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TODAY’S BULLETIN OF MARITIME NEWS

Newsweek commencing Sunday 3 March 2024.  Click on headline to go direct to story : use the BACK key to return.  

FIRST VIEW:   Hellas Margarita

• In Conversation: West Africa’s coast was a haven for piracy and illegal fishing – how technology is changing the picture
• Grindrod grows its headline earnings with operational resilience
• Saldanha MPT having a good year, already exceeded YTD volume budget by 6.2%
• World Shipping Council speaks out on attack of True Confidence
• Port advisories for South African ports
• In Conversation: MH370 disappearance 10 years on: can we still find it?
• Is Iran planning a naval base at Port Sudan?
• Breaking News: Tanker hit by missile off Aden, 2 3 seafarers killed
• WHARF TALK: multipurpose heavylifter – BBC SCANDINAVIA
• Vice Admiral Monde Lobese to address poor morale in the SA Navy
• Höegh Autoliners receives funding for two ammonia-powered car carriers
• Houthi attacks continue as Italian destroyer gets into the action
• WHARF TALK: newly spotted box ship – ONE REASSURANCE
• IMO statement on the Red Sea crisis and the Rubymar
• UNCTAD port training module for Nigerian port officials
• West Africa’s GTA LNG project: Arrival of FLNG vessel GIMI – Major milestone reached
• Transnet unpacks plans for repositioning ports of Durban & Richards Bay
• WHARF TALK: residential cruise ship – THE WORLD
• Seafarer lost overboard container ship Santa Cruz near Cape Recife
• Houthi’s may have scuttled abandoned British bulker Rubymar
• Tunisia commercial port traffic increases 2% in 2023
• Transnet given approval to finalise DCT2 contract with ICTSI
• DCT Pier 2 is steadily recovering, says TPT
• WHARF TALK: Large Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHST) vessel – NORMAND SIRIUS
• Transnet says it will deal ‘decisively’ concerning activities at TNPA
• CMA CGM given go-ahead to acquire 
• SA Navy will hit the high seas this year with ship visits to Russia and Cuba
• SA Navy prepared to divorce itself from the Armscor Dockyard – Lobese
• Xeneta Update: XSI® records biggest increase in 18 months
• Combating harassment and bullying: ICS sets out industry principles
• In Conversation: How climate change is messing up the ocean’s biological clock, with unknown long-term consequences
• Transnet executive appointments – official announcement
• EARLIER NEWS CAN BE FOUND UNDER NEWS CATEGORIES…….

Masthead:  PORT OF CAPE TOWN

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 FIRST VIEW: Hellas Margarita

Hellas Margarita (IMO 9794721) is an oil and chemical products tanker that has featured in these pages previously, as recently as 28 November 2023 in one of Jay Gates’ Wharf Talk columns.

Since that visit to Cape Town and Durban, in February the vessel returned to South Africa and Durban specifically to discharge her cargo of liquid product at Island View, after which she sailed, as shown above, bound for Fujairah in the UAE.

Hellas Margarita was built in 2017 for her nominal owner, Lindfield Marine SA, registered in Panama. The ship’s real ownership rests with Latsco Maritime Management Inc of London and Athens – see details of the Latsco organisation in the Wharf Talk link below.

The vessel was built in 2017, either at the Hyundai Mipo Shipbuilding at Ulsan in South Korea or the Hyundai Vinushin facility in Vietnam. The ship’s length is 183 metres and width 32m and her deadweight is 49,879 tons. Her main engine is a HHI MAN-B&W 6G50ME-B9.5 six cylinder, two stroke, main engine producing 12,536 bhp (9,220 kW) and driving a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 14 knots.

Further technical information of the tanker can be found in the 28 November issue of Africa Ports & Ships via this link   To see that report Click Here.

Pictures above are by Trevor Jones and ‘Dockrat’

Africa Ports & Ships

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In Conversation: West Africa’s coast was a haven for piracy and illegal fishing – how technology is changing the picture

Africa Ports & Ships

Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood, University of St Andrews

The Gulf of Guinea – a coastal region that stretches from Senegal to Angola – is endowed with vast reserves of hydrocarbon, mineral and fisheries resources. It is also an important route for international commerce, making it critical to the development of countries in the region.

For a long time, however, countries in the Gulf of Guinea haven’t properly monitored what’s happening in their waters. This has allowed security threats at sea to flourish. The threats include illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, drug trafficking, piracy and armed robbery, and toxic waste dumping.

For instance, in 2020, the International Maritime Bureau reported that the region had experienced the highest number of crew kidnappings ever recorded: 130 crew members taken in 22 incidents. In 2019, 121 crew members were kidnapped in 17 incidents.

Regional action to address these threats is being taken. In 2013, heads of state signed the Yaoundé Code of Conduct – a declaration to work together and address the threats. This also involved setting up a large hub, known as the Yaoundé Architecture (made up of different divisions), which coordinates and shares information on what’s happening at sea.

Since the Yaoundé Code of Conduct was signed in 2013, there has been some progress. As we found in a new study, tech-driven tools have been playing a vital role in addressing security threats at sea in west and central African countries.

For instance, Nigeria was once designated a piracy hotspot but, in 2022, was delisted. This was in large part due to the use of technology.

Tech tools have helped countries to more efficiently manage and monitor the marine environment. They also support information sharing among law enforcement agencies. This has led to successful interdictions and enabled the prosecution of pirates in the region.

The tech tools

Cargo and fishing vessels are required, under international law, to be fitted with systems that transmit data showing where they are.

Since the signing of the Yaoundé Code of Conduct, we found that new technology is now using this location data to help countries in the Gulf of Guinea monitor their waters.

Tools and systems – like Radar, Yaoundé Architecture Regional Information System (Yaris), Sea-Vision, Skylight and Global Fishing Watch – are integrating information from various surveillance and location monitoring systems and satellite data to identify suspicious behaviour. This has significantly helped to improve efforts to combat security threats.

Countries in the Gulf now have increased awareness of vessel activity in their waters and are able to make more informed responses in emergencies, like piracy or armed robbery and oil theft.

For instance, in 2022 the Heroic Idun tanker, evaded arrest in Nigeria for suspicious behaviour, then travelled on to Equatorial Guinea. Using the Yaoundé Architecture system, Equatorial Guinea held the vessel at Nigeria’s request and it was later fined.

Without the Yaoundé Code of Conduct, and the new tech that it has introduced, the sharing of information, capture of evidence and cooperation between countries would not have been possible.

Nigeria’s tech advancements

Nigeria is a prime example of a country where investment in technology-based infrastructure has helped it to tackle threats to security and development.

Over the past three years, Nigeria has deployed a range of tech tools. For instance, the navy deployed the Regional Maritime Awareness Capability facility, which receives, records and distributes data and the
mass surveillance FALCON EYE system.

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has also made advancements through its Deep Blue Project. This includes a central intelligence and data collection centre which works with special mission vessels (like unmanned aerial vehicles) to take action against threats.

Nigeria has since had a reduction in piracy and armed robbery at sea. Once designated a piracy hotspot, the country was delisted as a hotspot in 2022.

Cautious optimism

Evidently, technology has an important role to play in enhancing safety and security at sea. But it’s not without it’s challenges, as we identified in our study.

First, an over-reliance on external tech tools has resulted in a lack of ownership of the technology. This affects the sustainability of the projects. For instance, once EU funding for YARIS expires, the operating costs will be transferred from the EU to Yaoundé Architecture states. But there are still no clear plans from regional states on how to sustain YARIS.

Second, people with specific expertise are needed to use the tech. But many countries can’t afford to hire them, or aren’t producing human resources with this expertise. Even when personnel have received training, they may not have access to the tools (which aren’t available at the country level) to apply what they have learnt.

Third, existing monitoring systems such as AIS and VMS can be switched off, a vulnerability that criminals continue to exploit. Radar systems can fill these gaps, but there’s a lack of RADAR coverage along coastlines. Related to this, the scarcity of national data centres for long range vessel identification and tracking (due to lack of investment) makes using existing technology difficult.

Fifth, there are challenges related to communication difficulties, the absence of internet connections onboard some vessels or low internet speed.

Finally, private operators like the shipping industry aren’t using the services provided by the Yaoundé Architecture. This smacks of politics and lack of trust in the regional solutions.

Vessel operators report incidents instead to agencies outside the region, such as Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade – Gulf of Guinea (based in France) or the International Maritime Bureau in Malaysia and these agencies often broadcast the information without confirming with the regional architecture. This undermines the ability of regional agencies to do their work effectively.

It’s in the best interests of Atlantic nations to cooperate and coordinate on meeting maritime security challenges.

Technology can play a key role in this. But it’s vital that countries enhance technological know-how, and ensure that external partners and businesses use the available technological services. This will be a big step towards a secure and collaborative maritime environment.

Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood, Lecturer, University of St Andrews

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

Added 9 March 2024

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Grindrod grows its headline earnings with operational resilience

Africa Ports & Ships

Durban-based Grindrod Limited, a JSE-listed freight logistics company, announced strong results on Thursday for the financial year ended 31 December 2023.

Headline earnings grew from its core operations by 29% to R1.4 billion, generated EBITDA of 2.5 billion, up 16% from the prior year, and increased its full-year dividend to its shareholders by 84% to 72.4 cents per share.

The results were delivered despite the challenging macroeconomic environment and softening prices in some of the commodities handled within Grindrod’s portfolio.

During 2023 the port of Maputo achieved record volumes of 12.6 million tonnes, a growth of 28% on the prior period.

Grindrod’s drybulk terminals in Mozambique handled 12.9 million tonnes, an increase of 14% on the prior period, with the Matola terminal achieving a record performance of 8.9 million tonnes.* The first phase of the Matola drybulk export terminal upgrade is progressing well.

The extension of the concession to operate the Port of Maputo until 2058 was confirmed and formally granted by the Government of Mozambique in February this year and reflects positively on the sustainability of Grindrod’s operations and investment in the port.

At Richards Bay the conveyor belt linking Grindrod’s Navitrade drybulk facility is now commissioned.

Logistics & Ships Agency

Grindrod’s Logistics segment delivered strong results despite subdued charter markets and the impact of the 49% disposal of the seafreight and container handling depot business. The ships agency, clearing and forwarding businesses has continued to grow and the locomotive deployment rate closed strong at 70% with positive prospects in the short to medium term.

“Cost-effectiveness of our integrated logistics solutions will be key to sustaining the growth of our customers’ cargo flows in the current challenging trading environment. Rail is an important enabler in achieving this,” said Xolani Mbambo, CEO of Grindrod Limited.

* The Maputo port has several sub-concessionaires, for example, DP World’s container Terminal. Over and above the terminals managed by sub-concessionaire Maputo Port Development Company, in which Grindrod holds a 24.7% share, these manage their own facilities such as the chrome and ferrochrome facilities. Grindrod’s sub-concessions include managing a car terminal and a drybulk terminal in Maputo’s main port and a drybulk terminal (known as TCM or Matola terminal) in Matola.

Added 7 March 2024

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Saldanha MPT having a good year, already exceeded YTD volume budget by 6.2%

Africa Ports & Ships

Transnet Port Terminals’ Multi-Purpose Terminal (MPT) at the port of Saldanha is looking to record an excellent year, in terms of cargo volumes handled.

With less than a month to go to financial year-end, the Saldanha MPT recorded a volume increase of 6,2% year-to-date. In February, the terminal also exceeded budgeted volumes by 9%, compared to a 3% decrease which was recorded over the same period in 2023.

The Saldanha MPT handles commodities including bulk and breakbulk. “Being a multi-purpose terminal means we are dynamic in our approach, and it is often required that our planning is adaptable in order to fulfil our performance obligations,” says Western Cape Region Acting Managing Executive, Oscar Borchards.

Optimisation through several initiatives, which the Saldanha MPT embarked on this financial year (2023/24), contributed to improved performance on vessel stay/turnaround time, from an average of five to three days on some vessels.

Borchards said the initiatives include extending utilisation of critical equipment, such as the mobile ship loader.

Saldanha MPT currently uses a hybrid loading method that deploys a mobile ship loader which is semi-automated and has been proven to work faster, together with skip operations, which are manual and compatible to the terminal’s operations.

“We have had to tap into the expertise of our industrial engineers who conducted time studies, which provided us with a solution on how we can shorten our loading time,” he explaIned.

“While the solution currently works better on some vessels, depending on the type of commodity, it is our endeavour to continuously seek opportunities to improve our performance holistically.”

Another of Saldanha MPT’s priorities is to continuously engage all stakeholders to ensure alignment.

“Our main objective is to deliver on our promise; therefore, it is critical that we are inclusive and in close collaboration with our customers,” says Borchards.

Added 6 March 2024

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World Shipping Council speaks out on attack of True Confidence

Africa Ports & Ships

In a joint industry statement issued via the World Shipping Council today (Thursday 7 March 2024), the WSC reports that industry associations have expressed their deep concern over the tragic loss of life and injuries suffered by the crew of MV True Confidence in an attack in the Red Sea on 6 March 2024.

“The loss of life and injuries to civilian seafarers is completely unacceptable,” said Anna Larsson, Communications Director for the WSC.

