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TODAY’S BULLETIN OF MARITIME NEWS

Week commencing 10 July 2023.  Click on headline to go direct to story : use the BACK key to return.    Pages viewed in the previous week Sunday to Saturday: 63,918 

Friday 14 July is Bastille Day.  We wish our French readers a happy National Day

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FIRST VIEW:  Ngqura and MSC Catania

• UPDATE: Richards Bay Terminals fully operational again
• Richards Bay port at virtual standstill following ‘stop work’ order
• WHARF TALK: SA Port Statistics for June 2023
• WHARF TALK: multi-purpose construction and diving support vessel SEVEN PEGASUS
• In conversation: Tanzania’s gas boom that never was – when local hopes are dashed by global realities
• Tackling of marine plastic litter: IMO FAO collaboration
• Xeneta: Emissions fall on key ocean freight lanes in 2023
• New Transnet Board appointed
• WHARF TALK: cable laying vessel – NIWA
• Torching of trucks an act of economic sabotage says Transport Minister
• Gulf of Guinea: Resurgence of maritime piracy and armed robbery
• TRADE NEWS: Thordon applies seal-embedded bearing involving no drydocking
• Nigeria to destroy tanker laden with stolen oil
• WHARF TALK: multi-purpose heavylift cargo vessel – DA DAN XIA
• Over 300 migrants missing at sea between Senegal and Canary Islands
• More trucks stopped and set alight on national roads
• Uganda-Tanzania oil pipeline under more pressure
• New Northern Cape rail crossing loop leads to increased manganese export volumes
• WHARF TALK: Capesize gearless bulk carrier – CAPE GENESIS
• In Conversation: Somaliland- Berbera city’s growth is being held back by a power supply monopoly
• Timely Reminder: African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is essential
• NIMASA has lost focus, says NISA chairman 
• Two new Mobile Cranes for Port of Maputo
• Dois novos guindastes móveis para o Porto de Maputo
• WHARF TALK: MR2 product tanker – NEUTRON SOUND
• IMO Latest: Revised GHG reduction strategy adopted
• Service Update: CMA CGM to launch TURAF EXPRESS service connecting Turkey, Malta and Algeria
• Lobito Corridor aims at 1.5 million tons freight in three years
• Service Update: MOL Proficiency to omit Cape Town call
• Maritime security: Expanding skills in Africa and the Indian Ocean
• MPA Singapore and Lloyd’s Register sign ‘Silk Alliance’ MoU

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

Masthead:  PORT OF CAPE TOWN

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FIRST VIEW:  Ngqura and MSC Catania – a date shared

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UPDATE: Richards Bay Terminals fully operational again

Operations have resumed at the Transnet Richards Bay Terminals following the lifting of a notice to comply with the clearing of waste tyres and a stockpile of mineral bulk waste within the terminals’ premises.

The terminals presented an implementation plan to the Transnet National Ports Authority and said some of the environmental management commitments contained in the plan are already in progress.

Transnet however is urging transporters companies to continue holding back further dispatching of trucks until further notice, which it says will be communicated.

Trucking companies are likewise requested to make use of the mandatory truck booking system to ensure that trucks do not all call the terminals at the same time.

In the statement, the Richards Bay Terminals said it would like to apologise to all stakeholders for the inconvenience the temporary closure has caused.

“We are grateful for the partnership and understanding that customers have demonstrated during this time.”

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Added 15 July 2023 17h35

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Richards Bay port at virtual standstill following ‘stop work’ order

The Port of Richards Bay is this weekend unable to conduct any cargo working at the Richards Bay Terminals, operated by Transnet Port Terminals, because of certain unspecified environmental matters.

According to a statement issued by Transnet on behalf of Richards Bay terminals, which is responsible for the dry bulk and multi-purpose operations at the Zululand port, all cargo and other working has come to a halt over the instruction.

“While the terminals have immediately responded with a program of action to urgently address the raised matter, operations have been ceased with immediate effect,” the statement reads.

“The terminals would like to hereby request that all transporters suspend all truck dispatches to the terminals.”

According to an internal memorandum, the terminals were served with a Non-Compliance Stop Work Certificate.

This order to suspend operations does not apply to the railed coal exports at Richards Bay Coal Terminal, which is served only by rail. No road truck deliveries are made to RBCT.

The stop-work order has exacerbated the massive challenges the port is facing with hundreds of laden trucks arriving to deliver coal and other minerals at the dry bulk terminals or to the multi-purpose terminal section.

“TNPA has urged transporters to halt the dispatching of trucks to the Port until the terminal operator complies with the conditions of the stop certificate,” the document states.

The port and town surrounds have been grappling with the dramatic increase in the number of road trucks arriving with minerals for export via the port, which has become a serious problem that developed after Transnet Freight Rail was unable to deliver by rail the expected volumes made available by the mines.

TFR’s own problems arose with a shortage of locomotives and from several derailments that have seen coal export annual volumes decrease from the mid 60s to barely 50 million tons. Current exports if annualised will show a further decrease this year to below the 50mt mark.

Derailment on the SA-Maputo rail corridor

An as-yet unconfirmed report says that a derailment has occurred on the single track line from South Africa to the port at Maputo, shutting the line until it can be cleared and repaired.

The report says the derailment occurred near Waterval Boven which readers will recall is where road trucks were stopped and torched last Sunday. The train accident, if this report is correct, took place on the same Sunday.

Further down the road severe congestion at the Lebombo border crossing continues, with trucks backed up along the road stretching almost 20 kilometres and subsequent delays in crossing the border. The majority of trucks are carrying minerals and ores for export through the Mozambican port.

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Added 15 July 2023

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Wharf Talk: SA Port Statistics for June 2023

By Africa Ports & Ships
Port statistics for the month of June 2023, 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 as well as included in tonnage on the basis of 1 tonne per unit.

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

Port Statistics continue below

Figures for the respective ports during June 2023 are:

Total cargo handled by tonnes during June 2023, including containers by weight

PORT	June 2023 million tonnes
Richards Bay	7.747
Durban	8.160
Saldanha Bay	4.445
Cape Town	1.183
Port Elizabeth	1.358
Ngqura	1.636
Mossel Bay	0.119
East London	0.136
Total all ports	24.784 million tonnes

CONTAINERS (measured by TEUs) during June 2023
(TEUs include Deepsea, Coastal, Transship and empty containers all subject to being invoiced by NPA

PORT	June 2023 TEUs
Durban	236,148
Cape Town	56,232
Port Elizabeth	18,397
Ngqura	62,131
East London	3,751
Richards Bay	5
Total all ports	376,759 TEU

MOTOR VEHICLES RO-RO TRAFFIC (measured by Units- CEUs) during June 2023

PORT	June 2023 CEUs
Durban	39,928
Cape Town	4
Port Elizabeth	9,781
East London	7,313
Richards Bay	–
Total all ports	57,018

SHIP CALLS for June 2023

PORT	June 2023 vessels	gross tons
Durban	248	8,667,811
Cape Town	121	2,936,081
Richards Bay	119	5,181,000
Port Elizabeth	86	2,100,833
Saldanha Bay	53	3,444,129
Ngqura	69	2,917,535
East London	21	668,580
Mossel Bay	17	154,772
Total ship calls	734	26,070,741

— source TNPA, with adjustments regarding container weights by

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Added 14 July 2023

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WHARF TALK: multi-purpose construction and diving support vessel SEVEN PEGASUS

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

Despite current environmental hand-wringing about the future uses of fossil fuels, the development of offshore oil and gas fields continues virtually unabated. Nothing has changed in that the only outcome of these development programmes will be the extraction of both oil and gas for uses worldwide.

The net result for the casual marine observer is the ongoing visits of the vast, and diverse, fleets of offshore oil and gas industry construction and support vessels. Some are calling in for annual scheduled maintenance requirements that require drydock facilities, whilst other are calling in for shoreside engineering assistance for non-scheduled maintenance issues that cannot be resolved in areas such as West Africa.

The majority of recent offshore oil and gas vessel calls have been for those vessels that are transiting between contracts. The ongoing development of deepwater offshore oil and gas fields in Brazil and West Africa in the Atlantic Ocean region, and in India and Australia in the Indian Ocean region, means that specialised construction and diving support vessels are regular callers as they pass the Cape, en route to the next job, and are in need of bunkers, stores and engineering support before they get there.

On 5th July, at 08h00 in the morning, the offshore multi-purpose construction and diving support vessel SEVEN PEGASUS (IMO 9392509) arrived off Cape Town, from Luanda in Angola, and entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock and going alongside the Eastern Mole, as expected, where she began taking on lubricating oil and stores. The next day she shifted across the Duncan Dock to the Passenger Cruise Terminal, at E berth, where presumably a major crew change was to be undertaken.

Built in 2008 by IHC Merwede Scheepswerf BV at Hardinxveld in Holland, ‘Seven Pegasus’ is 132 metres in length and has a deadweight of 9,300 tons. She is powered by four MAN-B&W 9L27/38 nine cylinder four stroke main engines producing 3,983 bhp (2,970 kW) each, and driving two stern Wärtsilä FS300 azimuth, nozzled, thrusters producing 3,000 kW each, for a service speed of 13 knots.

As a diving support vessel, ‘Seven Pegasus’ is unusual in that she has not one, but two, emergency generators. She has a single Caterpillar C9 ACERT emergency generator providing 232 kW for ship services, and a Caterpillar 3508B emergency generator providing 968 kW for onboard diving systems.

For added manoeuvrability ‘Seven Pegasus’ has a forward Wärtsilä CS200 retractable azimuth thruster providing 1,200 kW, and she has two bow Rolls-Royce Ulstein TT2200 transverse thrusters providing 1,335 kW each.

Her suite of five thrusters means that she has the highest category of Dynamic Positioning classification, namely DP3, which is provided by a Kongsberg K-POS DP-21 system. The system maintains positional stability using inputs from three DGPS systems, three Gyro Compasses, three wind sensors, three motion reference systems, two Taut Wire systems, a HiPAP system, and a Fanbeam system.

Her working deck area is 1,200 m2, based on dimensions of 66 metres long, and 21 metres in width, and has a cargo capacity of 4,000 tons, on a deck strength of 5 tons/m2. Her major deck crane is a Huisman heave compensated crane with a lifting capacity of 400 tons, and capable of operating down to 3,000 metres.

Subsea operations can be carried using two, side by side, moonpools with dimensions of 3.9 metres by 3.9 metres. She operates with up to two Working Remote Operating Vehicles (WROV), and for diving operations she has a twin bell, 18 person, saturation diving system capable of operating down to depths of 300 metres.

With accommodation for up to 131 persons, ‘Seven Pegasus’ has four standard lifeboats. Again, in support of her diving operations, she also has two, 18 man, hyperbaric lifeboats for transfer of divers still in saturation should the need arise to abandon the vessel. The lifeboats are sealed, and are designed to maintain the divers in decompression.

Designed by IHC as a Type 22 series support vessel, ‘Seven Pegasus’ was originally built for the Toisa Group, and managed by Sealion Shipping as ‘Toisa Pegasus’. On the collapse of the Toisa Group in 2009, she was purchased by the Subsea 7 Group, and renamed to her present name.
She is now owned by Subsea 7 SA, of Luxembourg, operated by Subsea 7 Offshore Resources (UK) Ltd., of Sutton in Surrey, and managed by Subsea 7 International Contracting Ltd., also of Sutton, which lies just to the south of London.

Prior to arriving in Cape Town from Angola, ‘Seven Pegasus’ was operating in the Kizomba field, which lies in Block 15, some 90 nautical miles offshore. Working for the American oil company Esso, which started life as Standard Oil (whose initials were S O, hence phonetically ESS OH), ‘Seven Pegasus’ was contracted to tieback 16 flowlines, over a distance of 27 nautical miles, from the Saxi-Batuque subsea satellite field, and terminate them at the FPSO ‘Kizomba C’ which lies in 810 metres of water.

