which time the truckers pre-arranged appointment with the terminal had long since come and gone.

Ticketing system introduced

The ticketing system was introduced in late December and lasted less than half a month before being scrapped, after truck operators rightly complained of an utter sense of chaos at the staging area.

Particularly affected were the trucks bringing reefers to the port, which require refrigeration. As a result of the delays many of these trucks were forced to depart the area without a ticket in search of a suitable private depot with cooling facilities.

After ongoing complaints from trucking operators became too much, Transnet withdrew the ticketing system as another failure in an effort of avoiding congestion along the access roads to the port and its terminals. It’s now back to the drawing boards for a possible solution.

When introduced on 22 December 2022 the Port of Cape Town Interim Truck Staging Area was going to improve traffic flows, said Transnet.

Located alongside Duncan Road, which runs parallel with the port boundary fence, the interim truck staging area was seen as part of Phase 2 of the project, which would serve as an overflow for the waiting area in instances where the operational terminals have reached full capacity and can no longer allow the entry of trucks.

Two phases

According to Transnet, Phase 1, which was operationalised in July 2022, has gained momentum with heavy vehicle traffic flows to Cape Town Multipurpose Terminal (CTMPT) Precinct improving significantly. But herein lies the rub. Phase 1 has the capacity to stage 28 trucks (yes, just 28) and, says Transnet, has seen the diversion of idle trucks off Duncan Road, “thus increasing road safety and allowing for all port users to enjoy free traffic flow.”

Phase 2 was completed and operationalised in early December 2022 and has been designed to stage 37 trucks to alleviate heavy vehicle traffic truck congestion to the roads leading to the Cape Town Container Terminal (CTCT). Thus a whole 65 trucks in total could be staged awaiting entry to the port’s two terminals. Not many, is it!

Transnet is continuing to address the problem of truck congestion, the company has said.

Transnet National Ports Authority also says it is pursuing 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 will substantially improve the flow of trucks in and out of the port and address the increase in traffic by heavy vehicles in recent years.”

By that account it may be a further year to two years before such a solution becomes possible and by then truck volumes will have grown even greater.

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Kalmar to supply Port of Maputo with new terminal tractors and forklift trucks

Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC), operator of the Port of Maputo, has placed orders with Finnish manufacturer, Kalmar, for 14 Kalmar T2i terminal tractors, and three Kalmar forklift trucks.

The three Kalmar forklift trucks will consist of two heavy models and one medium model, said the Finnish company, which is part of the Cargotec Group.

The machines are scheduled for delivery towards the end of this year’s second quarter.

MPDC is a joint venture between the Mozambican Railway Company CFM and Portus Indico, the majority shareholder in the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC), which holds the lease on Maputo port, and has held the concession to run the Port of Maputo since 2003. The company also acts as the port authority with responsibility for maritime operations, piloting, stevedoring, and terminal and warehouse operations as well as port planning and development.

MPDC currently operates a fleet of over 35 Kalmar forklift trucks and terminal tractors, which are used to transport bulk material in skips between the quayside and the trailer loading area. The port currently handles around 26 million tons of material a year and has been investing heavily in expanding this capacity, with the goal of achieving 43 million tons within the next decade.

MPDC has used Kalmar equipment since 2008. According to Elísio Langa, MPDC’s Maintenance Manager, they have always found them to be reliable, economical and easy to maintain. “If we are to achieve our ambitious capacity expansion target, we need the best equipment available on the market – this is why we believe that Kalmar is the best choice for us,” he said.

Byron Meugens, Kalmar Sales Manager for Southern Africa, said that Kalmar and MPDC have a long shared history. “Our machines meet MPDC’s exact requirements, particularly in terms of chassis strength and fuel efficiency, and will play a vital role in helping them to achieve their daily operational targets and long-term business goals,” he said.

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Added 17 January 2023

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Two new pilot boats delivered by Med Marine to Port of Misurata (Libya)

New tug ordered

Two new pilot boats have been delivered by Med Marine to the Libyan Free Zone port of Misurata.

The two pilot boats, named ALOGLA and ALAMER, were under construction for eight months at the Med Marine Turkish shipyard.

“We are very pleased to be delivering two state-of-art technology MED-P16 class pilot boats to Misurata Free Zone,” said Med Marine’s chief executive, R Haken Şen.

“MED-P16 is a modern vessel of proven, standard design built of the steel hull and aluminum superstructure and provides fast and efficient running at transfer speeds, combined with excellent sea-keeping,” he said.

“Safety is optimised with a 360-degree view from the bridge and wide deck for safe boarding. We trust these sisters will be a worthy addition to the present fleet of Misurata Free Zone.”

The MED-P16 series pilot boats, which were designed by Camarc, have double chine hulls to provide exceptional all-around sea keeping. Each vessel is 16,50m in length and 4,8m in beam and can travel at speeds of up to 22 knots. The complement area accommodates 2 crew and 6 pilots.