“Merchant vessels crewed by civilian seafarers transporting global trade have a right to innocent passage through the region without the threat of attack.

“The frequency of attacks on merchant highlights the urgent need for all stakeholders to take decisive action to safeguard the lives of innocent civilian seafarers and put an end to such threats.

“Our heartfelt sympathies go out to all those affected by this terrible event.”

The World Shipping Council is the united voice of liner shipping, working with policymakers and industry groups to shape the future growth of a socially responsible, environmentally sustainable, safe, and secure shipping industry.

The WSC is a non-profit trade association with offices in Brussels, London, Singapore and Washington D.C.

Added 6 March 2024

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Port advisories for South African ports

Africa Ports & Ships

The following service advisories have been received this week:

MSC Donata in port swap

The container ship MSC Donata (IMO 9237151) currently on voyage 404S/408N from the east coast North America, will call at Durban first before proceeding to Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.

The reason for this port swap is berthing delays faced in Port Elizabeth.

Santa Isabel Cape Town port omission

In another advisory, this concerning the South Africa-Europe Container Service (SAECS), in a service update it is advised that the vessel Santa Isabel (IMO 9444728) on voyage 240S/240N will omit her Cape Town call and proceed to Europe.

This is due to poor productivity and bad weather in the South African ports, according to Maersk, the operator of this ship.

Cape Town import cargo is to be discharged in Durban, where the ship has arrived and is currently berthed on Pier 1, and connected to the vessel Santa Clara on her voyage 240N.

Cargo originally planned for Santa Isabel on v.240N in Cape Town will be transferred to Santa Clara v.240N

AS Christiana Durban split call

In a further advisory, customers are advised that the vessel AS Christiana (IMO 9311799) on voyage 409N will have a split call at the Durban container terminal.

The vessel is currently at anchor outside the port of Durban, where she arrived from Nhava Sheva in India on 22 February 2024

The advisory states the discharge call will be at the Point Multi-Purpose Terminal / ZADUR11, and load call will be maintained at Durban container terminal Pier 2 / ZADUR04.

Added 7 March 2024

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In Conversation: MH370 disappearance 10 years on: can we still find it?

Africa Ports & Ships

Charitha Pattiaratchi, The University of Western Australia

It has been ten years since Malaysia Airlines passenger flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 2014. To this day it remains one of the biggest aviation mysteries globally.

It’s unthinkable that a modern Boeing 777-200ER jetliner with 239 people on board can simply vanish without any explanation. Yet multiple searches in the past decade have still not yielded the main wreckage or the bodies of the victims.

At a remembrance event held earlier this week, the Malaysian transport minister announced a renewed push for another search.

If approved by the Malaysian government, the survey will be conducted by United States seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity, whose efforts were unsuccessful in 2018.

What happened to MH370?

The flight was scheduled to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft within 60 minutes into the flight over the South China Sea.

Subsequently, it was tracked by military radar crossing the Malay Peninsula and was last located by radar over the Andaman Sea in the northeastern Indian Ocean.

The planned route, final route and initial search area for MH370 in Southeast Asia.
Andrew Heenen/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

Later, automated satellite communications between the aircraft and British firm’s Inmarsat telecommunications satellite indicated that the plane ended up in the southeast Indian Ocean along the 7th arc (an arc is a series of coordinates).

This became the basis for defining the initial search areas by the Australian Air Transport Safety Bureau. Initial air searches were conducted in the South China Sea and the Andaman Sea.

To date, we still don’t know what caused the aircraft’s change of course and disappearance.

Location of the 7th arc and the origin of debris locations for simulations undertaken by the University of Western Australia.
Google Earth/Author provided

What have searches for MH370 found so far?

On March 18 2014, ten days after the disappearance of MH370, a search in the southern Indian Ocean was led by Australia, with participation of aircraft from several countries. This search continued until April 28 and covered an area of 4,500,000 square kilometres of ocean. No debris was found.

Two underwater searches of the Indian Ocean, 2,800km off the coast of Western Australia, have also failed to find any evidence of the main crash site.

The initial seabed search, led by Australia, covered 120,000 square kilometres and extended 50 nautical miles across the 7th arc. It took 1,046 days and was suspended on January 17 2017.

A second search by Ocean Infinity in 2018 covered over 112,000 square kilometres. It was completed in just over three months but also didn’t locate the wreckage.

What about debris?

While the main crash site still hasn’t been found, several pieces of debris have washed up in the years since the flight’s disappearance.

In fact, in June 2015 officials from the Australian Air Transport Safety Bureau determined that debris might arrive in Sumatra, contrary to the ocean currents in the region.

The strongest current in the Indian Ocean is the South Equatorial Current. It flows east to west between northern Australia and Madagascar, and debris would be able to cross it.

Indeed, on July 30 2015 a large piece of debris – a flaperon (moving part of a plane wing) – washed up on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean. It was later confirmed to belong to MH370.

Twelve months earlier, using an oceanographic drift model, our University of Western Australia (UWA) modelling team had predicted that any debris originating from the 7th arc would end up in the western Indian Ocean.

In subsequent months, additional aircraft debris was found in the western Indian Ocean in Mauritius, Tanzania, Rodrigues, Madagascar, Mozambique and South Africa.

The UWA drift analysis accurately predicted where floating debris from MH370 would beach in the western Indian Ocean. It also guided American adventurer Blaine Gibson and others to directly recover several dozen pieces of debris, three of which have been confirmed to be from MH370, while several others are deemed likely.

To date, these debris finds in the western Indian ocean are the only physical evidence found related to MH370.

It is also independent verification that the crash occurred close to the 7th arc, as any debris would initially flow northwards and then to the west, transported by the prevailing ocean currents. These results are consistent with other drift studies undertaken by independent researchers globally.

Why a new search for MH370 now?

Unfortunately, the ocean is a chaotic place, and even oceanographic drift models cannot pinpoint the exact location of the crash site.

The proposed new search by Ocean Infinity has significantly narrowed down the target area within latitudes 36°S and 33°S. This is approximately 50km to the south of the locations where UWA modelling indicated the release of debris along the 7th arc. If the search does not locate the wreckage, it could be extended north.

Since the initial underwater searches, technology has tremendously improved. Ocean Infinity is using a fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles with improved resolution. The proposed search will also use remotely controlled surface vessels.

In the area where the search is to take place, the ocean is around 4,000 metres deep. The water temperatures are 1–2°C, with low currents. This means that even after ten years, the debris field would be relatively intact.

Therefore, there is a high probability that the wreckage can still be found. If a future search is successful, this would bring closure not just to the families of those who perished, but also the thousands of people who have been involved in the search efforts.

Charitha Pattiaratchi, Professor of Coastal Oceanography, The University of Western Australia

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

Added 7 March 2024

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Is Iran planning a naval base at Port Sudan?

Terry Hutson
Africa Ports & Ships

There is speculation that Iran was planning to establish a naval base in the African Red Sea port of Port Sudan.

Officially, Iran says it has no intention of attempting to entice Sudan, which is involved in a bloody and tragic civil war, into allowing them to create a naval base at the strategically important Red Sea port.

Sudan’s Foreign Ministry has issued a similar denial to that of Iran, soon after the American newspaper Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published a report saying that “Tehran, which has supplied drones for Khartoum’s war with a rebel warlord, pledged a warship in exchange for access but was turned down.”

Radio Dabanga said Sudan turned down the proposal for fear of upsetting the Americans and Israel, the latter with whom Sudan had normalised its relations at the end of 2020.

Sudan’s acting foreign affairs minister described the WSJ report as “fabricated” and “lies”. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said the report was politically motivated.

IRIS Alborz

Iran has meanwhile stationed a warship in the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden region, ostensibly to protect its own shipping interests. The Iranian Navy frigate IRIS Alborz has been deployed since early January to the Red Sea where having a neutral base in the region would have provided assistance with logistical and intelligence requirements.

This is not the first time that Iran has deployed naval vessels to the region. In 2016 Iran stationed two ships in the Gulf of Aden to provide protection for its commercial shipping, less than a year after the Houthis, with Iranian backing, swept into power over a significant part of Yemen. That part included not only Yemen’s commercial and administrative capital at Sana’a but also several ports on the Red Sea coast.

The ‘official’ (previous) Yemeni government set up its rival government at Aden on the south coast facing the Gulf of Aden.

Iran has since become a major supplier of weapons to the Houthis including explosive drones and anti-ship missiles that are being used currently against selective merchant and western naval shipping.

It is also widely believed that Iran is providing the Houthis with marine intelligence concerning the movement of merchant ships and the respective naval vessels operating in both the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. A naval base at Port Sudan would have greatly enhanced Teheran’s ability to continue monitoring maritime traffic from the Suez Canal and to or from Israel.

The elderly frigate Alborz, a 1969-built Alvand class frigate supplied by the UK to pre-revolution Iran, and since upgraded in 1920 with modern systems, lends an element of uncertainty and suspicion to an already uncertain situation in one of the world’s most important waterways.

Alborz is not the only Iranian asset in the Red Sea. Also present is the replenishment ship IRIS Behshad, which some consider is being used more as a spy ship than for basic replenishing.

Russian maritime interest in Sudan

This is not the first time in recent years that a foreign nation has shown interest in establishing a naval presence on the coast of Sudan. In 2017 it was reported that agreements had been reached for Russia to establish a military base at Port Sudan.

This was during the rule of Omar Al Bashir, following a visit by him to Moscow in 2017 and prior to his overthrow. The agreement said to have been reached was for Russia to create a base for several hundred military personnel, four naval ships including nuclear submarines, as well as support for a larger number of ships operating in the area, all for a period of 25 years.

In part exchange, Russia would equip the Sudanese military with weapons and other equipment.

This was never ratified by the Sudanese parliament and subsequently postponed indefinitely when fighting broke out between rival armed forces in April of 2023.

Added 6 March 2024

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Tanker hit by missile off Aden, 2  3 seafarers killed

Africa Ports & Ships

In a further escalation of the events in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, a Greek bulk carrier, True Confidence (IMO 9460784) has been set on fire from a missile attack and two three seafarers on board the tanker are reported to have been killed.

The Barbados-flagged 50,448-dwt bulker was in the Gulf of Aden some 50 nautical miles off the coast of Aden when struck by the Houthi anti-ship missile. True Confidence was on a voyage from Singapore bound for Jeddah where she was due on 7 March 2024.

First reports said three seafarers were missing and four others suffered severed burns. True Confidence has been abandoned by her crew who have taken to lifeboats.

These are the first fatalities since the Houthis began targeting ships passing the Yemen coast in November 2023. The Houthis have claimed responsibility for this latest attack.

USS Carney

In another report this time from USS Central Command (CENTCOM), the US Navy Arleigh Burke class destroyer, USS Carney, on patrol in the Red Sea came under missile attack but successfully shot down the incoming drones and missiles. There are no injuries to crew being reported.

Centcom reported that US forces later launched an airstrike destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats.

This report has been updated on 7 March 2024

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WHARF TALK: multipurpose heavylifter – BBC SCANDINAVIA

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

At the start of the diversionary traffic flow from the Red Sea, there was one group of vessels that were calling, and carrying items of significant cargo, that highlighted an industry which is in full development all over the developed world. These vessels were of the heavylift category, designed to carry large, outsized, deck cargoes. These vessels continue to call.

Sadly, these diverted heavylift vessels, here only because of the Houthi menace, are part of a worldwide industry that is not making much headway in South Africa. This is partly due to Eskom not providing sufficient transmission capacity in the Cape provinces. The industry these vessels are highlighting is that of the renewable wind energy industry. So whilst the lights slowly go out all over South Africa, lights are actually going on everywhere else in the world.

On 2nd March, at 15:00 in the afternoon, the multipurpose heavylifter ‘BBC Scandinavia’ (IMO 9362633) arrived off the Table Bay anchorage, from Singapore, and went to anchor for the next 13 hours. At 04:00 in the early morning of 3rd March, she left the anchorage and entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock and going alongside the Landing Wall, which clearly indicated that she was in transit, and her call was ostensibly for bunkers.

Built in 2007 by Xingang Shipbuilding at Tianjin in China, ‘BBC Scandinavia’ is 120 metres in length and has a deadweight of 7,534 tons. She is powered by a single MaK 7M43C seven cylinder, four stroke, main engine producing 7,281 bhp (5,355 kW), which drives a Wärtsilä 4D1190 controllable pitch propeller for a service speed of 15.5 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three MAN D2842 LE generators providing 400 kW each, and a MAN D2866 LXE 30 emergency generator providing 205 kW. She has a single KOH-0.8/50 oil fired Rohrverformungstechnik boiler, and a single AKV-0.75/30 exhaust gas Rohrverformungstechnik boiler. For added manoeuvrability she has a Jastram BU60F bow transverse thruster providing 500 kW.

She has two cargo holds with a cargo carrying capacity of 11,021 m3, with a hold area of 1,986 m2, and a continuous deck area of 1,083 m2. With a tanktop deck strength of 16 tons/m2, ‘BBC Scandinavia’ has a container carrying capacity of 601 TEU, with deck plugs for 60 reefers. For her cargo work she is equipped with two NMF electro-hydraulic cranes, with both offset to the port side, and capable of lifting 250 tons each, and when used in tandem capable of a heavy lift of 500 tons.