Operating out of the oil port of Soyo in Northern Angola, ‘Seven Pegasus’ was also contracted by Cabinda Gulf Oil Co. Ltd. (CABGOC) to begin construction and installation of the subsea structure for the Sanha Lean Gas Connection (SLGC) project, which lies in Block 0/14, some 26 nautical miles offshore in 70 metres of water. When completed the Lean Gas Platform (LGP) will produce 480 million cubic feet (mcf) of natural gas per day, which will be piped ashore to the Sanha LNG plant in Soyo. The subsea structures were to be completed in 2023.

By late on the 6th July, ‘Seven Pegasus’ was ready to sail, and her aft working deck was fully loaded. However, she did not depart for her next destination, as it transpired that she was first required to carry out a comprehensive set of sea trials beforehand. At 2100 in the evening of 6th July, she sailed into Table Bay with her AIS showing ‘Sea Trials’. She remained out in the bay for the next three and a half days, and finally at 1400 on 10th July, she sailed out of Table Bay, with her AIS updated, and now bound for Port Louis, in Mauritius.

This is not likely to be the last we see of ‘Seven Pegasus’ as she is due back in Angola in 2024. The oil company, Azule Energy, have contracted Subsea 7 for the Agogo Integrated West Hub development. The requirement will be to lay 53 nautical miles of flexible pipes, and 16 nautical miles of umbilicals from subsea infrastructure lying in water depths of 1,700 metres.

The Agogo field lies in Block 15/06, some 97 nautical miles offshore, and the subsea infrastructure will tie back to the FPSO ‘N’Goma’, which will be operated by the Italian oil company ENI. The Agogo field is expected to produce 100,000 barrels of oil per day (bbld), and also 115 million cubic feet (mcf) of natural gas per day. The FPSO ‘N’Goma’ is a conversion from a VLCC supertanker, launched in 1976 as the ‘Esso Bilbao’, and previously used in another Block 15 oil field, for an eight year period, and previously known as FPSO ‘Xikomba’.

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In conversation: Tanzania’s gas boom that never was – when local hopes are dashed by global realities

Aidan Barlow, University of Bath

Rising international commodity prices can shape or reshape the fortunes of places. When large mining and oil and gas prospectors suddenly show an interest, a remote area can become a resource frontier – a place that’s far from the socioeconomic centre of a country but important to its economy.

High commodity prices throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s resulted in new regions of the world being explored for hydrocarbons. One of these areas was off the shore of southern Tanzania, in Mtwara.

Between 2010 and 2015, Mtwara went from a backward periphery to the forefront of Tanzania’s gas sector.

Mtwara is a region in the far south of Tanzania, on the border with Mozambique. Historically, it has been geographically isolated through poor infrastructure from the rest of Tanzania. The local population has felt overlooked by both colonial and postcolonial governments, with the southern regions historically performing more poorly than their northern counterparts.

My research in Mtwara explored people’s expectations in response to the extraction of natural gas, and how factors like commodity price cycles and mining life cycles influenced the political economy of development – in short, the way that politics and economics interact and affect each other.

It became clear during my research that the gas industry was expected to speed up development in Mtwara. The imagined future of Mtwara changed from moderate expectations to one of increased wealth and prosperity.

In effect, the creation of a resource frontier changed expectations of what development would bring for people on the frontier, and how quickly it would happen.

These expectations were not met. Natural gas prices fell from US$16 per million metric British thermal unit (MMBtu) in 2009 to US$4 MMBtu in 2017. Oil and gas companies mostly lost interest in Mtwara and related sectors collapsed.

Remnants of the expected boom, such as half-built hotels, higher food prices and a more reliable electricity supply, remain. But many of the jobs have gone.

This research adds to an understanding of how natural resources interact with development. In Mtwara, it was less the resources themselves that caused the boom, but rather the anticipation of a future gas boom. When it failed to materialise, the area suffered a very real bust. This possibility is something that resource-based development strategies need to take into account before major extraction even takes place.

The anticipation

In Mtwara in 2018, I interviewed a variety of people, ranging from local business leaders, politicians and community leaders to villagers and people who used to work in the supply sector to the gas industry, about how development had been influenced by the gas sector. Be it discussions around the 2013/14 pipeline protests (against the construction of a pipeline transporting gas from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam) or electricity infrastructure being built, it quickly became obvious that everybody, in one way or another, had a story to tell in relation to gas.

But the interviews made it obvious that two communities in particular were affected by the gas sector: local businesses, and people living closest to the onshore extraction sites, in an area called Mnazi Bay.

I found that people expected natural gas to cause an economic uplift, and it was this that prompted considerable investment in the region.

Investment focused on supply sectors. Mtwara lacked any internationally certified hotels, catering companies or other amenities for oil and gas staff. Real estate and construction also rode this wave of investment.

Politics also influenced this. The ruling party in Tanzania, CCM, harped on this promise during the 2010 general election. The party’s campaign slogan – “Mtwara will be the new Dubai!” – was repeated to me throughout my time in Mtwara.

Mtwara became a frontier for international and domestic capital. A future fuelled by hydrocarbon wealth seemed assured.

Alongside political promises, the communities of Mnazi Bay had the impression that the gas industry was already having a positive economic impact. Roads were being improved, electricity infrastructure was becoming more reliable and expanded, and people were getting jobs in supply sectors for natural gas. They expected this to continue, and to obtain compensation for land being used by the gas sector.

Within just a few years, Mtwara’s economic prospects and imagined future had been dramatically entwined with international gas prices.

The reality

But by 2015, the gas prices that had made Mtwara a resource frontier in the early 2010s had reversed. The sectors that had done well during the presumed boom were hit the hardest.

Hotels that were constructed to accommodate high paying oil and gas employees now had to change their business model and cater to lower-paid locals and seasonal cashew traders. Cashews were the bedrock of the local economy before the discovery of natural gas. A number of half-built hotels remain across the city, particularly along the coastline.

In my interviews, villagers close to the onshore extraction tended to discuss development going at a slower pace than during the “boom”. Sacrifices, such as giving land to gas infrastructure, did not result in increased development, and many jobs turned out to be temporary construction work that disappeared with the bust.

What’s more, the industry left environmental effects such as pollution and destruction of cash crops.

An unwritten social contract had been broken.

Perceptions of what gas could bring in the future changed. Gone was the belief that gas would accelerate development. The pace of development was seen to have returned to “normal”, meaning the pace before the discovery of gas.

The economic potential is still there, but the low global prices of the late 2010s ensured that the sector would not play a role in economic growth.

The changing energy landscape

Historically, Mtwara had been at the margins of the global economy, acting as a supplier of raw cashew nuts. With the discovery of natural gas, the region suddenly changed into an “energy frontier”, opening it to considerable investment from both domestic and international capital. Rapid changes in the energy landscape can create and recreate frontiers quickly, and change the lives of those who live in such frontier regions.

Since this research has taken place, there has been considerable change in the energy landscape. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed up gas prices, and European leaders have begun to see Africa as a potential source of natural gas. There is once again the “potential” to create Mtwara into a true resource frontier. But it remains to be seen if such rising prices recreate excitement on the ground.

Aidan Barlow, Lecturer, Department of Social & Policy Sciences Centre for Development Studies, University of Bath

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

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Tackling of marine plastic litter: IMO FAO collaboration

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

The GloLitter Partnerships Project, implemented by IMO in collaboration with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has been the first global project focused on marine litter from sea-based sources, to follow these steps. It has supported ten lead partner countries and twenty partner countries. Seven National Action Plans (NAPs)* have been published which address marine plastic litter from shipping and fisheries – and others are in the final stages, it is understood.

Annexe of IMO MEPC

Amparo Perez-Roda, Fisheries Officer in charge of pollution from fishing operations, Technology and Operations Team, Fisheries and Aquaculture Division of FAO, told a side event held on 5 July alongside the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 80) session that abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear is a key source of marine plastic litter.

As a country with ‘small islands and big oceans’, with many fishing boats in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the process has been challenging in Vanuatu, according to Lloyd Fikiasi, Deputy Commissioner International / Legal Affairs, Vanuatu Maritime Safety Authority, and GloLitter National Focal Point in Vanuatu. He highlighted the need to get all relevant national agencies involved, including shipping and fisheries.

Plan by Madagascar

Madagascar was one of the first countries to develop its National Action Plan under the project.

Adonis Tafangy, Head of Madagascar Delegation, Director of Legal Affairs, International and Environmental Affairs, Port Maritime and Waterways Agency of Madagascar, reiterated the need to have all stakeholders involved.

Tafangy highlighted the challenge of collecting data in the first instance, such as identifying the number of fishing vessels with licences to fish off Madagascar, and of finding out whether fishing gear was imported or manufactured locally. Asked about how to address the issue of discarded fishing nets being thrown overboard, he commented: ‘This is addressed in the National Action Plan. It is about regulation – and about awareness and promotion of good practices.’

Broad funding base

GloLitter Partnerships Project brings together IMO and FAO, with funding support from the Government of Norway and contributions from the Governments of Australia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Tamara Barabadze, GloLitter Partnerships Project Manager, Department of Partnerships and Projects at IMO, said the GloLitter Project has seen countries commit on a significant scale to the importance of addressing sea-based litter on global, regional and national levels, which has resulted in a growing portfolio of ongoing and planned IMO-FAO joint projects in this area.

ROK support

The RegLitter project (2023-2027), supported by the Government of the Republic of Korea, will focus on Asia region countries, supporting the implementation of National Action Plans developed under GloLitter. It will assist other countries in the region to develop and implement their own National Action Plans, and initiate pilot projects on the assessment of marine plastic litter categories and quantities whilst supporting more regional partnerships.

Building on achievements

The Plastic Reduction in the Oceans: Sustaining and Enhancing Actions on Sea-based Sources (PRO-SEAS) project is currently under development with support from the Global Environmental Facility through FAO. The plan is that it will run between 2025 and 2029. If confirmed, the aim is to build on GloLitter achievements and to support five or six countries to implement already existing National Action Plans.

PRO-SEAS will aim to bring a new dimension by using the circular economy approach, connecting shipping and fisheries agencies with national waste management systems to ensure sustainable management of plastic waste from sea-based sources. PRO-SEAS will aim to support research to estimate categories and amounts of marine plastic litter in the selected countries.

* For more information on Global Action Plans readers are invited to SEE HERE

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Xeneta: Emissions fall on key ocean freight lanes in 2023

 

But commitment required from carrier segment

This industry analysis reflects the situation on the world’s major trade lanes, which excludes shipping to and from Africa. The report nevertheless has some interest for services to the continent.

The latest industry analysis from Xeneta shows that CO2 emissions from the container industry fell during the first quarter of 2023 across 10 of the world’s busiest 13 ocean freight lanes. According to the Carbon Emissions Index (CEI), a unique environmental benchmarking tool from Xeneta and Marine Benchmark, the trade corridor making the biggest emissions inroads was the US West Coast to the Far East lane, while Yang Ming emerged as the industry’s ‘emissions hero’ for the second consecutive quarter.

Enabling transparency

The CEI is built on a foundation of real-time AIS data and individual vessel specifications, allowing it to track and calculate environmental performance per ton of cargo carried across the sector’s busiest trade routes*. It uses a baseline score of 100 to assess carriers in relation to the trade lane average at the start of 2018.

Those scores, comments Emily Stausbøll, Xeneta Shipping Analyst, showed quarterly improvements on many trades for the start of 2023. However, Stausbøll cautions over whether this trend is “here to stay”, noting that it’s perhaps not just environmental commitment that is lowering the CEI scores.

“Global shippers looking to shrink the carbon footprints of their logistics chains will be delighted to see some meaningful falls in emissions on key freight corridors,” she comments. “And, in the aftermath of MEPC 80 and the IMO’s accelerated GHG commitments, such improvements should certainly be applauded. But the question is, what happens when the market improves? Will we see commercial considerations trump environmental ones? Time will tell how committed individual carriers are here.”