Access to lower accommodation is via a hatch to port in the aft end of the wheelhouse. Lower accommodation includes mess area, WC, galley, store spaces and a 2-man cabin. The boats have a draught of 1.3 metres.

The Misurata Free Zone has also ordered a powerful new MED-A2885 class tug from Med Marine to strengthen the tugboat fleet.

The tug will be built to a RAstar-2800 design of the Canadian naval architecture and marine engineering firm, Robert Allan LTD.

Following the contract signing ceremony held in Misurata, the tug will be built in Med Marine’s Eregli Shipyard in Turkey’s Zonguldak region.

The RAstar designed MED-A2885 technical details are:

Bollard Pull: 85 TBP
Free Running Speed: 12 knots
Complement: 8 persons
Length, overall: 28,40 metres
Breadth, moulded: 13,00 metres
Depth, moulded: 5,40 metres
Draft, extreme: 5,70 metres

Med Marine’s General Manager, Mrs. Yıldız Bozkurt said the MED-A2885 has been proven in both model and full-scale testing to provide significantly enhanced escort towing performance.

Med Marine is a leading Turkish shipbuilder and tugboat operator. The firm operates the Eregli Shipyard, one of the largest shipyards in Turkey, and has successfully completed the construction and delivery of almost 200 projects, including tugboats, chemical/oil tankers, mooring and pilot boats.

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Updates and revisions to several MSC Africa services

MSC North Europe to South Africa Service (NWC)

With effect having already taken place, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has revised its NWC to South Africa service.

As part of the new service schedule, MSC has revised its port rotation in Northern Europe and will call at Cape Town on the Northbound leg in order to improve transit times and schedule reliability.

“MSC will continue to serve its customers in the Mediterranean via Sines and Las Palmas, ensuring quick and reliable connections at both transshipment ports.”

The first vessel on the revised rotation is MSC LILY, voyage NZ302A, which had an ETA at Rotterdam on 9 January 2023.

The new rotation is as follows:

Rotterdam – London Gateway – Antwerp – Hamburg – Le Havre – Sines – Las Palmas – Ngqura – Durban – Cape Town – Las Palmas – Rotterdam

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MSC Angola Service

Boosting connections between Angola, Namibia and their key trade markets

MSC has announced that in order to expand its Sub Saharan Africa network, the company is reshuffling its Angola Service, offering Pointe-Noire, Congo Republic (CR), and Matadi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as from January 2023.

According to MSC the offering of Pointe-Noire on the Angola service will represent a significant advantage for Asia and India markets in the region. The Congolese port will serve as a key transshipment hub for cargo destinated to Angola and Namibia. Stopping the transship via Lomé will reduce by 11 days the transit time to the main Angolan port of Luanda, and Namibe, as well as Walvis Bay in Namibia.

Covering Pointe-Noire on the Angola service, also represents new business opportunities for cargo coming from North Europe and the Mediterranean. Cargo from the main cities of these markets will transship via Lomé, Togo and be directly discharged to CR and DRC.

MSC says the interconnectivity between Angola and Namibia and its key trade markets will strengthen Intra-Africa and international trade. “This will support Africa to also enhance trade networks within the continent and support local and regional economies.”

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Africa Express Service

see shared map above

The opening of new markets: Congo Republic (CR) with Pointe Noire, and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with Matadi.

The first sailing from Asia to Pointe-Noire, on the Africa Express service, was on 4 January 2023 from Xingang with the MSC VIRGO, voyage FY301. This enables a direct connection with China, South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia. India will be connected to Pointe-Noire via transshipment Colombo.

Additionally, Pointe-Noire will be added on the Angola service (see above), serving as a transshipment call for cargo from Asia to Angola calling Luanda and Namibe ports, and Walvis Bay in Namibia. MSC will additionally be able to ship cargo from Europe via transshipment to Lomé, Togo, to CR and DRC.

MSC will also open a feeder service between Pointe-Noire (CR) and Matadi (DRC). MSC will offer Democratic Republic of Congo the possibility to connect with the Asian, European and Indian markets.

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Added 17 January 2023

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GENERAL NEWS REPORTS – UPDATED THROUGH THE DAY

in partnership with – APO

More News at https://africaports.co.za/category/News/

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THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

A new year means a new chapter. We hope 2023 is an incredible part of your story.

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EXPECTED SHIP ARRIVALS and SHIPS IN PORT

Port Louis – Indian Ocean gateway port

Ports & Ships publishes regularly updated SHIP MOVEMENT reports including ETAs for ports extending from West Africa to South Africa to East Africa and including Port Louis in Mauritius.

In the case of South Africa’s container ports of Durban, Ngqura, Ports Elizabeth and Cape Town links to container Stack Dates are also available.

You can access this information, including the list of ports covered, by  CLICKING HERE remember to use your BACKSPACE to return to this page.

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CRUISE NEWS AND NAVAL ACTIVITIES

QM2 in Cape Town. Picture by Ian Shiffman

We publish news about the cruise industry here in the general news section.

Naval News

Similarly you can read our regular Naval News reports and stories here in the general news section.

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