One of eight sisterships, ‘BBC Scandinavia’ is owned by Reedereiverwaltung Heino Winter GmbH, of Hamburg in Germany, whose HW houseflag she displays on her funnel. She is operated by BBC Chartering and Logistics GmbH, of Leer in Germany, and managed by Briese Schiffahrts GmbH, also of Leer. She is listed by her operators as a BBC-7K-500A class vessel.

Her call at Cape Town was confirmed as being for bunkers when the harbour bunker barge ‘Southern Valour’ came alongside to begin her uplift. Her previous port, prior to Cape Town, was Singapore, also only a bunker call. She had loaded in both Incheon in South Korea, and Shanghai in China, and her deck cargo was that of a commodity that is becoming frequently seen as the diversion vessels keep arriving, namely a full load of large wind turbine blades.

Her bunker call was soon over, and with fresh stores and provisions also safely loaded, she was ready to sail after just ten hours alongside. At 14:00 in the afternoon of 3rd March ‘BBC Scandinavia’ sailed from Cape Town, with her destination being the Gulf of Mexico port of Galveston, located in the US State of Texas. Her routing of the Far East to the USA, via the Cape sea route, was a further confirmation that she was a Houthi diversion, and her deck cargo was too expensive, and important, to be exposed to a potential missile attack sailing via Suez.

The loading ports in the Far East, and her destination port of Galveston, for her deck cargo makes a lot of sense. Whilst the majority of folk are of the belief that the majority of wind farm developments are those of the offshore variety, the State of Texas actually has a huge onshore wind farm industry, with Galveston being the major import gateway port for wind turbine blades. It is not a given that the wind turbine blades being carried on ‘BBC Scandinavia’ were destined for an offshore wind farm.

In 2023 Texas imported wind turbine blades to the value of US$173 million (ZAR3.3 billion) from China and South Korea. The total of wind turbine blade imports in 2023 was US$1.4 billion (ZAR26.6 billion), with the majority of those blade imports coming from India, to a value of US$518 million (ZAR9.8 billion).

To date, those wind turbine blades have been destined for onshore wind farms, with Texas being the leading wind power producer in the USA. The Lone Star State has over 18,000 wind turbines installed, producing 40,555 MW (40.56 GW) of renewable power. These turbines currently produce 25% of all the power in Texas, providing enough energy generation to power over 3.5 million Texas households, and which also provides over 25,000 jobs in the state.

It was only in October 2023 that the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued licenses for the first major wind farms to be set offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, and to be located between 39 nautical miles, to 59 nautical miles south of Galveston. The Galveston 1, and the Galveston 2, offshore wind farms will cover an ocean area of 221,220 hectares (546,645 acres) when they are developed, which is an area larger than the City of Houston. When completed they will produce 3.7 GW of power, and provide electricity to 2.3 million homes.

Offshore winds in the Gulf of Mexico can provide double the energy that is currently required in all of the five Gulf States combined. These Gulf States are Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Gulf of Mexico wind speeds are highest in the west, i.e. off the coast of Texas, and so most of the future development will likely be concentrated in this area, with the added requirement that the wind turbines will have to be able to withstand Category 5 hurricanes, which sweep the region on an annual basis.

The development restrictions of the Galveston offshore wind farm include the provision of 20 nautical mile buffer zones between developments, for purposes of safe bird migration, and for the protection of the local Menhaden fishery. The license also excludes any offshore waters that are considered to be either moderate, or high, biomass zones of the local shrimp fishery. Gulf of Mexico wind power is considered to be one of the largest untapped energy resources in the USA. The intention is to have 30 GW of Gulf offshore energy being produced by 2030.

There is also growing interest in using wind energy to produce hydrogen fuel, a process known as ‘green hydrogen.’ A wind turbine generates an electrical current that passes through a container of water (H2O), splitting the water into the constituent hydrogen and oxygen molecules. The hydrogen gas produced from this process is captured, and then used as a clean and renewable fuel, which does not emit carbon dioxide (CO2) when burned.

Compare the State of Texas with South Africa in terms of wind power and renewable energy. In 2023 South Africa had 37 operational wind farms producing 3.6 GW of power. All of the wind farms are to be found in the Cape Provinces, i.e. Western, Northern and Eastern. That is just 8.8% of the total national renewable energy that Texas produces, which is 40.6 GW, to provide for a Texas population of 29.6 million, compared to a population of 60.4 million in South Africa.

Of these wind farms only one of them belongs to Eskom. It is the Sere wind farm, located near Vredendal in the Western Cape, and which contributes just 105 MW to the electricity grid, or just a paltry 3% of the total of renewable wind energy produced in the country. It was commissioned in 2015, almost a decade ago, and Eskom have done little in this arena since that time.

There is some consensus that the current load shedding fiasco could be readily solved by state investment in renewable energy, but there is clearly little interest, or desire, in Eskom, or the ANC government, to go big in that direction. In total, currently only 3% of the energy produced in South Africa comes from renewable wind power. A truly shocking figure, excuse the pun.

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Vice Admiral Monde Lobese to address poor morale in the SA Navy

Guy Martin
defenceWeb

Speaking during a South African Navy 20 year long service medal parade in Simons Town on the last day of February, SA Navy Chief, Vice Admiral Monde Lobese, said he is addressing issues of poor morale, and encouraged members to better themselves through training overseas.

“Unfortunately, I have noticed recently that there are many people who decide to resign from the Navy, or not to renew their contracts,” he told the parade.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, do not be tempted by money to leave the organisation that have trained you, and that have turned you into the person that you are. Do you remember what I told the Fleet on the steps of Fleet Command Building on 30 November 2022? I said that I am aware of the fact that there are matters affecting your morale, and I promised that I will address these issues, along with the members of the Navy Command Council.

“I also said that I am aware that the SA Navy is in Intensive Care, because we are not sending our ships to sea. To change this situation around was – and still is – my biggest priority. I know that the technical staff amongst you are frustrated because we are always waiting for contractors to come and fix our ships. I will admit that I am also frustrated with the slow progress we are making in this regard, but at least I can report that there is progress,” Lobese said.

He encouraged those at the parade to study further and expand their skills. “When I was younger, I was blessed to have had the opportunity to complete my education and training in the USSR. I know first-hand the importance and benefit of training overseas. This allows you to learn from larger and more established Navies, and to plough this experience back into our Navy.

“We are part of a much larger international family of the seas. Many of the Navies offer training opportunities to our members at little or no cost to us.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I said that I will reward those members who do extra work. I urge you all to go and apply for your official passports, because I want to send many of you on these Foreign Learning Opportunities. You have to realise that should you be selected to study overseas, you will have to sign an additional contract that you will plough back what you have learned into the SA Navy,” Lobese told the SA Navy personnel in attendance in Simons Town.

Written by defenceWeb and republished with permission. The original article can be found here.

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Höegh Autoliners receives funding for two ammonia-powered car carriers

Africa Ports & Ships

Höegh Autoliners ASA is making significant progress in its ambition to make the Aurora Class the world’s first PCTC vessel to run on ammonia.

The shipping company has been granted nearly USD 14 million in Enova funding to use ammonia as an alternative and sustainable fuel for two of their Aurora class vessels.

Financial services company Enova’s Director of Technology and Market Development, Astrid Lilliestråle, said she is pleased with Höegh Autoliners’ plans to introduce ammonia-powered vessels to its fleet:

“We note that the shipping company aims to be at the forefront of adopting ammonia in ships and has ambitions to take measures to adapt to necessary changes and future requirements towards the low-emission society.”

Gradual increase in ammonia proportion

Höegh Autoliners has a total of 12 Aurora Class vessels on order. The vessels transport rolling cargo such as cars, agricultural machinery, and mining equipment.

All 12 vessels are designed with engines that run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and low-sulfur oil, and with an ammonia-ready certification from DNV.

To use ammonia as fuel, the installation of an ammonia engine and an additional tank to maintain sufficient range are required.

Therefore, Höegh Autoliners has applied for Enova funding for two of their 12 confirmed Aurora vessels to reduce the additional cost of this solution compared to a vessel that would only be ‘ammonia ready’.

The company aims to use mostly carbon-neutral ammonia as fuel from the moment the vessels enter into service. It is expected that it could take some time before availability and price reach satisfactory levels, with a gradual ramp-up expected from 2027.

These vessels will significantly contribute to the company’s goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2040.

Höegh Autoliners, as one of the first and few shipping companies globally, has secured access to the first four ammonia 2-stroke engines delivered by MAN.

Each of Höegh Autoliners’ two planned ammonia vessels has been granted almost USD 7 million (NOK 73 million), with the total coming to almost USD 14 million.

Leadership in the deep-sea segment

Shipping accounts for around 3 per cent of global emissions, and 90% of shipping emissions come from deep-sea transportation.

Höegh Autoliners already operates some of the world’s most sustainable PCTC vessels, equipped with fuel-saving technologies. With the order of 12 zero-emission-ready Aurora Class vessels and the potential for conversion to run on ammonia, the company has positioned itself at the forefront of zero-emission international shipping.

With a capacity of up to 9,100 cars, the Aurora Class vessels will be the world’s largest and most environmentally friendly car carriers ever built.

“At Höegh Autoliners, we take leadership by actively collaborating with a wide range of highly qualified and dedicated suppliers to make clean ammonia viable as a zero-emission shipping fuel, says CEO of Höegh Autoliners, Andreas Enger.

“We believe it is important for shipping companies to send a clear signal to the rest of the value chain that the technology can be realized in a short time and that there will be demand for carbon-neutral fuel. Almost all Höegh Autoliners vessels sail under the Norwegian flag and have significant Norwegian content from the Norwegian cluster,” Enger adds.

“The support from Enova, together with our innovative multi-fuel vessel design, significantly helps derisking the choice of bringing the first zero-carbon vessels to our industry.”

Enger said the race towards decarbonizing the industry will take decades, not years. “Nevertheless, no progress will be made without pioneering companies taking decisive steps to shape the future.”

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Houthi attacks continue as Italian destroyer gets into the action

Africa Ports & Ships

There has been little let-up in the ongoing drama off the Yemeni coast in both the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, with further attacks by US and British forces against missile or drone sites in Houthi-held parts of Yemen, and continued launching of drones and missiles against shipping passing along the coast.

Within a day of reports of the sinking of the bulk carrier Rubymar, came news of another successful ‘strike’ by the Houthis, this time on a Mediterranean Shipping Company box ship, the MSC Sky II (IMO 9162277).

The Liberian-flagged 2,169-TEU container vessel, owned by Thorsky Navigation Ltd care of MSC Shipmanagement Ltd of Cyprus, was struck by two missiles while sailing 91 nautical miles south east of Aden, at 12:50 GMT, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

The master of the MSC vessel reported two explosions, one some distance off the port side of the ship and the other onboard his vessel which resulted in a fire in a container and some damage but fortunately no casualties.

The Houthis have since claimed a successful hit on what they referred to as an Israeli ship. A short while later the vessel’s AIS signal stopped broadcasting its position.

MSC Sky II was sailing between Singapore and Djibouti at the time. The ship was previously named Santa Felicia in 2002 and Thorsky from August 2014 and was renamed MSC Sky II in January 2022.

Italian Navy into the action

The attack on the MSC Sky II came a short while after a number of missiles were fired at patrolling naval ships off the Yemeni coast.

One of these, a drone, was aimed at the Andrea Doria-class Italian Navy destroyer, Cailo Duilio D554, which the Italians intercepted and shot down while the drone was still some six kilometres away.

The Caio Guilio is in the area on behalf of the European Union’s Eunavfor Aspides naval mission, to provide protection for merchant shipping attempting to navigate through the lower Red Sea and GoA area.

The Italian minister of defence, Guido Crosetto, has described the attempt by the Houthis as a breach of international law and a danger to maritime security.

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WHARF TALK: newly spotted box ship – ONE REASSURANCE

 

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

For the casual maritime observer who has a prime passion for container vessels, there might have been the hope that those behemoth box boats that are employed on the lucrative Europe-Asia service networks, would also be surprise visitors as diversionary arrivals from the Houthi menace of the southern Red Sea. Very few of the major container shipping lines have continued with sending their vessels through Suez, and the Red Sea, and so the Cape Sea Route beckoned.

Sadly, these 20,000 TEU plus container vessels are all big enough, and fast enough, to be able to carry sufficient onboard fuel to make the passage from the last loading port in the Far East, all the way through to the first discharge port in Western Europe, via the Cape of Good Hope, to not have any need to pop in to Durban or Cape Town for a bunker uplift.

So the casual maritime observer has to make do with the standard fare of container vessels operating on the east to west, Africa to the Far East schedules, and those operating on the north to south, Africa to Europe and the USA schedules. Even on these routes, there is a regular reassignment of assets by the container shipping lines to allow for a newly spotted box boat to turn up. Occasionally, there is the sheer excitement to be had when a new container vessel arrives, and she is not only a first time caller, but she is sailing on her maiden voyage.

On 29th February, at 10:00 in the morning, the container vessel ‘One Reassurance’ (IMO 9952696) arrived off Cape Town, from Durban, and entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Ben Schoeman Dock, and going alongside berth 603 at the Cape Town Container Terminal (CTCT) to begin her programme of discharging Cape bound import containers, and loading export containers.