Slow progress?

Stausbøll says that much of the improvements are down to carriers reducing speeds, which delivers fuel efficiency gains while also allowing them to cater for considerably lower demand in a subdued macroeconomic climate. The US West Coast to the Far East lane (a backhaul) saw a speed reduction of almost 1 knot, which, when combined with an increase in vessel sizes and a stable filling factor, enabled a 11.3% CEI improvement from Q4 2022.

She adds: “We’re also seeing several alliances add capacity to services, for example when newbuilds are coming on line, and then slow down the speeds of deployed ships. This allows them to add the vessels without increasing capacity in real-terms (due to the slower transit times). This strategy, it’s fair to say, is driven by business rather than environmental considerations.”

Xeneta’s data shows that only three trades increased speeds across the quarter, and that all were fronthaul routes, namely; from the Far East to North Europe and to the US East Coast, and from North Europe to the US East Coast. Of the 13 leading corridors the only ones to show an increase in quarterly CEI scores, and therefore emissions, were North Europe to the Far East and to the US East Coast, and from the Mediterranean to the US East Coast.

The right balance

Despite the favorable current trend, there’s a mixed long-term perspective, with four trades actually recording worse CEI scores in Q1 2023 than in Q1 2018. The Mediterranean to US East Coast trade is “bottom of the barrel” with a 13.6% higher CEI. At the other end of the scale, the “star performer” is the Far East to the US East Coast corridor, with a 21.2% improvement for the same period.

“In general, we are seeing some positive steps forward,” Stausbøll states, “with many carriers getting just the right balance of vessel speed, size and filling factor. In particular, there’s good news for the many exporters out of the Far East, with the top five trades from the region all showing significant improvements over Q1 2018. None of these trades had a CEI above 91 – in other words, an improvement of at least 9% since the index was introduced.”

Yang Ming leads the way

The best individual carrier, Stausbøll concludes, is Yang Ming, which also recorded the best CEIs in Q4 2022. The Taiwanese giant was the cleanest carrier (when measured by CO2 emitted per ton of cargo carried) on three trades, with OOCL and HMM securing the top spot on two trades a piece.

She notes: “Yang Ming was the only major carrier to score below the trade lane average on all the trades where it deployed ships. It also sailed younger ships than the trade lane averages and, importantly, sailed slower.

“With the environment so high on the agenda – for customers and financers, as well as regulators – the commercial argument for this kind of commitment is almost as strong as the environmental one. If more carriers can follow Yang Ming’s lead, then it’s a strategy that could really pay dividends, in more ways than one.”

To learn more visit: www.xeneta.com/products/cei

* Note: The CEI covers 13 main trade corridors:

Far East – Mediterranean; Far East – North Europe; Far East – S. America E. Coast; Far East – US East Coast; Far East – US West Coast; Mediterranean – Far East; Mediterranean – US East Coast; North Europe – Far East; North Europe – S. America E. Coast; North Europe – US East Coast; US East Coast – Mediterranean; US East Coast – North Europe; US West Coast – Far East.

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New Transnet Board appointed

Africa Ports & Ships

The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has announced a new board of directors for state freight rail, port and pipeline company, Transnet.

The new board will include nine new appointments as well as two re-appointments who are expected to serve for a three year term.

“As the Government’s shareholder representative, it gives me great pleasure to announce these new appointments as they will ensure strategic alignment in Transnet’s pursuit of its mandate as a key lever and driver of our economic engine, development and transformation,” said DPE minister, Pravin Gordhan.

“These appointments will put Transnet on a firm strategic path that provides critical expertise, experience and acumen for Transnet to optimally and strategically execute on its roadmap, business plan, improve governance and optimise performance.”

The new appointments are:

Andile Sangqu is the new chairperson of the board. Sangqu is the former Vice President of the Minerals Council South Africa and former Executive Head for Anglo American.
Lebogang Letsoalo is a global supply chain coach and CEO of Sincpoint.
Martin Debel is an Executive Director at Experion Global.
Dipak Patel joined the South African Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) in June 2021 as Head: Climate Finance and Innovation.
Busisa Jiya is the CEO of Association for Savings and Investment SA (Asisa).
Mosadiwamaretlwe Pearl Zambane is a legal consultant.
Boitumelo Sedupane is an Executive Committee member.
Refilwe Buthelezi is the current President of the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA).
Elias Monage, National Collective Bargaining Negotiator for NUMSA.
Returning to the board is former board chairperson Dr Popo Molefe.
National Security Advisor to the President, Dr Sydney Mufamadi also returns to the board.

The Transnet Board will now have 13 directors comprising 11 Non-Executive Directors and two Executive Directors, being the GCE and GCFO.

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WHARF TALK: cable laying vessel – NIWA

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

Cable vessels are a bit like London buses. You see none for quite a while, and then two of them turn up at once. Due to its unique geographical position, Cape Town is the location of a major standby base for a Cable Ship, whose role is to sail at any time required to repair, or service, submarine telecommunications cables that route along the East and West coast of Africa. In that respect, seeing a Cable Ship in harbour is not unique, as previously reported in Africa Ports & Ships.

South Africa’s position of being one of the most modern, industrialised, and developed, nations in Africa means that her trans-continental telecommunications requirements are huge. South African industry depends on good communications, and every facet of life in South Africa depends on it too. Despite some folk thinking that they don’t use international communications, and therefore submarine cables are not important to them, don’t realise that every time they log on to the internet, they are likely to be tapping into a submarine cable.

The outcome of that is that any submarine telecommunications cable that is being routed to Africa, from Europe, the Middle East, Far East, or merely within Africa, will always come ashore at one of the five cable landing stations (CLS) located around the South African coast, a number which is the most CLS that any African nation possesses. This is yet another indicator of how important such cables are to South Africa.

In recent months, and years, there have been a number of new submarine cables coming ashore in South Africa. Some from Europe which have terminated on the West coast, and some from the Indian Ocean rim which have terminated on the East coast. One of them is designed to connect to the whole of Africa, circumnavigating the entire continent, and is still in the process of being completed elsewhere on the continent. It is so crucial to South Africa that it has had no less than four cable landings, and this submarine cable system is known as 2-Africa.

On 7th July, at 08h00 in the morning, the cable vessel NIWA (IMO 8819029) arrived off Cape Town, from Reunion Island, and entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock and going alongside the Passenger Cruise Terminal at E berth. Such a berth indicated that a major crew change was about to be undertaken, as well as the usual stores and bunkers uplift.

Built in 1991 by Far East Shipbuilding Industries in Singapore, ‘Niwa’ is 146 metres in length and has a deadweight of 7,892 tons. She has diesel electric propulsion and is powered by two Wärtsilä 16V32 sixteen cylinder four stroke main engines, each producing 5,500 bhp (4,100 kW) to provide power to electric motors which drive two stern KaMeWa Azimuth 2800 propellers for a service speed of 14 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three Wärtsilä 9R32D generators providing 3,160 kW each. For added manoeuvrability she has two bow KaMeWa TT2400 transverse thrusters. Her combination of stern azimuth thrusters, and double bow thrusters, gives ‘Niwa’ a dynamic positioning classification of DP2, with all inputs controlled by a Kongsberg DP21 system.

For her cable laying, and cable maintenance, operations ‘Niwa’ is fitted with three cable tanks, with a capacity of 3,258 m3, and capable of holding a weight of 6,098 tons. She also has a reserve cable tank which holds 164 m3 of spare cable. She also has an onboard capacity for the storage of over 100 cable repeaters.

She carries a Scarab II Remote Operating Vehicle (ROV), capable of operating down to a depth of 2,500 metres, and operates a Sea Plough, capable of burying submarine cables to a depth of 2 metres beneath the seabed, and operated via a stern ‘A Frame’. She has both stern sheaves, and bow sheaves, to assist in her cable operations.

One of three sisterships, all originally built for the American Transoceanic Cable Ship Co. Inc., of Baltimore in the USA, who were a subsidiary of the vast AT&T communications group, ‘Niwa’ has been owned, operated, and managed, by e-marine PJSC, of Dubai in the UAE, since 2004 and whose houseflag logo is proudly displayed on her hull, and on her funnel. She has accommodation for 138 persons, has an endurance of 60 days, and a range of 10,000 nautical miles.

Over the past few years, many of the Indian Ocean submarine cable networks have been laid by ‘Niwa’. In 2018 she laid the Mauritius to Rodrigues Submarine (MARS) cable system, over a distance of 380 nautical miles. This cable was laid under the auspices of the Chinese Huawei Marine Networks, in order to boost internet connectivity with high speed, large capacity, bandwidth between both Islands.

In 2022 ‘Niwa’ was engaged in the laying, and connecting, of two major submarine communications cable networks. The first system she worked on was The East African Marine System (TEAMS), linking the United Arab Emirates and Kenya, and incorporated the laying of a 2,650 nautical mile long fibre optic cable between Fujairah and Mombasa.

She then moved on to the laying of the connecting spoke line of the Pakistan East Africa Cable Express (PEACE) system, which links Pakistan and Kenya. The spoke line laid by ‘Niwa’ was a 975 nautical mile link from the main cable route to the Seychelles. This system is also a cable laid under the auspices of the Chinese Huawei Marine Networks, and was only the second ever submarine cable system to reach the Seychelles.

The main PEACE system also has links with Mogadishu, Hobyo and Bosaso in Somalia, with Djibouti, and with Kismayo in Kenya. The PEACE system also links in with a major submarine cable network that passes by Pakistan, and links Singapore with France, via the Red Sea, Suez Canal, and the Mediterranean Sea.

The current voyage of ‘Niwa’ to Cape Town started in the Seychelles back in April, where she was tasked to lay the connecting link from the main 2-Africa cable, to the Seychelles, where her arrival in that Indian Ocean island nation gave them their third submarine communication cable connection.

Once that link with the Seychelles was made, ‘Niwa’ then started completing the link connection from the main 2-Africa cable cross to Mogadishu. On completion of that link connection in late May, she returned to the Seychelles to uplift bunkers, before heading south for Reunion, and then on to Cape Town.

The 2-Africa cable has such importance to South Africa that it received no less than four connecting links, with landings made in December 2022 at the Cable Landing Stations (CLS) at Duynefontein and Yzerfontein in the Western Cape, in January 2023 at Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape, and in February at Amanzimtoti in KwaZulu-Natal.

The 2-Africa cable system is the longest submarine cable system in the world, at 24,500 nautical miles in length, and makes no less than 46 CLS connections in 33 countries, linking Africa with Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia. Africa alone has 27 CLS connections in 19 countries on the 2-Africa network. When fully operational it will bring with it a huge design capacity of 180 Tbps carried on 16 fibre optic pairs. The system is set to cost US$1 billion (ZAR18.48 billion).

After two and a half days alongside in Cape Town, ‘Niwa’ was ready to sail, and at 2000 in the early evening, she sailed from Cape Town, indicating on her AIS that her destination was simply an ‘Operational Point’. As to where this unknown ‘Operational Point’ is, seems to be offshore the Western Cape, well to the northwest of Saldanha Bay, and south abeam of Hondeklipbaai.

This area where she is currently working is where the main 2-Africa cable made its approach to the first CLS point in the Western Cape. It is assumed that ‘Niwa’ has been contracted by Alcatel, who landed the cable in the Western Cape back in December 2022, to conduct some maintenance work on the cable. Her AIS shows that she is stopped, and is displaying ‘Restricted Manoeuvrability’ on her AIS, which indicates she is working on a submarine cable.