Built in 2023 by Wai Gao Qiao shipbuilding at Shanghai in China, which is subsidiary shipyard of the state owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation, ‘One Reassurance’ is 272 metres in length and has a deadweight of 83,812 tons. She is powered by a single MAN-B&W 6G80ME-C9 six cylinder, two stroke, main engine producing 37,898 bhp (28,260 kW) and driving a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 20.5 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes two Daihatsu 8DC-32(e) generators providing 3,690 kW each, two MAN-B&W 9L27/38 generators providing 3,285 kW each, and two MAN-B&W 7L27/38 generators providing 2,555 kW. She has a single Doosan V/AD 180 emergency generator providing 375 kW. She has a single Kangrim economiser exhaust gas boiler, and a single Kangrim composite oil fired boiler. For added manoeuvrability she has a Kawasaki KT-219B5 bow transverse thruster providing 1,870 kW.

She has a container carrying capacity of 7,164 TEU, and can stack containers on deck up to 9 TEU/FEU high, and 17 rows across her beam, with her underdeck hold stowage being up to 8 TEU/FEU high, and 15 rows across her beam. She has sufficient hold and deck plugs for a total of 1,200 reefers, which explains her large power generation provision. The high reefer capacity was a design requisite to enable ‘One Reassurance’ to carry a large amount of South African export fruit.

Designed by the Ship Design and Research Institute (SDARI) of Shanghai, ‘One Reassurance’ is nominally owned by SPDBFL No.168 (Tianjin) Ship Leasing Co. Ltd., and is operated by the Seaspan Corporation, of Hong Kong. She is managed by Seaspan Ship Management Ltd., of Vancouver in Canada, and is on long term charter to the Ocean Network Express (ONE) of Singapore, whose houseflag she displays on her funnel, and whose name she displays on her unique corporate Magenta coloured hull.

As a newbuild, and for a company which takes its climate responsibilities, and emissions output seriously, ‘One Reassurance’ has been built as an eco-vessel. She has a low resistance hull design with an ‘S’ bow, a high efficiency propeller, with an energy saving propeller duct, a twisted rudder, and a semi enclosed bow windshield, to cut wind resistance. All of these design qualities reduce fuel consumption, increase fuel efficiency, and reduce emissions.

She is fitted with a hybrid scrubbing unit, and her main engine is equipped with an Exhaust Gas Recirculation Turbocharger Cut-Out (EGRTC), with her generators having Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR), all of which allows her to meet with both the strict IMO Tier III NOx emission standards, and the third stage Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI). She also has a ship to shore medium voltage power device, which allows ‘One Reassurance’ to connect to an available shoreside power supply, which further reduces her emissions when alongside in port.

In terms of onboard container cargo fire safety, ‘One Reassurance’ is fitted with a fixed deck fire cannon system, and also has a below deck cargo hold sprinkler system fitted. Her modern design also has her heavily automated, and DNV approved for one man bridge operations, and with the use of an intelligent system for auxiliary berthing.

The second of a class of five sisterships, of which only three have so far been delivered, ‘One Reassurance’ has been assigned to the South Africa Rainbow Express (SRX) container service of ONE, which has a port rotation of Rotterdam (Holland)- London Gateway (UK)- Bremerhaven (Germany)- Algeciras (Spain)- Ngqura- Durban- Cape Town- Rotterdam.

The service is schedule with a maximum port schedule turnaround time of less than 63 days. Once more, her first round trip on the SRX service has shown up the differences in productivity and efficiency of Western European, privately run container terminals, and those of Transnet in South Africa. In Rotterdam her total port time was 25 hours, in London her total port time was 20 hours, in Bremerhaven her total port time was 49 hours, and in Algeciras she was assigned two separate terminals, with the total port time, including terminal shifting, being 44 hours.

Her time in port so far, in her three Transnet ports in South Africa, tell a completely different story. In Coega her total port time was 72 hours, in Durban her total port time was 99 hours, and in Cape Town, assuming that ‘One Reassurance’ she sails according her published ONE schedule, then her total port time will have been 126 hours. In context, she spent 138 hours in 4 European ports, and is expected to spend 297 hours in just 3 Transnet ports. That is an average of 34.5 hours in a European port, and 99 hours in a Transnet port, three times as long.

The recent CTCT boast of achieving some kind of efficiency, in the last month or two, rings hollow with these statistics, of just one turnaround. Recently CTCT were patting themselves on the back for a reduction in truck turnaround times at the terminal from 75 minutes to 51 minutes. Presumably that figure compares to other Transnet terminals to give it perspective. Such a reduction is to be applauded. However, a good yardstick is to compare it to four other big container terminals, all in the UK, to see what truck turnaround times they are producing.

The UK Container Terminal figures are:
Felixstowe – 32 minutes
Southampton – 30 minutes
London Gateway – 31 minutes
Liverpool Seaforth – 30 minutes

All four of these container port terminals report the turnaround figure daily, which gives a truer picture of changes. By CTCT selecting just one figure, from start to finish of the period, it is not a true statistic. Rather show the last 30 individual days, on a rolling basis, to see how CTCT went from 75 to 51 minutes through that period. Without that, it is not a true picture of improvement. Selective good results, without providing supporting background data as proof positive, is meaningless.

In effect, all four container terminals in the UK are all operating nearly twice as fast as CTCT on a continuous basis, at current levels on truck turnaround times, so CTCT still has a long way to go to allay the frustrations of both the Cape Town importers and the exporters.

For ‘One Reassurance’, her published schedule has her sailing from Cape Town at 16:00 in the afternoon of 5th March, northbound for Rotterdam. So, by the time this article is read in Africa Ports & Ships, she should have sailed, and be well on her way north to Europe. She is scheduled to return to Ngqura on 16th April for a 48 hour turnaround, Durban on 22nd April for a 90 hour turnaround, and Cape Town on 1st May for a 62 hour turnaround. Time will tell if this schedule will be met by the Transnet container terminals.

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IMO statement on the Red Sea crisis and the Rubymar

Edited by Paul Ridgway
Africa Ports & Ships
London

Shortly after Noon on 4 March IMO announced that it is working with partners to provide assistance to the Government of Yemen following recent sinking of the vessel Rubymar in the Red Sea area.

Speaking at the opening of the tenth session of the IMO’s Sub-Committee on Ship Systems and Equipment (SSE 10) that day at IMO HQ in London, the Secretary-General, Mr. Arsenio Dominguez said: “In view of the situation in the Red Sea, I want to urge for the immediate release of the Galaxy Leader and its crew.

“The first impact of this crisis, before it has an impact on trade, falls on seafarers. It is the responsibility of this Organization and its Member States to protect all seafarers.

“I reiterate my firm belief that the exercise of navigational rights and freedom by merchant vessels must be respected. I join the calls for caution and restraint to avoid further escalation of the situation.

“The recent sinking of the vessel Rubymar represents an additional risk for the environment and maritime security. We are in contact with the Government of Yemen and other UN organizations to provide necessary assistance.

“IMO will continue to contribute to enhancing the safety of seafarers and transit of vessels of all States through the Red Sea and will closely monitor the situation, in collaboration with Member States and partners from the industry.”

Fire safety and life-saving appliances

In the week ahead the IMO Sub-Committee on Ship Systems and Equipment will discuss a wide range of technical issues, with a focus on life-saving equipment and appliances, as well as fire detection and extinguishing systems.

This includes fire safety on container ships and ships that carry electric vehicles.

Key agenda items include:

* Evaluation of adequacy of fire safety provisions of vehicle, special category and ro-ro spaces in relation to fire risk of ships carrying new energy vehicles.

* Development of amendments to SOLAS chapter II-2 (Fire protection/detection/extinction) and the FSS Code (requirements for fire safety systems) concerning detection and control of fires on containerships.

* Revision of SOLAS chapter III and the LSA Code on life-saving appliances.

* Comprehensive review of the requirements for maintenance, examination and testing of life boats and rescue boats and their launching appliances.

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UNCTAD port training module for Nigerian port officials

Africa Ports & Ships

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will hold its TrainForTrade Modern Port Management Course (PMP): Module 8 for Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) port officials later this month.

The PMP training session will take place between 18 – 22 March in Warri, Delta State with 21 NPA personnel participating.

UNCTAD’s PMP sessions have been designed to support port communities in developing countries in delivering more efficient and competitive port management in the future.

In order to increase trade flows and foster economic development, the programme creates port networks bringing together public, private and international entities. The aim is to share knowledge and expertise between port operators and strengthen talent management and human resources development in port communities.

The main objectives of the programme include:

• * Strengthen institutional capacity and management efficiency of ports and related agencies.
  * Promote port community participation and public-private partnerships.
  * Enhance the competitiveness of ports and the quality of their services.
  * Improve the environmental sustainability and social responsibility of ports.

The PMP provides technical assistance in various areas, including port planning, management and operations, logistics and supply chain management, port security, safety and environmental protection, and legal and regulatory frameworks. It also organizes training courses, workshops, and seminars, as well as conducting research and analysis on port-related issues.

Those taking part in the PMP are expected to complete all eight modules of the course on Modern Port Management. With the supervision of local port experts trained by UNCTAD, the trainees will also write a thesis consisting of a case study concerning a real problem and providing concrete recommendations to improve the performance of the port communities of Nigeria.

Module 8, the final module of the course, is entitled ‘Technical Management and HR Development.’ This module focuses on managing staff and the long-term planning of ports.

Later in 2024, the trainees will be expected to defend their theses in front of a jury made up of international experts who are also members of the TrainForTrade network.

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West Africa’s GTA LNG project: Arrival of FLNG vessel GIMI – Major milestone reached

Edited by Paul Ridgway
Africa Ports & Ships
London

The floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) vessel that is a core component of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) LNG project has arrived at its destination on the Mauritania and Senegal maritime border. This was reported by BP in mid-February.

Gimi

The FLNG vessel, Gimi (IMO 73827321), is at the heart of the GTA Phase 1 development, operated by BP with partners, Kosmos Energy, PETROSEN and SMH.

Furthermore, it was reported that GTA Phase 1 is set to produce around 2.3 million tonnes of LNG per year. This innovative project is expected to produce LNG for more than twenty years, enabling Mauritania and Senegal to become a global LNG hub.

Emil Ismayilov, BP’s senior vice president, Mauritania and Senegal commented: “The successful and safe arrival of the FLNG vessel is another step forward for GTA Phase 1 and is testament to our team and partners’ commitment to safely delivering this project.

“The people behind the project have delivered through many challenges, including the pandemic, to orchestrate a major feat of engineering. We are fully focused on safely completing the project and beginning a new energy chapter in Mauritania and Senegal.”

FPSO employed

The GTA Phase 1 project will produce gas from reservoirs in deep water, approximately 120km offshore, through a subsea system to a floating production and storage offloading (FPSO) vessel, which will initially process the gas, removing heavier hydrocarbon components.

The gas will then be transported by pipeline to the FLNG vessel at the GTA Hub where it will be cryogenically cooled in the vessel’s four liquefaction trains and stored before transfer to LNG carriers. Gimi can store up to 125,000 cubic metres of LNG.

Owned and operated by Golar LNG, the FLNG vessel Gimi set sail from Singapore in November 2023, travelling 9,000 nautical miles to site. More than 36 million hours were spent on its construction.

Africa’s deepest subsea infrastructure

With wells located in water depths of up to 2850m, the GTA Phase 1 development has deepest subsea infrastructure in Africa. The multibillion-dollar investment has been granted the status of National Project of Strategic Importance by the Presidents of both Mauritania and Senegal.

About BP

BP’s purpose is to reimagine energy for people and the planet. It has set out an ambition to be a net zero company by 2050, or sooner and help the world get to net zero, and a strategy for delivering on that ambition.

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Transnet unpacks plans for repositioning ports of Durban & Richards Bay

Africa Ports & Ships

On Thursday 29 February Transnet held the third and final Business-to-Business stakeholder engagement roadshow at the ICC in in Durban. Previous roadshows were held in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) for the Eastern Cape ports and at Cape Town for the three Western Cape ports.

As befitting the country’s two busiest ports, the Durban roadshow needs further unpacking of the various projects planned and already in hand, which Africa Ports & Ships will endeavour to undertake in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, the report that follows includes the unabridged statement issued by Transnet received on Monday 4 March, following last Thursday’s engagement with port stakeholders.

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) is accelerating the execution of port infrastructure development projects aimed at addressing congestion and increasing capacity at the Eastern Region ports of Durban and Richards Bay.

During the conclusion of its Business-to-Business stakeholder engagement roadshow in Durban, TNPA highlighted progress made under its mega projects portfolio – the KwaZulu-Natal Logistics Hub (KZN LH) and operational projects aimed at easing congestion at the two ports. The flagship KZN Logistics Hub portfolio aims to reposition the ports of Durban and Richards Bay to increase the capacity of handling container, automotive, dry bulk and liquid bulk commodities.

TNPA Managing Executive for the Eastern Region ports, Moshe Motlohi said: “For effective execution of these projects, we as TNPA rely on collaboration between ourselves and customers to find best solutions to improve port efficiencies.”

To date, TNPA has made headway on two catalytic projects in the region, following the much needed preparation funding from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). At the Port of Durban, TNPA anticipates awarding a service provider for the detailed design and commissioning of berth infrastructure works of the Point Container Terminal Marine Infrastructure and Bulk Services project by April 2024. The project seeks to expand the terminal capacity from 0.2m TEUs to 1.8m TEUs.

For the Port of Richards Bay, TNPA has appointed the terminal operator for the handling of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in the South Dunes Precinct. The Ports Authority will in the coming months appoint a developer of the port’s common-user infrastructure facility required to support the LNG terminal.

The developer will carry out the construction of marine structures such as berths, bollards, fenders, pipe racks and bund walls as well as the development of a gas transmission pipeline for handling LNG imports and bulk services infrastructure.

The preparation funding from DBSA means that TNPA will now be able to execute these projects within the specified timelines.

Commenting on these projects, TNPA Portfolio Director for KZN Logistics Hub, Dr Bridgette GasaToboti said, “Our continued investment in infrastructure and the repositioning of the two ports is pivotal in meeting the demands of the maritime industry – in particular, the increasing size of container vessels calling at our ports and introducing new energy mix within the port system.”

The project pipeline for the region also encompasses the deepening and lengthening of berths 203, 204 and 205 at the Pier 2 Durban Container Terminal at the Port of Durban. In this regard, the request for proposal for the multi-billion-rand main marine construction works package is out in the market and will close on 19 April 2024.

The project will commence between August and December 2024. The project will result in a berth length increase from 914m to 1,210m to safely accommodate the simultaneous berthing of three Super Post Panamax vessels of 350m in length and draft of 14.5m.

Meanwhile, in January 2024 TNPA also appointed a service provider to undertake prefeasibility studies for both the Base and Satellite Stations to enable the construction of the South African Navy Base project at the Port of Richards Bay.

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WHARF TALK: residential cruise ship – THE WORLD

Picture by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

Over the past decade, or more, there has been a growing amount of passenger cruise liners calling at virtually all of the Southern African ports. From the sole, true, transatlantic liner of ‘RMS Queen Mary 2’, through the behemoth blocks of flats of the Carnival Corporation, and MSC, down through the luxury end midsize liners, and the even smaller expedition liners.

As we all know, to take part in one of any of the cruises on offer, from all of these passenger liner owners, you only have to peruse the available cruise options, purchase a ticket, and off you go. Simple. Yet, there is one passenger liner out there that the likes of you and I will never get to cruise on. Because on this vessel, you don’t rent a cabin for a cruise, you buy a cabin for perpetuity. In order to do that, you have to be in the ‘mega wealthy’ and ‘well off’ bracket.

On 28th February, at 07:00 in the morning, the world’s largest residential cruise ship ‘The World’ (IMO 9219331) arrived off Cape Town, from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Tristan da Cunha, and entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock, and going alongside the Passenger Cruise Terminal at E berth to undergo formal entry requirements.

Her arrival at this berth, whilst not unusual for a passenger vessel, was ostensibly to clear customs, port health, and immigration formalities on arrival in South Africa. Once complete, she was then shifted to a berth normally denied to every other passenger vessel, western warship, and anybody else that TNPA Cape Town are under instructions to deny the use of. Astonishingly, ‘The World’ was taken into the Victoria Basin, and placed alongside No.2 Jetty directly opposite the V&A Waterfront. Only the best for the most wealthy, it would seem.

Built in 2002, with her hull built by the Öresundsvarvet AB shipyard at Landskrona in Sweden, and then towed around to the Fosen Mekaniske Verksteder AS Shipyard at Rissa in Norway, where she was completed and outfitted prior to entering service in 2003. She is 196 metres in length and has a gross registered tonnage of 43,188 tons.

She is powered by two Wärtsilä 12V32 twelve cylinder, four stroke, main engines producing 16,152 bhp (11,880 kW) which drive two Wärtsilä controllable pitch propellers for a service speed of 17 knots. Her auxiliary machinery includes three Wärtsilä 8L32 generators providing 4,640 kW, and a single Mitsubishi S6R-MPTK emergency generator providing 520 kW.

She has no less than five Alfa Laval Aalborg AV-6 exhaust gas boilers, and two Alfa Laval Aalborg Mission OS oil fired boilers. For added manoeuvrability ‘The World’ has two bow Brunvoll FU80LTC transverse thrusters providing 1,200 kW each, and a single stern Brunvoll FU63LTC transverse thruster providing 700 kW.

She has twelve decks, of which six are set aside not for cabins, but what are known as residences. There are a total of 169 of these residences, which include two penthouses, 104 two and three bedroom suites, 19 one bedroom apartments, and 40 studio apartments. On any one cruise she carries between 150 and 200 residents (not passengers!), who are looked after by a crew of 280. The residences are fully owned by the residents of ‘The World’.

Just to give you some idea of the wealth that you have to have to be in a position to own an apartment on ‘The World’, the entrance fee payable in order to be in a position to purchase an apartment is around US$8 million (ZAR152.74 million). You must declare all of your assets, and your financial and criminal background are checked by international lawyers. One of the boasts of ‘The World’ is that none of their residents has a criminal record, or is on any ‘wanted’ list.

That done, the purchase price of a studio apartment is in the region of US$600,000 (ZAR11.46 million), a two bedroom apartment is in the region of US$2 million (ZAR38.18 million), a three bedroom apartment is in the region of US$3 million (ZAR57.28 million), and a Penthouse is in the region of US$13 million (ZAR248.2 million). On top of the purchase price are the annual service fees, which range from US$132,222 (ZAR2.52 million) for a studio apartment, all the way up to US$1,02 million (ZAR19.37 million) for a penthouse apartment.

As said previously, ‘The World’ is for the very well heeled, and mega-rich. Personalities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Madonna own residences on the vessel. For the owners of the residences, a great many of them live permanently on ‘The World’, with others coming and going, dependent on the vessel itinerary, or personal choice. There is at least one South African resident on the vessel. At present there are no known residences available for purchase.

With some owners not utilising the residence aboard throughout the year, there is scope for rental of the residences at certain times of the year. Again, your average Joe need not apply. The rental of a studio apartment is US$550, per person, per day (ZAR10,500 per day) for a minimum of five days, rising to an average rental of a two bedroom apartment of US$2,100, per person, per day (ZAR40,093 per day). A typical one bedroom apartment rental for one month can stretch to US$20,000 (ZAR381,841).

Built at a cost of US$266 million (ZAR5.08 billion), ‘The World’ is owned by The World Resident Holdings Ltd., of Fort Lauderdale in the US State of Florida. She is operated by ResidenSea Ltd., of Miramar in Florida, and is managed by ROW Management Ltd., also of Fort Lauderdale. She is the largest residential vessel on Earth, and is operated in a similar manner to any condominium complex, or block of residential apartments.

Her itineraries are selected two years in advance, as suggested by the Captain of ‘The World’, with the actual routing voted on by the residents. She has her own board of directors, all elected by the residents, as well as a number of onboard committees, who provide guidance to the vessel management company regarding the itineraries, finances, and lifestyle, that the residents wish the vessel to undertake.

Onboard facilities, mirror those of upmarket passenger cruise liners, with some unique provisions not found on other vessels, such as a Delicatessen and a Grocery Store, used by the residents as all residences have fully equipped kitchenettes, or kitchens. Other extra onboard provisions include classes on a variety of subjects, and sporting facilities such as a Billiard Room.

Her main resident facilities include six restaurants, six lounge bars, a night club, a theatre, movie theatre, library, boutique shop, spa and beauty salon, fitness centre, two swimming pools, jogging track, a golf simulator, two putting greens, a tennis court, and as befits a luxury residence at sea, she has a fold down water sports marina, located at her stern.

In August 2012 ‘The World’ completed a West-East transit of the famed Northwest Passage, whilst on a voyage from Nome in Alaska, to Nuuk in Greenland, via the Canadian Arctic. She was the largest vessel ever to complete the voyage. In 2019, she repeated the voyage, but in an East-West direction, becoming the largest vessel to do so in both directions, and was listed as only the 300th vessel to complete a voyage through the Northwest Passage.

In January 2017 ‘The World’ broke the record for the vessel to reach the furthest south, when on an Antarctic cruise in the Ross Sea area, she reached the position of 78°44’ South 163°41’ West in the Bay of Whales. This record was only broken in February 2023 by the Italian Antarctic Expedition icebreaking vessel ‘Laura Bassi’. The casual maritime observer might know that ‘Laura Bassi’ was previously known as the ‘RRS Ernest Shackleton’ of the British Antarctic Survey, and a regular visitor to Cape Town, when resupplying Halley Base in the Weddell Sea.

In March 2020, on the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, she docked in Fremantle, in Western Australia, where her residents and non-essential crew were disembarked and flown home. In April 2020 the Australian authorities requested that ‘The World’ depart from Fremantle, and with the New Zealand authorities refusing her entry to their waters, she sailed all the way back to Europe, and went into enforced lay-up, first in Falmouth in the UK, and then at Tenerife in the Canary Islands. She only returned to service in July 2021.

She has been a regular caller into South African ports over past 20 years, with her stays in each port she visits normally planned to be at least three days in duration. On 3rd March, at 21:00 in the late evening, ‘The World’ departed from the V&A Waterfront, and sailed from Cape Town, bound for Mossel Bay. She will then call at two more South African ports.

From South Africa, she heads to Mozambique, before her course takes her up to the Comores, and East Africa, the Seychelles, Maldives, then on to South East Asia, before heading down to Australia and New Zealand, and a transpacific voyage, calling at many of the South Seas islands en route to the Pacific coast of Mexico, where her 2024 travels will end. Oh, to be wealthy!

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Seafarer lost overboard container ship Santa Cruz near Cape Recife

Africa Ports & Ships

The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) has confirmed report of a seafarer, a male in his 30s, lost overboard from the container ship Santa Cruz (IMO IMO 9444742) off the Eastern Cape coast.

Santa Cruz had sailed from Durban and was en route to Cape Town. The report of the sailor, overboard came as the ship was passing 22 nautical miles east of Cape Recife, near Port Elizabeth on Saturday night.

According to SAMSA a thorough situation appraisal was conducted followed by “exhaustive efforts” searching for the man, who has not been located.

SAMSA said that immediate response actions included a distress call to the Telkom Maritime Radio and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Cape Town, which prompted a coordinated search effort.

“At 18:42 local time on Saturday, the MRCC, in collaboration with Telkom Maritime Radio, issued a call for assistance to nearby vessels. The fishing vessel FV Portunity was the closest and first to respond, with additional resources from the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) in Gqeberha [Port Elizabeth] and other vessels joining the search efforts through the night.”

SAMSA added that despite the participation of up to six other vessels and extensive search operations conducted by the NSRI, the seafarer was not found. It was reported that at the time of his disappearance, he was not wearing a life jacket.

The MV Santa Cruz is continuing its journey to Cape Town, where SAMSA will conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.

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Houthi’s may have scuttled abandoned British bulker Rubymar

Africa Ports & Ships

Reports coming out of the Middle East suggest the Houthi militia may have had a hand in scuttling the drifting UK-owned bulk carrier Rubymar(IMO 9138898).

British security specialist Ambrey confirmed on Friday that it too had received reports of another incident on the ship, during which it appears several Yemenis were reportedly injured.

Satellite imagery taken by Maxar Technologies on Friday is reported to show new blast damage on the Rubymar.

This incident occurred on Thursday 29 February, not long before it became obvious the bulk carrier was beginning to sink. Rubymar was at that time drifting not very far off the Yemen coast.

Rubymar was proceeding toward the Red Sea on 18 February when the ship came under attack and was struck by an anti-ship missile fired from Houthi-held Yemen. Unlike most other attacks on merchant ships, the damage appeared serious enough for the crew to abandon their ship, by taking into liferafts and later being picked up by naval ships in the area.

The crew were subsequently taken to Djibouti to be repatriated home.

Rubymar was carrying a cargo of about 21,000 tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertiliser bound for Morocco, which represents an environmental risk in the Red Sea. The Red Sea has been described as a giant lake and that what is in the Red Sea stays there.

Several days earlier the vessel began leaking oil which trailed alongside and beyond the stricken vessel.

On Friday night (1 March) Yemeni government authorities announced the ship had sunk.

This was confirmed by the US CENTCOM which said the vessel had sunk on 2 March at approximately 02:15 (Sanaa time).

Although multiple strikes have been made against merchant and naval ships in the area off the Yemen coast, this is the first time that a vessel has been abandoned and sank.

If the reports of Yemeni personnel on board the vessel on Friday are true, it may be they assisted in ensuring the vessel did sink.

However, by that stage the ship was noticeably lower in the water and appeared to be slowly sinking.

Either way, the Houthi rebels are claiming this first ship sinking as a victory. They have threatened to continue targeting British ships until the Israeli invasion of Gaza is ended.

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Tunisia commercial port traffic increases 2% in 2023

Africa Ports & Ships

Commercial traffic in Tunisia’s maritime ports rose by 2% in 2023, the North African country’s Transport Ministry announced last week.

Total traffic reflected in tonnes increased to 29.4 million tonnes, an increase on the 28.7mt registered in 2022.