An alternative scenario is that ‘Niwa’ has been tasked to conduct maintenance work on the Equiano cable, which is also in this area, and which was also landed by Alcatel at the CLS at Melkbosstrand in the Western Cape in August 2022. The Equiano system is a Google cable system, also costing US$1 billion (ZAR18.48 billion) and links Europe with the western side of Africa, and terminates in South Africa at Melkbosstrand. It was designed for internet use and has a design capacity of 150 Tbps carried on 12 fibre optic pairs.

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Torching of trucks an act of economic sabotage says Transport Minister

Africa Ports & Ships

In the aftermath of another report of trucks being stopped on national highways and burned out, South Africa’s Transport Minister, Sindisiwe Chikunga, said she was “gravely concerned” and described the acts as “economic sabotage”.

On late Sunday night and again on Monday trucks were stopped and torched at Van Reenen’s Pass on the N3 in KZN and on the N4 near Waterval Boven in Mpumalanga.

This was followed by news of trucks stopped and burnt in Limpopo province.

Next it was the turn of the N2 to be in the news for the wrong reasons, with another four trucks torched on Wednesday morning between the towns of Piet Retief and Ermelo.

The attacks, which appear to be nationally orchestrated, occurred on the second anniversary of a similar spate of torching of trucks two years ago, at the same time as wholesale riots and looting and burning of warehouses and shops in KZN and Gauteng.

These latest attacks have all occurred near places where trucks have previously been attacked.

In the current spate at least 20 trucks have been attacked and destroyed by fire.

“This is criminality that will not be tolerated. These criminals are committing an act of economic sabotage, which must attract the harshest penalties permissible in law,” said Chikunga.

She said South Africa’s road network is the lifeblood of the economy and transports valuable cargo that keeps the wheels of SA’s economy turning.

“We will not allow our roads to be used as an arena to commit crime,” she emphasised.

Truck owners and operators will recall similar statements being made two years ago, yet the attacks continue.

With the current state of the national railway, road transport is handling in excess of 80 per cent of the country’s freight, helping to clear or supply the ports and other areas of commerce of cargo that would otherwise clog the harbours and warehouses to a standstill.

Meanwhile, the situation has become so dire that the Mozambique government has issued advice to its citizens to avoid driving on South African roads at night.

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Gulf of Guinea: Resurgence of maritime piracy and armed robbery

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has raised concern on the resurgence of reported incidents in the Gulf of Guinea waters and the increase in incidents in the Singapore Straits in its mid-year report for 2023, released on 11 July.

Sixty-five incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were recorded in the first half of 2023, an increase from 58 incidents for the same period in 2022.

Of the 65 incidents reported, 57 vessels were boarded, four had attempted attacks, two were hijacked and two were fired upon. Perpetrators successfully boarded 90% of targeted vessels. Violence towards crew continues with 36 taken hostage, 14 kidnapped, three threatened, two injured and one assaulted.

“The resurgence in reported incidents including hostage situations and crew kidnappings in the Gulf of Guinea waters is concerning, said IMB Director Michael Howlett. “The IMB calls for continued, robust regional and international naval presence as a deterrent to address these crimes.”

Mounting concerns for crew in the Gulf of Guinea

The Gulf of Guinea witnessed a concerning surge in maritime incidents between Q1 and Q2 of 2023, with five incidents in the first quarter and nine in the second quarter. Out of these, 12 were classified as armed robberies and two as piracy, predominantly targeting anchored vessels in the region.

Fourteen crew were kidnapped, of which eight crew members were taken from vessels anchored within territorial waters. Additionally, in two separate hijackings, 31 crew members were held hostage, communication and navigation equipment were destroyed, and partial cargoes were stolen. One of these incidents also involved the abduction of six crew members.

The IMB warns of the rise of incidents and violence on crew, highlighting the urgent need for measures to address the safety and security of innocent seafarers.

Rising risks in Singapore Straits

While considered low level opportunistic crimes, often large vessels transiting through the Singapore Straits remain targeted and boarded, with a significant 25% increase in reported incidents compared to the same period last year in these congested waters. The IMB expresses concern and has requested that littoral states allocate the required resources to address these crimes as crew members continue to be at risk with weapons reported in at least eight incidents.

Reduction of incidents in the Indonesian archipelagic region

The Indonesian archipelagic region has shown a sustained decrease in reported incidents compared to years preceding 2020, with seven incidents reported, primarily involving anchored or berthed vessels. Crew members remain at risk, with instances of threats and knives reported.

South and Central America account for 14% of global incidents

In South and Central American ports, which accounted for 14% of global incidents, there were 13 reported incidents, including attempted boardings, hostage situations, and crew assaults and threats at Callao Anchorage in Peru, Colombia, Macapa Anchorage in Brazil, and Panama.

In order to request a copy of the 2023 – January to June – IMB Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships report readers are invited to CLICK HERE

To report an Incident / Contact IMB PRC

Ships are advised to maintain anti-piracy watches while transiting areas of high risk and report all piratical and armed robbery incidents including suspicious movements of boats and skiffs to the 24 hour manned IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

ICC IMB (Asia Regional Office)
PO Box 12559
Kuala Lumpur
50782, Malaysia

Tel: + 60 3 2078 5763
Fax: + 60 3 2078 5769
E-mail: imbkl@icc-ccs.org / piracy@icc-ccs.org

24 Hours Anti Piracy HELPLINE Tel: + 60 3 2031 0014

See also Report an Incident

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TRADE NEWS: Thordon applies seal-embedded bearing involving no drydocking

ThorPlas-Blue bearings installed in an articulating rudder with Thorseals in-situ
When a 9,280hp workboat returned to service following extensive repairs at the James Marine Paducah River Service yard in Kentucky, USA, it marked the first application of Thordon’s new seal-embedded bearing to an articulating rudder.

Articulating rudders are unlike conventional rudders and can be more costly to repair when things go wrong. They are more susceptible to wear and tear, due to the higher operating pressures and abrasives, and as a result, require a more robust bearing and seal solution.

For one marine transportation service provider in the United States, however, a key requirement was a grease-free bearing capable of increasing the intervals between dry dockings and reducing operational costs.

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

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Nigeria to destroy tanker laden with stolen oil

Africa Ports & Ships

Nigeria’s state-owned oil company, NNPC Ltd, said this week that a Nigerian owned and flagged tanker, the 965-dwt oil products tanker TURA II (IMO 6620462), which was caught after having loaded a cargo of stolen crude oil, will be ‘destroyed’.

The tanker, owned by Nigerian company Holab Maritime Services Ltd (Registration Number RC813311), was heading on 7 July to Cameroun with its cargo of 800,000 litres of stolen crude when it was intercepted offshore by Tantita Security, a private company engaged by NNPC.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the crude oil cargo onboard was illegally sourced from a well jacket offshore Ondo State, Nigeria. There was no valid documentation for the vessel or the crude oil cargo onboard at the time of the arrest.

Further investigation into the activities of the vessel have revealed that Tura II has been operating in stealth mode (AIS turned off and no reported port calls) for the last 12 years. The last reported location of the vessel was Tin Can Port in July 2011.

NNPC escalated details of this arrest and the outcomes of the investigations to the appropriate government authorities, following which was agree to destroy the vessel to serve as a strong warning and deterrent to all those participating in similar illegal activities.

NNPC said that destroying vessels involved in transporting stolen crude oil is of paramount importance as a strong deterrent.

“The illegal trade of stolen crude oil not only inflicts significant economic losses on Nigeria and legitimate stakeholders in the oil industry, but also perpetuates a cycle of corruption, environmental devastation, and social instability.”

In other related news, authorities discovered 64 illegal crude oil connections and 77 illegal refineries in the Niger Delta over the past week. All have been dismantled and destroyed.

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WHARF TALK: multi-purpose heavylift cargo vessel – DA DAN XIA

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

The use of Cape Town as a port of refuge, where all-comers are able to obtain urgent shoreside assistance of any sort, fresh food, water and bunkers, at any time of the day or night, is well known and documented, especially for those vessels that spend their time in, and around, West African ports. Most visiting vessels are pretty unassuming in themselves, not having any real interesting history, but every now and then there comes an arrival that has not just an interesting story to tell, but one that is full of intrigue, deception and subterfuge.

On 7th July, at 15h00 in the afternoon, the multi-purpose heavylift cargo vessel DA DAN XIA (IMO 9451290) arrived off the Table Bay anchorage, from Matadi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and went to anchor for a short seven hour period. At 22h00 that evening, she entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock and going alongside the Landing Wall. As always, berthing a vessel at the Landing Wall is indicative of her requiring some local engineering support. Taking on stores and bunkers is usually always added to that requirement.

Built in 2009 by Huanghai Shipbuilding at Rongcheng in China, ‘Da Dan Xia’ is 167 metres in length and has a deadweight of 28,451 tons. She is powered by a single STX MAN-B&W 6S40ME-B9 six cylinder two stroke main engine producing 9,261 bhp (6,899 kW), driving a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 14.2 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three Hanshin FE547A-8 generators providing 600 kW each, and a single Cummins 6CTA8.3D(M) emergency generator providing 120 kW. She has a single Zhangjiagang Greens-Shazhou CHM auxiliary boiler.

She has four holds, with MacGregor hatches, and with a cargo carrying capacity of 39,102 m3. She has a container carrying capacity of 1,685 TEU, and has deck plugs for 100 reefers. With a heavylift capability ‘Da Dan Xia’ has three NMF cranes to serve her four holds and deck cargo, with a 45 ton crane forward, and two 200 ton cranes, which are capable of a 400 ton lift when used in tandem. All three cranes are offset on the port side of the vessel.

One of five sisterships, known as a ‘Da Type 2 Class 2’ design, ‘Da Dan Xia’ is owned by Coscol Hong Kong Investment & Development Co. Ltd., of Guangzhou in China, and is managed by Cosco Shipping Specialised Carriers Co. ltd., also of Guangzhou. She is operated by Chipolbrok, as named on her hull, better known as the Chinese-Polish Joint Stock Shipping Co. Ltd., of Shanghai in China, whose houseflag is proudly displayed on the funnel of ‘Da Dan Xia’.

Chipolbrok first came into existence in 1951, and was the first ever joint venture established by the then newly established, and communist, People’s Republic of China. Originally having joint head offices in Tianjin in China, and Gdynia in Poland, as a Chinese-Polish Enterprise of Shipbrokers, and with a mission of establishing a maritime connection between Chinese and Polish ports. Today, they operate worldwide, specialising in heavylift carriage, project freight and breakbulk cargoes

Back in April 2014 ‘Da Dan Xia’ was berthed at the port of Wellington, New Zealand, when the crew was conducting lifeboat launch and retrieval drills with the freefall lifeboat. After a successful launch, four crewmembers of were seated in the lifeboat, with their seatbelt restraints fastened, when the hoisting operation to bring it back onboard commenced.

The lifeboat had been hoisted to deck level, when with no notice, first one, and then the remaining three wire pennants all parted, and the lifeboat fell several metres back into the harbour. One of the crewmembers had released his restraints in anticipation of disembarking from the lifeboat. He was thrown out of his seat, sustained head injuries, and was taken to hospital for treatment and overnight observation. None of the other three crew members was injured, and the lifeboat was undamaged.

The subsequent accident report found that the wire pennants parted under load because they had all been significantly weakened by severe corrosion. The wire corrosion had gone undetected, because the wire pennants were all contained within plastic sheathing. The sheathing had been placed around the pennants by the manufacturer. The presence of the plastic sheathing meant that the crew was unable to inspect, and maintain, the pennants as required by the IMO Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974.

The accident report also recommended that the manufacturer of the lifeboat, and the lifting sling, cease the practice of encasing wire pennants with plastic. The operator of the ‘Da Dan Xia’ took the safety action of removing the plastic sheathing from all similar lifting slings in its whole fleet of ships.