The commodity showing the highest increase in volume was liquid bulk which reached 10.5mt, up by 17% on the previous year. The transport department said this was largely a result of a 19% increase in fuel products for the year.

Breakbulk cargo went down 11% to 8 million tonnes, while dry bulk cargo remained stable at 10.8mt.

Wheeled traffic, or trailer traffic as it is referred to in the report, reflected 2 million tonnes based on 162,000 rolling units for the year.

Container volumes decreased to 446,000 TEU during 2023, for which the Tunisian Minister of Transport said was 3.9 million tonnes, a figure not included in the overall tonnage volumes above. It added the Tunisian ports handled a grand total of 33.3 million tonnes in 2023.

Tunisian Ports

Tunisia has a total of eight ports along a 1,300km coastline, bordered by Algeria in the west and Libya to the east of the country. Administration of these ports rests with the Office de la Marine Marchande et des Ports.

The country’s eight commercial ports are:

Bizerte-Menzel Bourguiba : dominated by oil traffic.
Radès : specialized in the traffic of containers and trailers.
La Goulette : Specialized in the passenger and cruise traffic.
Sousse : Specialized in general goods.
Sfax-Sidi Youssef : Multipurpose port (General goods, grain…)
Gabès : industrial port specialized in chemicals traffic.
Zarzis : Dedicated for the handling of oil traffic and marine salt.
Skhira : Specialized in the traffic of hydrocarbons and chemical products.

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Transnet given approval to finalise DCT2 contract with ICTSI

Terry Hutson
Africa Ports & Ships

Transnet SOC Ltd Board of Directors has given the go-ahead to Transnet to press ahead with the contract awarded to international terminal operator, ICTSI, to operate and manage the Durban Container Terminal Pier 2 in partnership with Transnet Port Terminals (TPT).

This follows the conclusion of the financial due diligence process, but remains subject to certain other non-financial processes which are currently underway.

According to Transnet these are set to be concluded without undue delay.

ICTSI was selected as the preferred bidder to partner with TPT in running the Durban terminal, sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest. This was subject to the usual due diligence which has now largely been completed. ICTSI and TPT would each have 50% of the shares in the terminal, with TPT holding one extra share.

The due diligence process included whether ICTSI had the necessary financial soundness for the future development of this terminal, which has been confirmed. Perhaps ironically so, as the question could also be asked whether TPT has the financial soundness and acumen to continue playing an active role in the future operation of such a vital and strategic port facility.

Transnet has given the assurance that TPT will continue to meet and significantly improve its obligations under its License and Lease Agreement.

According to Transnet, the procurement of a private sector partner is set to improve terminal productivity and increase terminal throughput. It expects the partnership will have a positive impact on Transnet itself, container supply chains and on the competitiveness and health of South Africa’s economy.

All agreed, but it must be hoped that Transnet will also stand back a little and allow ICTSI to get on with running the terminal in a proven efficient and productive way, just as it has demonstrated its ability elsewhere.

The Durban terminal is after all, South Africa’s main cargo and container port, due principally to its strategic location. DCT2 handles a staggering 72% of the port of Durban’s throughput and 46% of South Africa’s port traffic. That’s how critically important it is to the national economy.

The 25-year joint venture between ICTSI and TPT will see the terminal being further developed and upgraded. During that period the port itself is to undergo significant change, in accordance with the latest Port Master Plan.

This will include the enlargement and development of the Pier 1 container terminal, probably also as some sort of joint venture with an outside terminal operator.

In the meantime, DCT2 will continue to carry the bulk of South Africa’s container traffic in order to perform its vital role in the South African economy.

Part of the agreement with ICTSI is that there will be no retrenchments as a result of the transaction. Transnet’s employees will therefore play a significant role in the success of the partnership.

Outstanding legal and regulatory matters that have to be finalised include:

* Approval from the Minister of Finance for exemption from the PFMA for the NewCo to be created to house the joint venture between Transnet and ICTSI.
* Approval from Transnet National Ports Authority for the subcontract and sublease.
* Approval from the Unions to sign the agreement in terms of section 197 (6) of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 to opt out of the automatic transfer of employees.
* Final tax advice on transaction structure.
* Final non-substantive negotiations to reach consensus on the terms and conditions of the project agreements.

Transnet says it will seek the consent of all bidders to extend the bid validity period to allow for the completion of the partner selection process.

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DCT Pier 2 is steadily recovering, says TPT

Africa Ports & Ships

The Durban Container Terminal Pier 2 has reached stability as collaboration efforts to improve performance gain traction.

That’s the word from Managing Executive at the Durban Terminals, Earle Peters.

“We will always have a few vessels at anchor for varying reasons. It’s the nature of busy and large terminal operations,” he argues.

Peters adds that the terminal’s challenges have encouraged collaboration with employees, customers, academia, and original equipment manufacturers as the company worked towards sustainable solutions.

He said contracted equipment manufacturers are on-site assisting with equipment reliability and availability over the next seven years.

Plans for the next 12 months include capital investment that will see the acquisition of 45 haulers, four reach stackers and five empty container handlers – which will be commissioned for use in May this year.

The approval and governance processes are also in progress for the acquisition of 20 straddle carriers for delivery by November 2024.

Upskilling employees

Meanwhile, the terminal has begun an outcomes-based programme in partnership with the University of Pretoria to upskill employees in order to improve the company’s operational performance in the next 100 days, with the overall focus on improving the reliability and availability of operational equipment, ensuring the availability of spares and increasing crane moves per hour.

Why has it taken so long?

The pity of these positive responses is that it took so long and all the ‘snot en trane’ of recent days to become a wake-up call for Transnet to pull together and find better ways of getting things done right – the way it once did!

Until we see container ships being turned around at Durban, Ngqura, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town within two days (Durban) or even less time for the other ports, the South African port reputation will remain down at the foot of the World Bank list of poor performers. All the rhetoric and talk of world-class service is just more waffle until these achievements are reached.

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WHARF TALK: Large Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHST) vessel – NORMAND SIRIUS

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

The offshore oil and gas industry continues unabated, and almost completely insulated from the Houthi menace of the southern Red Sea, due to the extremely limited requirement to utilise the Suez Canal when transiting between any North/South contracts, and virtually all East/West contracts being completely unaffected by the current difficulties of other operators.

As always, the West Africa region provides Cape Town with a constant stream of the specialised offshore vessels that maintain the oil and gas industry in that region. The casual maritime observer, who is also a tug lover, and who is broad minded beyond the purist view, always enjoy the arrival of the large modern offshore anchor handling tugs, who project so much power, and brute force, compared to the sadly departed ‘S.A. Amandla’.

If you had forgotten, 2024 is a Leap Year, and on 29th February, at 10:00 in the morning, the Multifunctional Deep Water Anchor Handling Offshore Service Vessel, or better described as a Large Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHST) vessel ‘Normand Sirius’ (IMO 9659074), arrived off Cape Town, from Luba in Equatorial Guinea, and entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock, and going alongside the Landing Wall. Her arrival was not for purposes of receiving shoreside engineering support, but a quick call for bunkers and fresh provisions.

She was built in 2014, with her hull being built by the VARD Tulcea SA shipyard at Tulcea in Rumania, before being towed from the Black Sea, via the Mediterranean Sea, and around to the VARD Langsten AS shipyard at Tomrefjord in Norway, for final completion and outfitting, ‘Normand Sirius’ is 87 metres in length and has a deadweight of 3,950 tons.

She is a diesel electric vessel, and is powered by two Rolls-Royce Bergen B32:40L9P nine cylinder, four stroke, main engines producing 10,400 bhp (7,650 kW), and providing power to two electric motors providing 3,000 kW each to two Rolls-Royce RR121XFS/4E-B controllable pitch propellers, for a service speed of 12 knots, and an intervention speed of 16 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes four Caterpillar 3516 generators providing 1,400 kW each, and a single Scania DI12 emergency generator providing 224 kW. For added manoeuvrability she has a forward mounted Rolls-Royce TCNS 92/62-220 retractable azimuth thruster providing 1,500 kW, with two bow Kongsberg TT2200 DP transverse thrusters providing 1,000 kW each, and two stern Kongsberg TT2200 DP transverse thrusters providing 1,000 kW each.

She is fitted with a large Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) hangar on her starboard side, and her extensive fit of thrusters gives ‘Normand Sirius’ a Dynamic Positioning classification of DP2, with her DP system provided by Rolls-Royce. She has an Ice classification of ICE C, which allows her to operate in first year Baltic Sea ice with a thickness of 0.4 metres. She is equipped with two fire monitors giving her a firefighting capability of FiFi2.

She has a large aft working deck area of 754 m2, able to carry a maximum load of 1,500 tons, with two deck cranes, each capable of lifting 5 tons placed on each side of the working deck. In her capacity as a supply vessel, ‘Normand Sirius’ has a substantial fit of cargo tanks, with tanks capable of carrying 957 m3 of fuel oil, 948 m3 of potable water, 2,417 m3 of drill water, 861 m3 of drill mud, 383 m3 of base oil, and 270 m3 of dry cement, or dry bulk cargo.

One of eight sisterships, all built to a Rolls Royce UT 731 CD design, ‘Normand Sirius’ has accommodation for 40 persons, and was originally built for Farstad Shipping ASA, and named ‘Far Sirius’. Her name was changed to ‘Normand Sirius’ after 2017 when Farstad merged with the Solstad Group, and she is now owned by Solstad Rederi AS, of Skudeneshavn in Norway. She is operated by Solstad Offshore ASA, and managed by Solstad Shipping AS, also of Skudeneshavn. As an AHTS she has an impressive bollard pull of 259 tons.

Her dual role of a supply vessel, is linked to the decision by Solstad Offshore to sell off her complete fleet of pure Platform Supply Vessels (PSV) in March 2023. The fleet of 37 PSVs were all sold to Tidewater for US$580 million (ZAR11.06 billion), with the completion of the sale taking place in July 2023, and which marked the exit from the PSV segment by Solstad Shipping.

Her arrival in Cape Town was at the conclusion of a contract with Ocean Installer Ltd., based in West Africa, which began in October 2023, and was for the Q4 period of 2023, where she spent most of her time operating on a support contract based mainly out of Pointe Noire, operating in the Republic of Congo offshore oil and gas industry, and latterly out of Luba, in the Equatorial Guinea oil and gas industry. Ocean Installer Ltd., specialise in subsea operations.

For a long period of time ‘Normand Sirius’ operated in the Australian oil and gas industry, and was supporting the drilling programme of the Ichthys Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) development programme. She was under contract to INPEX Operations Australia Pty., and operated on the contract out of the port of Broome in Western Australia, with the Ichthys LNG field being located some 216 nautical miles north of Broome.

In January 2017 ‘Normand Sirius’ was contracted to the Conoco-Phillips oil company, to support the Barossa Field drilling campaign. The Barossa field is a combined Natural Gas and Condensate field, located 162 nautical miles, northwest of Darwin in the Northern Territory. The field output is tied back to a Floating Production Storage Offshore (FPSO) facility, which separates and processes the gas and condensate, with the condensate being exported by tanker, and the gas being sent via a 140 nautical mile long pipeline to the Darwin LNG plant.

In 2014, when ‘Normand Sirius’ was making her way through the Java Sea, she came across seven Indonesian seamen in a liferaft. Their ship had sunk ten hours earlier, with no distress call being made, and were extremely lucky to have been found, and rescued by ‘Normand Sirius’.

In Cape Town, after a very short ten hours alongside, and on completion of her uplift of bunkers, stores and fresh provisions, ‘Normand Sirius’ was ready to continue with her voyage. At 20:00 in the evening of 29th February, she sailed from Cape Town, bound for Singapore, where she was heading to prepare for her next contract.

Once more, ‘Normand Sirius’ was destined for Australia. She has been awarded a 160 day contract, beginning at the start of April, Q2 2024, in support of an offshore drilling campaign in Western Australia. The contract also has a further option for an extension of 250 days beyond the confirmed contract period.

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Transnet says it will deal ‘decisively’ concerning activities at TNPA

Africa Ports & Ships

Transnet issued a short statement on Friday, 1 March 2024, saying that it wanted to reassure stakeholders that the company is fully committed to dealing decisively with allegations concerning activities at Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA).

The statement was issued on behalf of the Board of Directors by the Chairperson, Mr Andile Sangqu.

This follows accusations made against the TNPA chief executive, Mr Pepi Silinga, that saw the CEO take a voluntary leave of absence from his duties in order to allow Transnet free reign to make enquiries into his alleged actions.

See that report here.

It’s alleged that Silinga, who was previously CEO of the Coega Development Corporation (CDC), influenced the awarding of a lucrative fencing contract in favour of the CDC at the Ports of Richards Bay and Saldanha.

It is also claimed that the value of the contract to fence the ports of Richards Bay and Saldanha rose from R80 million to R300 million following the appointment of the CDC.

Transnet said on Friday said that both the Transnet Board and the TNPA Board have been fully briefed and made the decision to place the Chief Executive of TNPA and two General Managers on precautionary suspension while the allegations are investigated.

“Transnet will do everything to expedite these investigations, which are being conducted by an independent law firm and a forensic firm. Transnet will take any further action as necessitated by the outcome of the investigations. Every effort will be made to ensure that fair labour processes are followed and that the interests of Transnet and its employees are protected.”

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CMA CGM given go-ahead to acquire Bolloré Logistics

Africa Ports & Ships

CMA CGM has passed the final hurdle and will be able to move ahead with the acquisition of fellow French transport and logistics firm Bolloré Logistics.

This follows the approval granted by the European Commission subject to full compliance with the commitments offered by the two parties.

The EC concern was that the merger of the two groups would reduce competition in the markets related to sea freight forwarding services in Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana.

The EC has since concluded the agreements received and modified by the commitments made, “would no longer raise competition concerns.”

On Thursday 29 February, the Bolloré Group and the CMA CGM Group jointly announced the completion of the sale of 100% of Bolloré Logistics to CMA CGM.

The only exclusion as yet incomplete involves the transfer of Bolloré Logistics Sweden AB to the CMA CGM Group, which is subject to CMA CGM obtaining foreign investment clearance in Sweden.

The deal becomes CMA CGM’s largest acquisition, Bolloré Logistics having cost CMA CGM 4.850 billion euros.

Rodolphe Saadé, CEO and Chairman of the CMA CGM Group, said his group was proud to welcome a French flagship built on years of work and experience.

“The new entity, made up of CEVA and Bolloré Logistics, is the world’s number 5 in its sector. We will now be able to offer our customers a complete range of services and extend our expertise to new businesses.”

Saadé welcomed the 14,000 employees who have now joined CMA CGM. “Together, we will combine our talents and accelerate our development!” he said.

Cyrille Bolloré, CEO and Chairman of the Bolloré Group said this was the beginning of a new chapter for Bolloré Logistics’ employees.

“I am very pleased that they are joining the CMA CGM Group and the Saadé family. They will bring unique expertise and know-how, which have long made the pride of the Group and which will be the pride of CMA CGM tomorrow.

“It is also a great opportunity for our customers around the world and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their trust and loyalty.”

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SA Navy will hit the high seas this year with ship visits to Russia and Cuba

Guy Martin
defenceWeb

The South African Navy will this year send the frigate SAS Amatola to Russia for a parade and the logistics vessel SAS Drakensberg to Cuba on a diplomatic visit as the service returns more vessels to sea and strengthens relations with global navies.

This is according to Vice Admiral Monde Lobese, who divulged this while was addressing a 20 years long service medal parade in Simons Town on 29 February.

Fresh from a visit to India for Exercise Milan, which saw nearly 50 countries attend the flagship naval exercise, Lobese expressed his desire to send a South African Navy ship to the next edition in 2026.

“India and South Africa are very close partners and share membership of many forums such as BRICS, IBSA, and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). We also share many close political, economic, cultural and historical connections. Our two Navies also regularly interact with each other, and we host many Indian Navy ships visiting our cities each year. Thus the relationship between our Navies must grow from strength to strength,” Lobese said.

He remarked that he would also like for South African Navy parades like the Navy Festival to become more inclusive cultural experiences, and to invite foreign navies to send their ships. The SA Navy has not held a Navy Festival at Simon’s Town for many years. A smaller event planned at the Waterfront was cancelled last year due to the SAS Manthatisi submarine tragedy in September.

“Before this visit to India, I was invited by the Chief of the Egyptian Navy to come and visit his country. This visit was also an eye-opening experience, and I have already issued instructions that the South African Navy must improve relations with the Egyptian Navy.”

Lobese said there are many countries in the world interested in improving relations with South Africa. “The expansion of the BRICS grouping will be the vehicle to the opening of so many doors, not only for the South African Navy, but for our country as well. I have already instructed the Deputy Chief of the Navy, Rear Admiral Mhlana, to compile a suitable team and visit the Egyptian Navy. He is to determine all the different means by which our Navies can grow closer together, including training exchanges, maritime exercises, reciprocal ship visits and more.”

Amatola to Russia and beyond

Lobese commended the crew of the SAS Amatola, who “worked tirelessly, and came up with creative ways in which to repair their ship. SAS Amatola has been earmarked to sail on a voyage, the likes of which the Navy has never attempted. She will sail along the East Coast of Africa, through the Suez Canal and stop at Alexandria in Egypt. Here she will exercise with our friends from the Egyptian Navy. From there she will sail through the Mediterranean Sea, through the Straits of Gibraltar, and head north. She will sail through the English Channel, the North Sea and Enter the Baltic Sea. She will sail to St Petersburg in Russia and take part in their Navy Anniversary Parade at the end of July.”

Lobese said that by doing so she will become the first SA Navy ship to visit Russia, “who is one of our strategic BRICS partner countries.”

On her return voyage she will return along the west coast of Africa, stopping to refuel and exercise with African countries along the way. This voyage will be approximately 19 000 nautical miles, and will be one of the longest voyages ever undertaken by a SA Navy vessel. This will also be the first time that a SA Navy ship has circumnavigated the African continent since 1994.

“This voyage will prove that the South African Navy can fulfil its international obligations, and that we are indeed a player in the international maritime arena,” Lobese told the Simons Town parade in his prepared remarks.

“This is not the only international voyage planned for this financial year,” the Navy Chief added. “The second deployment will be for SAS Drakensberg to sail to Cuba to exercise with the Cuban Navy. On her return voyage she will make a port call in Brazil to not only exercise with the Brazilian Navy, but also to possibly uplift essential equipment needed by the SA Navy. I don’t want to elaborate further than that, but know that the Brazilian Navy are our friends and they have indicated the willingness to donate some much-needed equipment to us.”

These international deployments will be additional to the domestic deployments and operations that the SA navy will conduct. “The plan is to ensure that all of our ships get the opportunity to do international voyages,” Lobese emphasised. “There are so many countries who are willing to exercise with us. South Africa is part of the international community, and these maritime diplomacy missions go a long way to build cooperation with all the countries who are our friends.”

Sea Power Africa Symposium

In order to foster and grow this cooperation between countries, the South African Navy will be hosting the Sea Power for Africa Symposium in Cape Town from 14 to 18 October this year. “This Symposium will see Chiefs of Navies of all African countries being invited, as well as all BRICS members, and those countries that the South African Navy regularly exercise with. Other Government Departments who operate in the MARITIME SPACE, as well as representatives from industry and academics will also be invited,” Lobese outlined.

“For too long have South African neglected the importance of the maritime environment, and the SA Navy will take the lead to change this situation around.”

Written by defenceWeb and republished with permission. The original article can be found here

Added 3 March 2024

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SA Navy prepared to divorce itself from the Armscor Dockyard – Lobese

Guy Martin
defenceWeb

The Chief of the South African Navy, Vice Admiral Monde Lobese, is tired of the inefficiency and poor performance of the Armscor Dockyard, which has contributed to the limited availability of vessels, and is prepared to ‘divorce’ the Navy from it.

This is according to his remarks at a 20 years long service medal parade in Simons Town on 29 February.

Aside from budget restrictions, “another factor that is severely limiting our ability to get our ships to sea, is the non-performance of the Armscor Dockyard,” he said. “As the Chief of the Navy, I have reached the end of my patience with their inability to repair the SA Navy ships. I have engaged the CEO of Armscor on numerous opportunities in order to resolve this situation.

“I am waiting for the senior management of the SANDF and the Minister to guide me in establishing the way forward, but I firmly believe the current way in which the Armscor Dockyard functions cannot continue. All of the countries that I visit have Dockyards that are force multipliers for their Navies. These naval dockyards are so capacitated that they can build their own Navy’s ships,” Lobese remarked.

“This is the case in Egypt, where the Alexandria Dockyard is managed by a retired Rear Admiral, who reports to the Chief of the Navy. The Alexandria Dockyard recently built a Meko Class Frigate, the same as our frigates. This Dockyard gets no support from the State, and must be run like a commercial company, generating a profit. There is no reason why the SA Naval Dockyard cannot do the same, and I will make it my mission to turn this situation around.”

Lobese said the marriage between the SA Navy and the Armscor Dockyard started in 2005, through the Dockyard Transfer agreement. “When I was staffed as Director Fleet Logistics from 2009 to 2015 I was confronted by the poor performance of the Armscor Dockyard. Up to today this situation has not improved, as the Dockyard has now become an outsourcing agent, instead of being a Level 3 Naval Refit Authority. This is despite the fact that the SA Navy is spending hundreds of millions of Rand to them through the transfer payment.”

Explaining further, Lobese said he met his wife 30 years ago, and is celebrating 25 years of marriage, during which the marriage produced many wonderful things. However, “when I compare the 19 year long marriage between the Dockyard and the Navy, there is nothing that I can say has been produced. I believe it is high time that the SA Navy formally announces divorce proceedings with the Dockyard. Now that I am Chief of the Navy, I am no longer willing to be held prisoner or being undermined by Armscor Dockyard.”

According to Lobese, something must give in the marriage between the SA Navy and the Armscor Dockyard, “or we must allow it to end, as the SA Navy is getting very little return on investment. In 2012 and 2013 – as DFL [Director Fleet Logistics] – I outsourced the refits of Offshore Patrol Vessels, frigates and submarines due to the lack of capacity of Dockyard. Now in 2024, I must outsource the same thing, while the Dockyard is just receiving money from the Navy. No, ladies and gentlemen, this is Wasteful Expenditure and I cannot in good faith allow this to continue. The people of South Africa will demand better from me as Chief of the Navy, and I intend to rectify this situation.”

Written by defenceWeb and republished with permission. The original article can be found here

Added 3 March 2024

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Xeneta Update: XSI® records biggest increase in 18 months

Africa Ports & Ships

The Xeneta Shipping Index (XSI®) has posted its biggest global increase in 18 months – just days before many US shippers begin negotiations over new long term contracts.

The global XSI®, which calls upon Xeneta’s crowdsourced data to measure the average of all long term rates in the ocean freight shipping market, hit 154.4 points in February, the largest rise since June 2022.

This is largely due to surcharges related to diversions in the Red Sea being added to existing long term contracts, particularly on trades between Asia and Europe.

Carriers and shippers both have strong hands

TPM24, taking place in California next week, signals the start of negotiations with US importers for new long term contracts and carriers may point towards the global XSI®, plus a 180% increase in the spot market on the Transpacific trade since mid December, as justification for increasing rates in the new agreements.

On the other hand, US shippers will point towards the XSI® sub index for US imports, which remained relatively flat in February, down 3.3%, plus a now softening spot market, as justification for negotiating a long term contract more in line with their existing agreement at a lower level.

The million-dollar question heading into negotiations

Michael Braun, Xeneta VP of Customer Success & Solutions, said: “We have seen the impact of the Red Sea surcharges on long term rates at a global level but are we now going to see it on a regional level, particularly on the Transpacific?

“Importers into the US West Coast will say this is a problem between Asia and Europe and we’re not willing to pay more. Carriers will say this is a global problem because we have to redeploy capacity from the Transpacific onto other trades which are directly affected by the Red Sea diversions.

“This is the million-dollar question ahead of negotiations because both the carriers and shippers have extremely strong positions. The problem is they are some thousand dollars per FEU apart in what they are aiming for.”

The stakes are high

Imports into US East Coast are more directly impacted by the Red Sea diversions than the Transpacific.

Braun said: “Transpacific rates are driven by supply and demand, but imports into the East Coast are impacted by either the situations in the Suez Canal or Panama Canal. Both routes are full of negative consequences and an upward cost ticket is unavoidable.

“If I’m a freight professional shipping out of India to the US East Coast I am currently looking at a doubling of my costs on the spot market.”

Braun believes the situation will make contract negotiations difficult but that solutions can be found.

He said: “I am not expecting fast negotiations this year.

“Shippers can fix long term but if the Red Sea situation ends earlier than expected they could be left overpaying.

“Clearly there needs to be some flexibility built into the new agreements otherwise it is a big risk for both sides. It could be done through agreement to review after three months or an index to mitigate risk.

“It depends on the individual players but there has to be a variable element.”

Xeneta is set to launch the next generation of the ocean and air freight rate benchmarking platform in 2024 with previews being showcased at the TPM24 industry event (Booth B37) in Long Beach, California on 4-6 March.

www.xeneta.com

Added 3 March 2024

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Combating harassment and bullying: ICS sets out industry principles

Edited by Paul Ridgway
Africa Ports & Ships
London

In mid-February the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) launched a valuable publication: Industry Principles for Establishing Effective Measures to Combat and Eliminate Harassment and Bullying in the Maritime Sector.

The ICS is the global trade association for shipowners and operators and represents over 80% of the world merchant fleet.

Principles in the publication have been published against the backdrop of a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) – alongside Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF) and Gallup – on experiences of violence and harassment at work.

Unique global survey

This the first of its kind global survey and analysis benefitted from insights of 74,364 respondents in employment across a range of sectors in 121 countries and territories. It found that one in five people (almost 23%) in employment have experienced violence and harassment at work, whether physical, psychological or sexual.

In the words of ICS Director of Employment Affairs, Helio Vicente commenting ahead of the launch of the principles: “Although the data from the global ILO-LRF-Gallup report does not cover cases on board ships, the figures do point to a need for all industries and sectors to ensure that they do the utmost to prevent harassment and bullying.