In February 2015, ‘Da Dan Xia’ arrived at the port of Cartagena, in Columbia, whilst en route from China to Cuba. Subsequent inspections of the cargo by Colombian Authorities, and of the cargo documentation, discovered that she was carrying almost 100 tons of undeclared arms and ammunition. She was immediately detained for the illegal transportation of arms, and the Captain was immediately arrested. The documentation presented by the Captain said the ship was carrying grains.

Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said ‘Da Dan Xia’ was involved in “normal trade cooperation”, and that the vessel was carrying ordinary military supplies to Cuba, and was not in violation of any international obligations. Inspectors found that she was carrying an undeclared load of arms which included 100 tons of explosives, 2.6 million detonators, 99 projectile heads, and 3,000 heavy caliber artillery shells on board.

The documentation presented by the Captain made no mention of the arms and ammunition on board, and did not correspond to what was found. The military cargo contents were all listed as being chemicals and spare parts. The listed Cuban consignee of the cargo, Tecnoimport of Havana, officially listed itself as an importer of machinery and industrial products. To add to the subterfuge, the Chinese supplier was listed on the crates as being Norinco, of Beijing, a manufacturer of machinery and chemical products, as well high-tech defense products.

However, after almost two months of detention, in late April, a Colombian Judge authorised the ‘Da Dan Xia’ to sail from Cartagena, and proceed to Havana in Cuba. The local prosecutor’s office said that it would continue to hold the vessel’s captain under arrest, pending a criminal investigation. The weak reason for allowing ‘Da Dan Xia’ to sail was that the local Colombian authorities did not have the logistical capacity to unload, store, or destroy the arms and ammunition found aboard. Was political pressure brought to bear to affect the release?

Back to the present, and after just a short fourteen hours alongside, ‘Da Dan Xia’ had completed her requirement for making such a short stop in Cape Town, and fully laden down to her marks, she made her way out of the Duncan Dock, sailing from Cape Town harbour at midday on 8th July, now bound for Xiamen in China.

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Over 300 migrants missing at sea between Senegal and Canary Islands

Africa Ports & Ships

Spanish authorities rescued 86 people from a boat at sea off the Canary Islands on Monday, but a further 300 to 400 migrants in two or maybe three boats remain missing.

The three boats loaded with migrants left the Senegal coast in an attempt to reach the Canary islands, from where the migrants could to travel to Spain and Europe.

Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said they weren’t sure whether the boat rescued on Monday was one of the three boats reported to have set out from the Senegalese coast.

The boat from which 86 people were rescued is known as a pirogue and is 20 metres in length. The boat carried 80 men and six women.

An alert has been issued for the missing boats. According to Spanish reports two set out on 23 June from Mbour, a coastal city in central Senegal, each carrying 100 people. A third boat departed the southern town of Kafountine on 27 June with approximately 200 people on board, suggesting that the rescue pirogue may not be one of the three.

There has been no contact with the other boats since their departure.

It’s reported that almost 800 people have either died or remain missing this year while attempting the Atlantic migration route. So far this year 7,000 migrants have however safely reached the Canary Islands, all having arrived by small boat.

Many missing boats are never seen again, apart from the few that are recorded as having drifted across the Atlantic to Brazil or the Caribbean.

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More trucks stopped and set alight on national roads

Africa Ports & Ships

Five trucks were torched on the N4 toll road near Machadodorp in Mpumalanga shortly before midnight on Sunday night.

Of the five trucks, four were going uphill from Mbombela towards Machadodorp, while the fifth was travelling in the opposite direction towards Mbombela and the Mozambique border.

According to the SABC, the N4 toll road at Waterval Boven had to be closed for almost all Monday as workers cleaned the remains of the torched trucks. The report said trucks were set alight after an armed group of men attacked their drivers and robbed them their belongings. The drivers ran for their lives and spent the cold night in the bushes.

This incident came on the heels of another where six trucks were torched on the N3 toll road at Van Reenen’s Pass in KwaZulu-Natal, also during the weekend, by a gang of armed men who forced the truck drivers to stop their trucks.

The gang set all six trucks alight causing the road to be closed to traffic. No injuries were reported. Motorists were urged to delay their trips if possible.

Northbound traffic, heading to Johannesburg, was stopped at Tugela Plaza, while southbound traffic, heading to Durban, was stacked at the top of Van Reenen’s Pass.

With the Mpumalanga incident, the trucks were burnt and that caused massive destruction and loss for different trucking companies.

According to the government news service, two vehicles, a light delivery vehicle and a sedan with five occupants stopped the trucks, instructed the drivers to take their personal belongings before setting the trucks on fire.

One truck driver told the SABC reporter that he saw people throwing stones on the road as well as having set a fire. The men fired two shots then a third that hit his truck’s right-hand tyre.

“That’s when I managed to run away. I saw this other truck torched and I realised that I am in trouble, then I fled. The reason I ran away is because they were firing gun shots,” he said.

Another truck driver, who was driving from Mozambique to Middelburg was forced to stop his truck.

“I saw about five guys with masks coming to my truck,” he said. “Immediately, I tried to get out of the truck, but I thought of my documents and I managed to take my phone.

“When they arrived at the door they asked for my cellphone. I told them I left it at the truck. They pulled me out of the truck. I could hear gunshots. The only thing I thought of was running away.”

The exact loss suffered is yet to be determined. The motive behind the mayhem is also unclear at this stage.

Police have since launched an investigation into this incident of malicious damage to properties.

Anyone with information regarding the perpetrators is asked to call the Crime Stop number at 08600 10111 or send information via MYSAPSAPP.

Mozambican authorities continue to advise their motorists including truck drivers not to make their journeys in South Africa at night.

The current incidents echo similar wide-spread attacks on trucking two years ago also in July. – sources: SAnews.gov/SABC/AIM

Now watch this SABC News report on YouTube [07:18]

Followed below by the economic impact:

YouTube [05:14]

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Uganda-Tanzania oil pipeline under more pressure

Africa Ports & Ships

Construction of the oil pipeline from Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga has come under increased pressure from Ugandan activists determined to stop its progress.

The US$3.5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) pipeline project, which is spearheaded by French oil major TotalEnergies, which holds a 62 per cent stake, is accused of ‘devastating’ the lives of thousands of people who are still waiting for compensation for their land across which the pipeline is to progress.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) activists marched on the European Union offices in Kampala recently to voice their opposition. The pipeline will simply contribute to the global climate crisis, they say.

HRW says the project in Uganda and Tanzania will displace more than 100,000 people, has caused food insecurity and household debt, caused children to leave school, and is likely to have devastating environmental effects.

People already affected should be compensated in line with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards, and should not be completed, HRW says.

A 47-page report ‘Our Trust is Broken: Loss of Land and Livelihoods for Oil Development in Uganda’ documents the land acquisition process for one of the largest fossil fuel infrastructure projects under construction anywhere in the world.

The development in the Uganda oilfield, which will ultimately displace over 100,000 people, is well underway. Although 90 per cent of people who will lose land to the project have received compensation from TotalEnergies EP Uganda, the project has suffered from multiyear delays in paying compensation and inadequate compensation, says the HRW.

It says the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project will have dozens of well pads, hundreds of kilometres of roads, camps and other infrastructure, and a 1,443-kilometre pipeline connecting oilfields in western Uganda with the port of Tanga in eastern Tanzania.

The pipeline was surprisingly aimed at reaching the Tanzanian coast rather than the shorter route to the Kenya port of Lamu, a decision taken on political rather than practical grounds, it is thought.

“EACOP has been a disaster for the tens of thousands who have lost the land that provided food for their families and an income to send their children to school, and who received too little compensation from TotalEnergies,” said Felix Horne, senior environment researcher at Human Rights Watch. “EACOP is also a disaster for the planet and the project should not be completed.”

HRW says the report is based primarily on more than 90 interviews that it conducted in early 2023, including with 75 displaced families in five districts of Uganda.

TotalEnergies has rejected HRW’s claims, saying it has respected all the rights of affected people and has ensured that EACOP is a model in terms of transparency, shared prosperity, economic and social progress.

EACOP is being developed at a time when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading authority on climate science, the International Energy Agency, and others warn that no new fossil fuel projects can be built if the world is to reach Paris Agreement goals and limit the worst impacts of climate change.

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New Northern Cape rail crossing loop leads to increased manganese export volumes

Africa Ports & Ships

Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) says that, having completed the construction of the Mamathwane Crossing Loop in the Northern Cape, 30 30 days ahead of schedule, it is able to “unlock” several key projects, some of which will be announced in the coming weeks.

One of these includes creating four additional rail slots each week, which will enable additional volumes of manganese ore to be hauled to the respective ports of Saldanha and Port Elizabeth.

In addition, manganese trains will now also run direct from the mines in the Northern Cape to the port of East London.

Until now TFR was moving most of its export manganese on 125-wagon trains to Saldanha and trains of 104-wagons each to Port Elizabeth. These trains conjoin on the Sishen to Hotazel line.

These improvements are made possible with the completion of the Mamathwane crossing loop, the section having been the bottleneck for TFR’s export manganese capacity growth. The crossing loop will decongest this section.

TFR says that apart from the economic spin offs, the project will result in the estimated removal of 40,540 trucks off the roads per annum.

Return to service of locomotives

In addition, these additional trains will be made possible through the return to service of some of the long-standing locomotives, whose availability has been hindered by TFR’s inability to obtain spares and parts from the Chinese manufacturer.

Without going into details, it appears TFR has found an alternative solution to that particular problem by way of other suppliers. This, it says, remains a key element in improving operational efficiencies and finding alternative solutions to return to service long-standing locomotives.

“TFR continues to proactively seek solutions in collaboration with industry for its current challenges, and the delivery of the Mamathwane Loop earlier than expected is true testament to its commitment in efficiency improvements,” the rail company said.

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WHARF TALK: Capesize gearless bulk carrier – CAPE GENESIS

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

It is a well known fact that Cape Town harbour is not able to facilitate gearless bulk carriers, as all previous cargo working cranes, that were available on every berth within the harbour, were removed many years ago. There is also no automatic shiploader system within the port complex. It is the reason why such vessels are ordinarily never to be seen in the commercial areas of the port, and definitely not lying alongside a working berth.

It is the geared bulk carriers, with their own onboard cranes and grabs, such as the Handymax, Supramax, and Ultramax bulk carriers that are regular callers. Occasionally, a large gearless Kamsarmax, or Post Panamax, bulk carrier will arrive, and always for maintenance at the Landing Wall, or the Repair Quay, and sometimes for bunkers at the Eastern Mole. What is never seen is something in an even bigger class than these behemoths, such as a Capesize.

On 4th July, at 22h00 in the late evening, as Americans in the city celebrated their Independence Day holiday, the Capesize gearless bulk carrier CAPE GENESIS (IMO 9479307) arrived off the Table Bay anchorage, from Paradip in India, and went to anchor for just under one day. A vessel of such a size is not an unusual arrival off Cape Town, as dozens of such vessels arrive, every year, usually at an Off Port Limits (OPL) position to take on stores, effect crew changes, or utilise the services of a shoreside technician to fix a fault on some item of crucial equipment.

Occasionally, they prefer to go to anchor to fulfill their temporary need to be off Cape Town, sometimes for no other reason than to await further orders from her owners, or charterers. However, at 11h00 in the morning of 5th July, she left the anchorage and entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock, and going alongside at the Multi-Purpose Terminal (MPT) at F berth, although her size also caused her to take up a portion of G berth as well.

Such an arrival can only mean some other more intensive, shoreside assistance was required, and which could not be resolved by remaining OPL, or at anchor. Also, her place of berthing indicates that the usual lay-by berths at the Repair Quay, Landing Wall or Eastern Mole were not available for her at the time. Her size may have played a part, and the MPT berths may have been the only portion of the Duncan Dock long enough to take her for her temporary visit.

Built in 2012 by the Japan Marine United (JMU) shipyard at Tsu in Japan, ‘Cape Genesis’ is 292 metres in length, with a beam of 45 metres, and has a deadweight of 182,097 tons. She is powered by a single Hitachi MAN-B&W 7S65ME-C seven cylinder two stroke main engine producing 22,542 bhp (16,580 kW), which drives a single fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 14 knots.

Her overall onboard power provision is given by three generators providing a total of 1,830 kW, and a single emergency generator providing 200 kW. She has one Osaka exhaust gas boiler, and one Osaka oil fired boiler. With nine cargo holds, ‘Cape Genesis’ has a cargo carrying capacity of 193,396 m3, and she has a strengthened hull which allows her to carry split cargo loads, where holds 2, 4, 6 and 8 can remain empty, with holds 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 being full.

Her JMU Capesize design is very popular, and she is an Eco-Ship with energy saving, and high propulsion, efficiency devices. These include a Super Stream Duct (SSD) located ahead of her propeller, and a Surf Bulb (Rudder Fin with Bulb) aft of her propeller. She also has a LEADGE Bow, which reduces added wave resistance, with JMU stating that this bow design has superior performance at sea compared with those vessels which have an Ax-Bow. Her accommodation block offers less air resistance, and her deck fittings and hatch covers are electrically operated.

Nominally owned by Leo Ocean SA, ‘Cape Genesis’ is both operated and managed by Tokei Kaiun KK, of Imabari in Japan. Her owners have further improved her Eco-Ship credentials by the retrofit of an Exhaust Scrubber Unit, further reducing her NOx emissions. The Scrubber has been blended to fit to her existing funnel shape, hence the slightly raked look to the overall redesigned shape of the oversized Scrubber, which is a look now becoming quite normal.

A Capesize vessel is so named because its large size makes it unable to proceed between the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean via the Panama Canal (which is a Panamax bulk carrier), and thus must proceed via Cape Horn, and is unable to proceed between the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal (which is a Suezmax bulk carrier), and thus must proceed via Cape Agulhas, or the more romantic Cape of Good Hope. However, the recent dredging, and widening, of the Suez Canal has now allowed some of the smaller Capesize vessels to make use of the canal and transit into the Mediterranean, via Suez.

A Capesize bulk carrier is a class of vessel that has a deadweight tonnage between 100,000 tons and 200,000 tons. Within this group there are sub-divisions that also restrict Capesize bulk carriers to specific bulk loading ports around the world. One such sub-division is known as a Dunkirkmax bulk carrier, or for the Francophone readers, a Dunkerquemax bulk carrier.

The Dunkirkmax restriction is based on the maximum size of vessel that can enter the lock system of the Eastern Harbour of the port of Dunkirk, in northern France. The restriction is a nominal length of 289 metres between perpendiculars, 45 metres in beam, and with an entry deadweight of 175,000 tons. As such, ‘Cape Genesis’ qualifies as a Dunkirkmax bulk carrier.

The voyage of ‘Cape Genesis’ that took her to the Indian port of Paradip, prior to her voyage to Cape Town, was from Gladstone, located in Queensland, Australia. The port of Gladstone is a majority Coal export port, and stockpiles no less than 42 different types of Coal. The Coal destined for India is mainly Coking Coal, which is used in the iron and steel industry. Exports of Thermal Coal are also made, which is used for power stations.

Out of a total Coal export trade of 62 million tons from Gladstone in 2022, Coking Coal exports to India totaled 12.16 million tons, making India the third largest purchaser of coal, after Japan and South Korea. There was even an export trade of Coal to South Africa, with 223,085 tons of coal shipped to South Africa in 2022.

As recently as May 2023, the port of Paradip, which lies on the East coast of India, in Odisha State, at 20°54’ South 086°34’ East, imported a total of 833,101 tons of Coking Coal, as there is a large Iron and steel industry in Odisha State. ArcelorMittal-Nippon Steel (AMNS India) have a large plant at Paradip, and the new Steel Authority of India (SAIL) steel plant is due for completion at Paradip in 2024. This new plant will be operating with a Blast Furnace and a Blast Oxygen Furnace, which will require a large quantity of Coking Coal.

The requirement for ‘Cape Genesis’ to actually enter Cape Town harbour, in order to resolve her onboard issue that required shoreside assistance, was completed within six hours, and at 17h00 in the afternoon of 5th July, she was again ready to sail. She departed Cape Town harbour, destined for her next loading port, which was given on her AIS as Porto do Açu in Brazil.

The next cargo to be loaded onto ‘Cape Genesis’ would not be Coal, but would be Iron Ore. The port of Porto do Açu is located at 21°50’ South 41°01’ West, in Rio de Janeiro State. It is the fourth largest iron ore port in Brazil, and has Brazil’s third largest, privately owned, iron ore terminal, known as the Ferroport. The port is also the biggest deepwater port in Brazil, and is owned and managed by Prumo Logística SA.

The iron ore terminal at Porto do Açu receives its ore in the form of a slurry. This slurry is transported to the port by a 530 km pipeline, which originates at the Iron Ore mine in neighbouring Minas Gerais State. This mine is operated by South Africa’s Anglo American Corporation, and the ore stacking compound at the port, and the loading facility, is a joint venture between Anglo American and Prumo Logística. The ship loader can load iron ore at a rate of 10,000 tons/hour, with the ore being delivered to the ship loader by a belt system that is 6 km in length.

The port is the only fully private industrial port complex in Brazil, and is a modern, newbuild, harbour which only began operations in 2014. The port is an impressive complex, and as well as the Ferroport being the fourth largest iron ore port in Brazil, Porto do Açu also accounts for 30% of Brazilian oil exports from its Oil Terminal. It also has Brazil’s largest oil and gas offshore industry support base, most of which has the luxury of undercover berths for the support vessels that utilise it. The port industrial complex also houses the largest thermoelectric power plant in Latin America.

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In Conversation: Somaliland- Berbera city’s growth is being held back by a power supply monopoly

Nasir M. Ali, University of Hargeisa; Ayan Yusuf Ali, University of Hargeisa, and Jutta Bakonyi, Durham University

Somaliland’s main port, at the city of Berbera, accounted for two-thirds of the country’s revenues in 2020. Over the years, these revenues have mostly gone into the central state coffers, while the development of Berbera has been neglected.

When we visited the city for our research project on port infrastructure, international politics, and everyday life, this neglect was immediately visible. Buildings in the city centre were abandoned and dilapidated. Physical and social infrastructure – ranging from roads, water and electricity to health and schooling – were lacking.

Infrastructure development carries modernity’s promise of progress and development. But it relies on affordable and reliable energy. That is what is lacking for most of Somaliland’s residents. The electricity access rate is estimated at 15%. Eighty percent of the population use biomass fuel, mostly charcoal and firewood, to fulfil their daily energy needs.

The Somaliland government has mainly left the energy market to its own devices. Lack of regulation, and collaboration between the government and private businesses have spawned a monopoly of energy provision in Berbera. This in turn makes electricity unaffordable for most residents.

The uneven development of Berbera city manifests in the contrast between the large amounts of energy consumed by the port and the lack of affordable electricity for most urban dwellers. These inequalities challenge the expectation that Somaliland’s further integration into the globalised chains of production and consumption – through its modern port – will greatly benefit its citizens.

Berbera and other cities in Somaliland need policies that ensure energy becomes affordable for the urban poor. Without such policies, the gap between the rich and the poor is likely to widen further, with access to energy being but one of the indicators of this inequality.

Berbera port and development

The neglect of Berbera city stands in stark contrast to the modern technologies and equipment at its port. Since 2017 the port has been managed by the Dubai-based logistics giant DP World. The company brought in new transport technologies and modernised the port’s infrastructure to handle containerised trade.

A special economic zone has been established to attract investors. And a transport corridor that links the port with Ethiopia is nearly complete.

A DP World representative explained to us that the port had established its own energy source to meet the huge power demands of the new container terminal. Sudden energy cuts and blackouts would risk damaging the new technologies and undermine the port’s ability to become a global trade hub.

Somaliland’s government acknowledges the lack of reliable energy provision as a major constraint to development. The government plans to ensure that all citizens have access to affordable energy from local and renewable sources by 2030.

This goal is ambitious. Electricity across Somaliland is privatised and relies on fossil fuel, mainly diesel, which is imported from the Arabian peninsula. Energy is, therefore, costly and unsustainable. Somaliland has one of the world’s highest energy prices punctuated with frequent and often long-lasting power cuts.

So far, only limited investments have been made into the generation of clean energy, among them a solar mini grid in Berbera, funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.

The privatisation of energy

Somaliland withdrew from Somalia in May 1991, after more than two years of civil war. When the country started to build its state apparatus, the private sector was already flourishing. The state relied, to a large extent, on financial support from private businesses. It therefore adopted a policy of minimal government involvement in the economy.

The energy sector, for example, started with private business people who initially used generators for their own consumption. The businesses eventually provided their neighbourhoods with excess energy. Some of these small scale, informal businesses grew into large enterprises which are providing thousands of customers with electricity today.

At least four major energy suppliers are competing for customers in Somaliland’s capital city, Hargeisa.

But in contrast, the market in Berbera is dominated by the Berbera Power House, a private company that has established a monopoly position in the city. With no competition, prices are up, and only the wealthy people can afford electricity in Berbera city.

Mini grid solar power plant

The concession for DP World was accompanied by expectations of closer cooperation between Somaliland and the United Arab Emirates. The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, for example, provides financial and technical support for the transport corridor from Berbera to Ethiopia. It has also initiated social projects for the urban poor in Berbera, like building schools and providing green and affordable energy. It financed a 7MW solar power plant which was inaugurated in January 2021.

This was considered a significant step towards providing energy to poorer households and reducing Somaliland’s dependence on fossil fuels.

But immediately after the launch of the project, the Somaliland Ministry of Mines and Energy handed over the solar facility to Berbera Power House. The move further entrenched the company’s electricity monopoly in the city.

During the inauguration of the mini grid solar power plant, the finance minister proposed that electricity prices in Berbera would be reduced to US$0.1 per unit compared to US$0.6 per unit before the investment.

The interviews that we conducted with Berbera city residents in February and March 2023 revealed that electricity prices had not come down. We also found that the reliability of energy services had not improved.

It seems that the company lacks incentives and pressure from the government to improve its services and cut down energy prices. The company refused our requests for interviews.

Currently, a number of international organisations are exploring the potential for green energy in Somaliland and the wider Horn of Africa. These initiatives primarily aim to overcome environmental limits of the globally rising energy demand. Whether they will eventually benefit the population depend, among others, on how they are regulated and governed.

Abdiqadir A. Ismail, a researcher at the Institute for Peace and
Conflict Studies at the University of Hargeisa, contributed to this article.

Nasir M. Ali, Lecturer of Political Science and International Relations, University of Hargeisa; Ayan Yusuf Ali, Research Manager at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Hargeisa, and Jutta Bakonyi, Professor in Development and Conflict, Durham University

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

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Timely Reminder: African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is essential

A timely reminder can be found on the Citrus Growers’ Association website, of why maintaining good relations with one’s trade partners remains so important (if it wasn’t so obvious), not only for the sake of the respective trade sector but a much wider spectrum involving people and organisations and their livelihoods.

In light of recent events earlier this year that may have soured relationships with certain ‘western’ countries, particularly the United States, it is as well to consider the wider ramifications of actions arising from a Russian cargo ship seen loading containers mysteriously in the naval dockyard at Simon’s Town – which remains unexplained by the South African government.

In his most recent newsletter to the citrus industry, Justin Chadwick, CEO of the Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA) makes this point very clear.

Pointing out that South African citrus is highly valued, he reminded his readers that over the past few years South Africa has exported increasing volumes of citrus into the American market, with “Americans eager to buy our oranges, mandarins and grapefruit.”

Exports to the US, he said, have almost doubled in the past three years to 112,594 tons and earning R1.6 billion in export revenue while supporting thousands of jobs.

Chadwick said this is in large part “due to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)” and a result of not being subject to current US tariffs.