“The maritime sector is no exception and must continue to take the issue very seriously. This includes having suitable policies and complementary measures in place to address it. The impact of violence and harassment, when experienced by seafarers on board is significant, since a ship is often a seafarer’s home for many months.”

Industry principles

ICS submitted the industry principles to shipping’s global UN regulators, the ILO and the IMO, ahead of a joint meeting between the two UN bodies, alongside governments, shipowners and unions, convened to address this issue in the maritime sector.

The joint ILO/IMO Tripartite Working Group meeting to identify and address seafarers’ issues and the human element was held from 27-29 February and its report is awaited.

Broad collaboration

In a separate paper to be considered at that meeting, ICS emphasised that company policies and initiatives alone will not suffice to address the issue, adding that the maritime sector’s ability to successfully combat harassment and bullying also depends highly on the effectiveness of collaboration between governments, shipowners’ and seafarers’ representatives (unions), including the need to promote positive cultures on board.
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Through its policy paper, ICS sets out five high level and eight detailed principles to successfully combat harassment and bullying.

Need for company awareness

Among the new principles is the need for individual companies to clearly define and communicate what harassment and bullying means for them, including examples of behaviours that constitute these actions.

A company complaints manager

It is understood that the principles also emphasise the value of establishing clear and unambiguous company complaints management procedures that cover the shoreside and all shipboard departments: deck, engine and, in the case of cruise ships, shipboard hotels, with a dedicated Complaints Manager assigned as investigator to each of these groups.

Added 3 March 2024

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In Conversation: How climate change is messing up the ocean’s biological clock, with unknown long-term consequences

A satellite image of a phytoplankton bloom off the coast of St. John’s, N.L.   (NASA, MODIS Rapid Response)

Frédéric Cyr, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Every year in the mid-latitudes of the planet, a peculiar phenomenon known as the phytoplankton spring bloom occurs. Visible from space, spectacular large and ephemeral filament-like shades of green and blue are shaped by the ocean currents.

The phytoplankton blooms are comprised of a myriad of microscopic algae cells growing and accumulating at the ocean’s surface as a result of the onset of longer days and fewer storms — often associated with the move into spring.

The timing of the phytoplankton spring bloom is, however, likely to be altered in response to climate change. Changes which will affect — for good or ill — the many species that are ecologically adapted to benefit from the enhanced feeding opportunity that blooms represent at crucial stages of their development.

Fine-tuned ecological adaptation

Phytoplankton blooms are, in some aspects, metronomes of the annual oceanic cycles around which many species’ biological clocks are synced to.

One example is the zooplankton Calanus finmarchicus, a class of micro-organism only capable of swimming up and down through the water column. Calanus finmarchicus usually spend the winter in diapause — the marine version of hibernation — surviving on their accumulated energy reserves in the deep ocean. At the moment they deem appropriate in the spring, they raise from the abyss to graze on the bloom and reproduce.

Fish and shellfish, too, are adapted to this natural metronome.

For some species, such as shrimp, females strategically lay their eggs in the water in advance of these blooms so their young will have ample food supplies from the moment they hatch

As incredible as it seems, some species can “calculate” the egg incubation period so that eggs hatch on average within a week of the expected spring bloom.

A question of timing

This, unfortunately, is where climate change is entering into the equation. What was normal in the past may well be changing more rapidly than marine species can adapt.

Zooplankton and fish larvae constitutes the bulk of what ocean scientists call secondary production. Secondary production is a key trophic level that links primary production (the phytoplankton using the sun’s light to produce biomass) and higher trophic levels, such as fish and marine mammals.

A massive phytoplankton bloom seen off the Northern coast of Norway. Phytoplankton blooms can reach thousands of square kilometres in size.
(ESA, Envisat Pillars)

This grand relationship is known as a trophic cascade, as the zooplankton are eaten by the small fish and the small fish, in turn, are eaten by the bigger fish. A whole ecosystem beating on a clock largely determined by the timing of the phytoplankton spring bloom, hopefully in sync with the biological clocks of other species.

Any change to the timing of the spring bloom, for example as a result of climate change, can potentially have catastrophic consequences for the survival of zooplankton populations alongside the fishes and ecosystems which rely upon this abundant foodstuff.

This theory is known as the match/mismatch hypothesis and postulates that the consumer’s energy demand should “match” the peak resource availability

A new understanding

On the Newfoundland and Labrador shelf in the Northwest Atlantic, the spring bloom generally starts earlier in the south (mid-March on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland) and later in the north (late April on the southern Labrador shelf).

The south-to-north progression of the bloom was long believed to be related to the annual retreat of sea ice in the region.
But with the duration and spatial extent of the sea ice season being dramatically reduced in Atlantic Canada over the recent years, the relationship between sea ice and the timing of the bloom weakened.

I — alongside a team of researchers from across Canada — proposed a new theory to explain the initiation of the spring bloom on the Newfoundland and Labrador shelf.

Our theory points to transition from winter to spring as being key to trigger the bloom. In winter, cold and stormy conditions keep the ocean well mixed. However, the arrival of spring brings calmer winds and warming temperatures — coupled with increased freshwater flows. These conditions cause the ocean to reorganize into layers of different density — a phenomenon called re-stratification.

Re-stratification effectively prevents the phytoplankton cells of the upper layers from becoming easily mixed in the maelstrom of oceanic forces.
Their accumulation at the ocean’s surface creates the bloom.

This new mechanism successfully predicts the timing of the phytoplankton spring bloom over more than two decades. It also allows us to better understand the impacts that climate change is having upon our oceans.

Ecological significance

Located at the confluence of sub-arctic and sub-tropical ocean currents, the Newfoundland and Labrador shelf is naturally subjected to large fluctuations of its climate, with impacts on the timing of the bloom.

Our study has shown that a warmer climate is associated with earlier re-stratification, earlier phytoplankton blooms and a higher abundance of key zooplankton species such as Calanus finmarchicus in the region.

This discovery opens the door to a better understanding of bloom dynamics and the oceanic conditions driving the health of the ecosystem.

The good news for a cold region such as the Newfoundland and Labrador shelf is that a warmer climate with milder springs, like the ones we have seen in recent years, will lead to more and more abundant levels of phytoplankton — with clear benefits to ecosystem productivity.

However, for how long these changes will remain positive in a changing climate we cannot say.

Frédéric Cyr, Adjunct Professor, Physical Oceanography, Memorial University of Newfoundland

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

Added 2 March 2024

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Transnet executive appointments – official announcement

Africa Ports & Ships

The following is the full unedited announcement by Transnet SOC Ltd of the new executive appointments. 

The Board of Transnet SOC Ltd. (Transnet) is pleased to announce the appointment of a dynamic and experienced leadership team for the company. The appointments bring leadership stability and add new impetus to the timely implementation of the Transnet Recovery Plan and the Freight Logistics Roadmap.

The announcement follows a rigorous recruitment, search, interview and assessment process, in which Transnet utilised the services of Executive Search Companies, concurrently with internal and external recruitment processes. This was done to protect the integrity and independence of the process.

The interview process included Transnet Board Members and Industry Experts. All these procedures were performed in a fair and transparent manner, ensuring the smooth running of the process through constant communication with all stakeholders involved in the process.

The Transnet Board of Directors made recommendations to the Minister of Public Enterprises, in line with the Memorandum of Incorporation, resulting in the following three seasoned leaders being appointed:

• Ms Michelle Phillips as Group Chief Executive – effective from 1 March 2024.
• Ms Nosipho Maphumulo as Group Chief Financial Officer- effective date, to be confirmed.
• Mr Russell Baatjies as Chief Executive: Transnet Freight Rail – effective from 1 March 2024.

Ms Michelle Phillips: Group Chief Executive (Executive Director)

Adv. Michelle Phillips has been acting in the Group Chief Executive role since the departure of the previous incumbent. She was appointed as Chief Executive of Transnet Pipelines in August 2020, after serving as the Acting Chief Executive of Transnet Port Terminals. During her tenure, she built strong relationships with employees, industry stakeholders and organised labour.

Michelle has more than 21 years’ experience in Transnet and has progressed through the ranks in the organisation, after starting her career as a Legal Advisor for the Transnet Port business. She has a proven track record in business and operations improvement initiatives.

At TPT, Michelle formed part of the NAVIS TOS implementation team at Pier 1 Container Terminal in 2006 and went on to become the Terminal Manager of the first RTG Container terminal in South Africa. She has demonstrated experience in many facets of the Transnet operations, including Legal, and Business Development.

Michelle holds the following qualifications and certificates:
• B Juris, Majoring in Company and Family Law: Nelson Mandela University
• Bachelor of Laws – LLB, University of Port Elizabeth
• Transnet Woman in Operations Management Programme
• Gordon Institute of Business Science – Global Executive Development Leadership Programme
• IMD – Breakthrough Programme for Senior Executives; and
• Certificates in International Terminal Operations Management Programmes from Antwerp, Rotterdam, Paris and Le Havre.

Nosipho Maphumulo: Group Chief Financial Officer (Executive Director)

Nosipho is joining Transnet from Eskom Rotek Industries. She is a highly accomplished business leader, financial steward, operational strategist, change catalyst and trusted advisor, with extensive public and private sector experience, providing sound financial and commercial guidance in complex and demanding environments.

She has demonstrable experience in financial management in large complex commercial organisations like Eskom and Concor Holdings and subsidiaries. This includes a strong understanding of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and National Treasury processes. Furthermore, she has experience in managing a variety of stakeholders, inter alia, different levels of government, parliament, regulatory organisations, employees and labour unions. She is results-driven, technically and commercially savvy, with an exceedingly high technical aptitude.

Nosipho holds the following qualifications:
• B Admin in Accountancy/ Economics – UNISA
• Higher Diploma in Education – UKZN
• B Compt Honours/CTA – UNISA; and
• Registered Chartered Accountant – SAICA

Russell Baatjies| Chief Executive: Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) (Not a member of the Transnet board)

Russell is a seasoned professional with a distinguished career at Transnet. His journey, from the shop floor to executive leadership reflects his hands-on experience at all organisational levels, fostering valuable networks across several operating divisions thereby contributing to his technical and professional development. He has held the role of Acting General Manager Rail Network Planning and Projects: Interim Infrastructure Manager since March 2023, and has recently stepped into the role of Acting Chief Executive at TFR.

In his pivotal role as the Head of the Operations Control Centre (OCC) department within the TFR Iron Ore and Manganese (IOM) Business Unit, Russell played a fundamental role in the heart of Transnet rail operations. His responsibilities included bridging gaps between rail operations and functional/support departments, demonstrating a deep understanding of complex operational and technical environments. As the General Manager: Iron Ore and Manganese, he drove the introduction of innovative logistics solutions in the Saldanha rail corridor expanding export capacity for the high-value Manganese sector whilst concurrently optimising rail capacity and asset utilisation.

Russell’s previous experience includes working for the Transnet Engineering (TE) business where he was responsible for the full TE locomotive maintenance in the Western Region to achieve TFR’s availability and reliability targets required to deliver contracted rail volumes.

As the Managing Executive of the Cape Corridor, Russell fortified his foundation in successfully driving rail operations. His executive experience in charge of the IOM Unit adds depth to his leadership profile, showcasing his ability to navigate the complexities of the rail industry. He has led the achievement of the long-term strategic objectives of the Cape Corridor, the largest geographical footprint in TFR, with full accountability for all aspects of rail operations and rail network infrastructure maintenance.

Russell holds the following qualifications:
• Northern Cape Technical College – National Diploma in Engineering
• Central University of Technology – BTech Business Administration; and
• Glasgow Caledonian University – BSc (Honours), Rail Operations Management.

The Board congratulates the new executives, and believes they offer an excellent set of leadership skills to accelerate the implementation of our initiatives to turn around Transnet’s operational and financial performance, while ensuring that the company continues to be a valued partner to its customers.

The Board further wishes to thank Ms Hlengiwe Makhathini, who has acted in the Group CFO position since October 2023, for her dedication and commitment in holding the fort during this period of transition in the organisation. She will return to her position of GM: Corporate Finance.

Chairperson of the Transnet Board, Mr Andile Sangqu says: “With the support of the Shareholder, the Board and key stakeholders, the new leadership team is fully equipped to drive transformative change, enhance operational efficiency, and restore Transnet to its rightful position as an enabler of economic growth and development.

“The Board welcomes the stability and certainty provided by the conclusion of the appointments, as it means Transnet can focus fully on driving implementation of the Recovery Plan, for the sustained improvement in the operational and financial performance of the company,” concludes Mr Sangqu.

Meanwhile, the recruitment process for a Group Chief Operations Officer (COO) is underway.

The creation of the COO role is set to put Transnet on a better trajectory by ensuring optimal streamlining and coordination of the organisation’s various operations.

Source: Transnet SOC Ltd

Added 1 March 2024

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GENERAL NEWS REPORTS – UPDATED THROUGH THE DAY

Total cargo handled by tonnes during January 2024, including containers by weight

PORT	January 2023 million tonnes
Richards Bay	7.141
Durban	6.112
Saldanha Bay	4.619
Cape Town	1.021
Port Elizabeth	1.018
Ngqura	1.050
Mossel Bay	0.126
East London	0.157
Total all ports during January 2023	21.244 million tonnes

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Terry Hutson