“And we really do need this edge. South Africa has to compete with other Southern Hemisphere countries, like Peru and Chile, for shelf space during the summer months in the US,” he wrote. Citrus from these South American countries enters the US duty free and enjoy other lower costs by virtue of shorter transit times to the US.

Chadwick stressed the importance of understanding that AGOA is not a trade agreement. “It is an Act, passed by the US Congress in 2000. This leaves South Africa more exposed, because traditional trade agreements can be negotiated in such a way that they are more difficult to dissolve, but that is not the case with AGOA,” he said.

“If South Africa is removed from AGOA, citrus will suffer. Almost two billion rand in export revenue will be threatened and thousands of rural jobs would be impacted. Currently, because of phytosanitary restrictions, only citrus from the Western and Northern Cape is shipped to the US. The citrus industry in these two provinces sustain an estimated 35,000 jobs at farm level, with additional jobs right through the supply chain. An additional 20,000 jobs in the US are also linked to the exports.”

You can read Justin Chadwick’s weekly CGA letters by CLICKING HERE

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NIMASA has lost focus, says NISA chairman

Africa Ports & Ships

Criticism has been levelled at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), which stands accused of leaving shipping development in the country worse off than it was previously.

The charge came from Chief Isaac Jolapamo, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Nigerian Shipowners’ Association, NISA.

And to make sure he got his theme across, Chief Jolapamo chose to say this at a breakfast arranged in Lagos by the Maritime Reporters’ Association of Nigeria (MARAN).

He said that NIMASA had lost focus with shipping interests now in the background of its functions.

Among his criticisms was the lack of training of seafarers. Another was that resources meant for developing the maritime sector were being wasted by government officials.

The ship is the centre of the maritime sector, he reminded his audience.

If shipowners were allowed a say in the running of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency then more things would be achieved, he claimed.

In that event shipping development would not lie in sixth position on the agency’s agenda.

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Two new Mobile Cranes for Port of Maputo

Africa Ports & Ships

The Port of Maputo has taken delivery of two new mobile cranes which were inaugurated recently.

The two Liebherr 550 mobile cranes, which cost a reported US$ 25 million, are each capable of handling a maximum load of 154 tonnes.

With an outreach of 54 metres and a total weight of 439 tonnes, the LHM 550 mobile crane can handle general and bulk cargoes, and have increased the port’s fleet of mobile cranes to six.

Making the announcement of the cranes’ arrival, Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC) general manager, Osario Lucas, said the arrival of the additional cranes marked a significant step in improving the port’s operational efficiency.

However, he warned of hindrances to the efficient operation of the Mozambique/South Africa border at Ressano Garcia which were impacting on the ability of the port to grow.

See related report Congestion on SA/Mozambique border leads to lengthy delays.

Logistics remained a main challenge to port operations, Lucas said. The question is how to guarantee a continual flow of traffic into the port. The current congestion, with huge queues of trucks on the South African side of the border, waiting to enter Mozambique, is a major constraint which forces ships to stay at anchor while waiting for the cargo held up on the road.

Lucas emphasised the importance of the port at Maputo.

“If we look at chrome, which is currently the most important cargo for Maputo port, we have a market share of about 50 per cent of all the chrome produced in South Africa.”

Adding to this, he said South Africa produces about 70 per cent of the world market for chrome.

Lucas said that work was beginning that week at Pessene on the Maputo-South Africa motorway, to build a traffic management park and to increase the capacity to receive cargo in the port.

A further objective for the port is to start penetrating other markets such as Zimbabwe. This, he said, could bring advantages since, unlike South Africa, there is no road linking the port to Zimbabwe.

This meant all traffic would go by rail, in line with the integrated Master Plan of CFM, the Mozambique Ports and Rail company.

But, he said, “The question of mobility along the N4 motorway is the immediate challenge.”

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Dois novos guindastes móveis para o Porto de Maputo

Africa Ports & Ships

O Porto de Maputo recebeu duas novas gruas móveis que foram inauguradas recentemente.

Os dois guindastes móveis Liebherr 550, que custam cerca de US$ 25 milhões, são capazes de manusear uma carga máxima de 154 toneladas cada.

Com um alcance de 54 metros e um peso total de 439 toneladas, o guindaste móvel LHM 550 pode movimentar cargas gerais e a granel e aumentou para seis a frota de guindastes móveis do porto.

Fazendo o anúncio da chegada dos guindastes, o gerente geral da Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC), Osario Lucas, disse que a chegada dos guindastes adicionais representa um passo significativo na melhoria da eficiência operacional do porto.

No entanto, alertou para os entraves ao bom funcionamento da fronteira Moçambique/África do Sul em Ressano Garcia que estão a impactar na capacidade de crescimento do porto.

Veja o relatório relacionado Congestion on SA /Fronteira de Moçambique leva a longos atrasos.

A logística continua sendo o principal desafio para as operações portuárias, disse Lucas. A questão é como garantir um fluxo contínuo de tráfego para o porto. O atual congestionamento, com enormes filas de camiões do lado sul-africano da fronteira, à espera de entrar em Moçambique, é um grande constrangimento que obriga os navios a permanecer fundeados à espera da carga retida na estrada.

Lucas enfatizou a importância do porto de Maputo.

“Se olharmos para o crómio, que é actualmente a carga mais importante para o porto de Maputo, temos uma quota de mercado de cerca de 50 por cento de todo o crómio produzido na África do Sul.”

Acrescentando a isso, ele disse que a África do Sul produz cerca de 70 por cento do mercado mundial de cromo.

Lucas disse que começaram ainda esta semana as obras em Pessene, na auto-estrada Maputo-África do Sul, para a construção de um parque de gestão de tráfego e para o aumento da capacidade de recepção de carga no porto.

Outro objetivo do porto é começar a penetrar em outros mercados, como o Zimbábue. Isto, disse, poderá trazer vantagens já que, ao contrário da África do Sul, não existe estrada que ligue o porto ao Zimbabwe.

Isto significava que todo o tráfego passaria a ser ferroviário, em linha com o Plano Diretor integrado dos CFM, a Companhia de Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique.

Mas, disse, “a questão da mobilidade ao longo da autoestrada N4 é o desafio imediato”.

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WHARF TALK: MR2 product tanker – NEUTRON SOUND

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

The recommissioning of South Africa’s ‘temporarily’ shut refineries still has no clear end in sight, and so the conveyor belt of product tankers bringing the much needed fuel supplies for the nation continues unabated. It is a thing of joy for the casual maritime observer.

One of the outcomes of this increased traffic, which has now been flowing into Southern African ports for the last couple of years, is that some vessels are becoming frequent visitors, rather than the infrequent one-off visitors that they might have been. It only needs a severe winter, with weather to match, to increase the flow, especially the winter of 2023 up to now.

On 2nd July, at 21h00 in the late evening, the MR2 product tanker NEUTRON SOUND (IMO 9365374) arrived off the Table Bay anchorage, from Durban, and went to anchor for just under twelve hours. At 08h00 on the morning of 3rd July, she entered Cape Town harbour and proceeded into the Duncan Dock to go alongside the Tanker Basin to begin her discharge.

Built in 2007 by SPP Shipbuilding at Tongyeoung in South Korea, ‘Neutron Sound’ is 183 metres in length, which readers will be accustomed now to be the standard MR2 tanker length, and she has a deadweight of 49,997 tons. She is powered by a single Wärtsilä 7RTA48T-B seven cylinder two stroke main engine producing 10,961 bhp (8,062 kW), driving a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 14 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery comprises three Yanmar 6N21AL generators providing 900 kW each. She has a single Cummins 6CTA-8.3-D(M) emergency generator providing 150 kW. She has a single Kangrim MBO502AS11 exhaust gas boiler, and a single Kangrim SFVF-U350 oil fired boiler.

She has twelve cargo tanks, with a cargo carrying capacity of 52,151 m3, and is able to carry six grades of product at any one time. For loading, and offloading, she has twelve cargo pumps, each capable of pumping at a rate of 600 m3/hour.

One of two sisterships, ‘Neutron Sound’ is nominally owned by Neutron Sound LLC, and is operated by Interorient Marine Services (Germany) GmbH, of Hamburg, and is managed by the Norient Product Pool ApS, of Hellerup in Denmark.

Her management company started as a 50/50 joint venture between Norden AS, of Hellerup, and Interorient Co. Ltd., of Limassol in Cyprus. Norden acquired 100% of the company in 2021 and continues to operate the pool.

This is not the first voyage this year to South African waters for ‘Neutron Sound’. In March this year she arrived off Durban, from Manama in Bahrain, to discharge a full product load at the Island View Terminal in the port. She was back again in May 2023, arriving once more off Durban, this time from Jebel Ali in the UAE, and again discharging a full product load at the Island View Terminal.

On this current voyage, she arrived off Durban on 25th June, at 23h00 in the late evening, from Fujairah in the UAE, and went to anchor at the Umhlanga anchorage, to await her berth at the Island View terminal. After a wait at anchor of just fifteen hours, ‘Neutron Sound’ entered the Bluff Channel into Durban harbour, going alongside Island View 8 to begin her part discharge.

By 29th June, at 14h00 in the afternoon, she had completed her discharge, and sailed from Durban, bound for Cape Town, where she arrived at the anchorage on 2nd July, and entered port on 3rd July. By 6th July, her two port discharge itinerary was complete, and ‘Neutron Sound’ sailed from Cape Town at 09h00 that morning, bound once more back to Fujairah.

Her previous owners, as built, were the vast Daelim Corporation in South Korea, whose basic funnel colours ‘Neutron Sound’ still carries. Daelim are involved in many aspects of South Korean industrial output, including construction, petrochemicals and transportation. The shipping arm of Daelim states that they provide for petrochemical product distribution, and marine transportation services.

However, they blotted their copybook back in 2017, when one of their vessels was alongside at Gladstone, located in Queensland, Australia. The International Transport Federation (ITF) were called in to conduct an investigation on the vessel, as the crew had reported that they had not received all of their wages, over a period of time.

It was found that the vessel in question was operating with two sets of books, and wage accounts. Comparisons between the two sets of onboard documents showed that the crew were being underpaid as much as US$17,000 (ZAR325,000) per month, possibly amounting to US$1,000 (ZAR19,118) per crew member.

Such dishonesty and fraud, was not unexpectedly viewed positively, either by the ITF, nor by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). The outcome was that this particular Daelim vessel was subsequently banned from calling at any Australian port for 12 months.

As a result of the findings, AMSA also announced that they would step up State Port Inspections on every single Daelim vessel that was due to call at any Australian port in the coming months. Thankfully, this blatant theft of crew wages, presumably a scam hatched and managed by those responsible for managing accounts onboard, was uncovered and dealt with.

It is highly likely that the incident was a one-off, and was being undertaken without the knowledge of anyone ashore at the Daelim Corporation. One can only hope that it resulted in the firing, prosecution, and imprisonment of those involved in the scam against their own crew.

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IMO Latest: Revised GHG reduction strategy adopted

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

Member States of the IMO meeting at the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 80), have adopted the 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions (Greenhouse gas emissions) from Ships, with enhanced targets to tackle harmful emissions. This was reported by the ever-helpful IMO media service at the end of the busy week of MEPC.

MEPC 80 met from 3 to 7 July at IMO HQ in London. It was attended by some 1,800 delegates (in person and remotely).

The revised IMO GHG Strategy includes an enhanced common ambition to reach net-zero GHG emissions from international shipping close to 2050, a commitment to ensure an uptake of alternative zero and near-zero GHG fuels by 2030, as well as indicative check-points for 2030 and 2040.

IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim described the adoption of the 2023 IMO Greenhouse Gas Strategy as a monumental development for IMO which opens a new chapter towards maritime decarbonisation.

“At the same time, it is not the end goal, it is in many ways a starting point for the work that needs to intensify even more over the years and decades ahead of us,” he said.

“However, with the Revised Strategy that you have now agreed on, we have a clear direction, a common vision, and ambitious targets to guide us to deliver what the world expects from us.

“Above all, it is particularly meaningful, to have unanimous support from all Member States. In this regard, I believe that we have to pay more attention to support developing countries, in particular SIDS and LDCs [Small Isand Developing states and Less Developed Countries], so that no one is left behind.”

IMO is the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for developing global standards for shipping and supporting countries to implement those rules.

2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships

The 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy) represents the continuation of work by IMO as the appropriate international body to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping.

Vision

IMO remains committed to reducing GHG emissions from international shipping and, as a matter of urgency, aims to phase them out as soon as possible, while promoting, in the context of this Strategy, a just and equitable transition.

Strategy document

To download the 2023 Strategy readers are invited to see the 21-page document CLICK HERE

Impacts on States

The strategy says that the impacts on States of a measure/combination of measures should be assessed and taken into account as appropriate before adoption of the measure in accordance with the Revised procedure for assessing impacts on States of candidate measures. Particular attention should be paid to the needs of developing countries, especially SIDS and LDCs.

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Service Update: CMA CGM to launch TURAF EXPRESS service connecting Turkey, Malta and Algeria

Africa Ports & Ships

French shipping line CMA CGM announced via its Short Sea Lines Division the launch of its TURAF EXPRESS service, connecting the North African port of Algiers (Alger) with Malta and Aliaga in Turkey.

The new weekly Turaf service to Algiers will commence from Aliaga on Monday 17 July 2023 while also providing an additional weekly service to serve North Turkey to worldwide destinations via the Malta hub.

By way of this CMA CGM has come up with a way of enabling a sustainable maritime bridge between North Turkey and Algeria.

There are always better ways to address a market, says CMA CGM.

The Turaf service will operate with three ships each of between 900 and 1,000 TEU capacity.

The weekly frequency with transit time of 10 days will commence at Aliaga on Tuesday 18 July at 07h00, arriving in Algiers on Friday 28 July at 04h00. Transit time from Istanbul to Algiers is 7.5 days.

The service is fully operated by CMA CGM.

Port Rotation

Aliaga – Gemlik – Izmit – Istanbul – Valetta – Algiers – Aliaga

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Lobito Corridor aims at 1.5 million tons freight in three years

 

Africa Ports & Ships

The Lobito Corridor has been much in the news of late, following the signing of a 30-year concession awarding the operation and management of the rail and port corridor to the consortium formed by Trafigura of Switzerland, Mota-Engil of Portugal and Vecturis SA of Belgium.

The concession was signed earlier this month. If you missed that, see the REPORT HERE

Of significance was that present at the signing ceremony was not only the Angolan President João Lourenço, but his counterparts from the Republics of the DRC, Félix Tshisekedi, and Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema.

Much of any future success of the rail corridor will come from the traffic generated from the DRC and Zambia, who are again connected by rail with Angola and the Lobito port.

According to Angola’s Minister of Transport, Ricardo D’Abreu, the line currently handles 300,000 tons of freight

Speaking on Angolan television, Minister D’Abreu said everything was now in place to encourage the movement of goods along the line, even to the extent of excluding the payment of customs duties, by means of the goods facilitation agreement.

“It is already a work that has been developed in other ports, even in the Port of Luanda, for cargoes that have the destination to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and to this area further north,” he said.

“What happens with this facilitation agreement is that we ensure that goods transit our corridor without any customs effect.”

D’Abreu said the the Port of Lobito was chosen by the International Maritime Organization to be the pilot of the ‘Single Maritime Window’ (JUMA), but the country has a project that is the Single Port Window, which integrates the set of services necessary for the treatment of goods, including customs services.

He said that with the support of technology, it is intended to simplify the customs, administrative and bureaucratic processing of the transit of goods.

He pointed out that the Lobito Corridor extends beyond national borders, with a structuring impact extending throughout the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

It is affirmed, he said, as one of the main axis of movement of goods, not only within the countries themselves.

When fully operational, the corridor will generate close to 2,000 jobs – “direct jobs related to all those who will be directly involved in the port and rail operation and indirect ones, through other sectors,” the minister stated.

Three logistics platforms are to be built along the corridor, in the municipality of Caála within the province of Huambo, in the commune of Cuima, and in the municipality of Luau, in the province of Moxico.

Luau is close to the border with the DRC.

The Transport Minister recalled that, prior to independence, the Lobito Corridor (Benguela Railway) was able to export in the region of 1.5 million tons of cereals produced on the Central Plateau of the country.

He called for infrastructure improvements by Zambia and the DRC, in particular the latter country, while pointing out that Angola has invested US$ 3.2.billion dollars on the rehabilitation of rail infrastructure and the Lobito port.

The international consortium now in charge of the Lobito Corridor have undertaken to invest $500 million in Angola and about $100 million in the DRC to improve infrastructure and facilities.

The corridor represents the shortest route to a port from the mineral-rich areas of the DRC and Zambia.

European Union

Meanwhile, Jeannette Seppen, ambassador of the European Union (EU) in Angola, said the Lobito Corridor represents a unique opportunity for the private business sector to leverage its business.

Seppen was talking to ANGOP, the Angolan government news agency. She said the economic potential of the corridor should be better exploited by the business class.

It is also important to invest in the development of human capital, as well as to create incentives/projects for the diversification of the economy in Angola, she said.

According to the ambassador, cooperation between the EU and Angola will be strengthened in order to help with the great priority of the Angolan government of diversifying the economy.

“The European Union will continue to be an important partner of Angola, despite the various challenges, both in terms of public investments and private investors,” Seppen said.

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Service Update: MOL Proficiency to omit Cape Town call

Africa Ports & Ships

In an advisory issued by Ocean Network Express (ONE), the port call at Cape Town of the container ship MOL PROFICIENCY on voyage 232S/233N is to be omitted.

MOL Proficiency is deployed on the joint South Africa – Europe container service of which ONE is a member.

The omission of Cape Town is a result of ongoing delays at Cape Town Container Terminal due to productivity and weather conditions.

As a result Cape Town imports will be discharged in Durban and transferred to the vessel MOL PRESENCE voyage 232S.

ONE says the “benefit of this action in the interest of stabilising the overall SAECS schedule is that exports from Durban to Europe will have very fast transit times which will assist the fruit industry at this time of year.”

Schedule Details

MOL PROFICIENCY v.232S/233N

Port                       ETA             ETD
Durban                   15 July         20 July
Tanger Med           4 August      4 August
Rotterdam             8 August      9 August
London Gateway  10 August    11 August

MOL PRESENCE v.232S

Port                      ETA              ETD
Durban                22 July          27 July
Cape Town          1 August       4 August

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Maritime security: Expanding skills in Africa and the Indian Ocean

Edited by Paul Ridgway
London

A regional workshop aimed at strengthening the capacity of safety and navigation authorities in Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean (EA-SA*-IO) was held in Luanda, Angola from 3 to 7 July.

According to the IMO media service the event’s focus was on building knowledge of maritime security measures amongst authorized officers-in-charge of compliance.

ISPS implementation

It is understood that the event brought together twenty-five participants from each of Angola and Mozambique. It included an onboard inspection of foreign ships at the port of Luanda to observe how physical security measures are applied, and how the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code) is implemented.

An introduction to the ISPS Code is to be FOUND HERE

One of a series

The workshop was one of a series of events under the Project on Port Security and Safety of Navigation in the EA-SA*-IO region, funded by the European Union. It was opened by Mr Jose Santana, the Administrator for Maritime Security and Hydrography on behalf of Dr Anisabel Costa, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Maritime Agency, Angola.

English and French workshops

A previous regional workshop for English-speaking countries of the region was held in Mombasa in October 2022 and one for French-speaking countries took place in Toamasina, Madagascar in September 2022.

* SA covers the SADC region

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MPA Singapore and Lloyd’s Register sign ‘Silk Alliance’ MoU

Africa Ports & Ships

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub (LR MDH) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)aimed at driving zero-emission shipping across the Indian and Pacific Oceans

MPA joins other cross-industry partners in green corridor cluster initiative that will trial decarbonising strategies for the container trade

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub (LR MDH) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at collaborating on a fleet-specific decarbonisation strategy and implementation plan for ‘The Silk Alliance’ cross-industry initiative to enable zero-emission shipping across the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Through complementary technical skills and expertise, both parties will strengthen their commitment to developing partnerships in co-creating the green corridor to trial decarbonisation strategies for container ships operating primarily in Asia to achieve significant emission-saving impact.

LR MDH, which is a joint initiative between Lloyd’s Register Group and Lloyd’s Register Foundation, won the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)-MPA NextGEN Connect Challenge for the ‘Development of a Route-based Action Plan Methodology based on The Silk Alliance’.

MPA’s Entry

MPA’s entry into ‘The Silk Alliance’ initiative is a significant step forward towards deeper public-private sector collaboration between global maritime industry players and Singapore’s port regulator, focusing on actions to unlock key investments across the Indian and Pacific Oceans region as the green corridor cluster moves into an implementation phase.

The collaboration includes driving investments into scalable fuel supply infrastructure to meet the demand aggregation signal of members of The Silk Alliance and potential wider regional bunkering demands for alternative fuels.

‘First Mover Framework’

MPA’s contribution to The Silk Alliance, which is based on the Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub’s ‘First Mover Framework’, complements efforts to establish the supply of low- and zero-carbon fuel options, and also its collaboration with other partners to develop Green and Digital Shipping Corridors.

“We’re delighted to welcome the MPA to the expanding ‘The Silk Alliance’ cross-industry collaboration,” said Nick Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Lloyd’s Register.

“Flag and port authorities play a crucial role in increasing the industry’s confidence in zero-emissions shipping, and as the world’s largest bunkering hub, we see Singapore and the MPA as a driving force in advancing the safe uptake of low-to-zero emissions fuel in the global shipping industry.”

Teo Eng Dih, Chief Executive of MPA, said the MPA is pleased to be part of The Silk Alliance to accelerate the decarbonisation of container trade.

“The Silk Alliance will enable key stakeholders in Singapore to chart the transition towards low- and zero-carbon options,” he said.

“As the world’s largest transshipment container port and bunkering hub, Singapore will take active steps to support the decarbonisation of the container trade in line with IMO’s Revised Strategy to reduce emissions from shipping.”

Silk Alliance & Members

Launched in May 2022 with 12 leading cross-supply chain stakeholders, The Silk Alliance brings together an integral group of organisations from both the private and public sector across the entire value chain of shipping.

Inaugural members include port operator, PSA; shipowners, MSC Shipmanagement Ltd., Pacific International Lines (Pte) Ltd (PIL), Wan Hai Lines, X-Press Feeders, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp.; shipyard, Seatrium; bunker logistical supplier, Singfar International; engine manufacturer, Wärtsilä; ship manager, Wilhelmsen Ship Management; and financial institutions, the Asian Development Bank and ING.

The Silk Alliance was initially focused on a baseline fleet that predominantly bunkers in Singapore and sails across Asia, East Africa, the Middle East, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. As the implementation phase rolls out, the baseline fleet’s demand is expected to eventually aggregate further to other regional hubs and deep-sea routes, such as the Singapore-Rotterdam green and digital shipping corridor.

Feasibility Analysis

Existing partners of The Silk Alliance have conducted a feasibility scenario analysis for green shipping for an in-scope fleet of container ships.

Through close collaboration with the MPA and other members of The Silk Alliance, the LR Maritime Decarbonisation Hub expects that given Singapore’s status as both the top bunkering and transhipment port, supported by its innovation ecosystem, it can help accelerate The Silk Alliance’s decarbonisation efforts.

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     GENERAL NEWS REPORTS – UPDATED THROUGH THE DAY

in partnership with – APO

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THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

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 – Jimi Hendrix

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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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