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TODAY’S BULLETIN OF MARITIME NEWS

Newsweek commencing 21 July 2024.  Click on headline to go direct to story : use the BACK key to return.  

FIRST VIEW:   VOLANS

• Ultra Galaxy salvage continues – crew repatriated
• New round of MSC funding supports fisheries research
• IMO Council: Transparency and access to information
• The Future is Here: China commissions two all-electric container ships
• WHARF TALK: MR2 class products tanker – MP MR TANKER 2
• US and Africa: US will work with African nations
• Investigation and enquiry into FPSO fire offshore Nigeria
• Port Updates and Advisories
• Senegal’s cashew nut season begins with mega-shipment from Dakar-terminal
• WHARF TALK: Newcastlemax bulk carrier – STAR SIENNA
• Houthi Red Sea crisis hurts Suez Canal revenues
• Suez Canal Company takes delivery of locally-built floating crane
• Maersk Frankfurt fire – one seafarer dead on ship
• Mombasa Container Terminal at risk of catching up on Durban’s DCT
• WHARF TALK: MR2 products tanker – HAFNIA SWIFT
• Container ship spends ten days and counting alongside Durban Container Terminal
• Senegal an exporter as first oil shipment heads to Europe
• SA Port Statistics for June 2024
• WHARF TALK: MR2 products tanker – ANDREA VICTORY
• Red Sea escalation: Israel bombs Yemen’s Port Hodeidah
• The Ever Changing Face of Ships – the Ulstein Twin X-Stern
• A new global alliance on ocean litter: Invitation to shipping and fisheries companies
• Maersk Frankfurt on fire in Arabian Sea
• Transnet secures USD 1 billion loan from African Development Bank Group
• Giant CMA CGM container ship cleared to sail after losing containers overboard
• Damen contracts with Toyota Tsusho for four tugs for Namibe port

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

Africa Ports & Ships

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FIRST VIEW:   VOLANS

The well-loaded container ship Volans (IMO 9403777) sails away from Durban earlier on 7 July 2024, bound for the Middle East and India.  Built in 2010 at the Zhejiang Shipbuilding yard in Ningbo, China, she sails under the Liberian flag and is owned by Oltmann Schiffarhts, or Schiffahrtsgesellschaft Oltmann mbH & Co. of Stade, Germany.

The 50,344-dwt ship’s owner is a family owned shipping line founded in 1836 which is still in the hands of the original family, though now having moved to the 7th generation of Oltmanns.

Volans, which was originally named JPO Volans and also carried the name JPO Voh, has remained in the same company throughout its history. With a length of 265 metres and width of 32m Volans has a container capacity of 4,254 TEU. Her reefer capacity is 550 refrigerated containers.

The name Volans is taken from the heavenly Volans Constellation, originally known as <i>Piscis Volans</i> or in English, ‘Flying Fish’, one of the smaller constellations and observable only in the Southern Hemisphere where it can be seen at latitudes between +15° and -90°.

A number of the ships in the Oltmann fleet are named for the various constellations.

Just briefly, the vessel is powered by a 2-stroke MAN B&W model 8K90MC-C diesel engine producing 31,076 kW of power (42,251 HP) driving a single fixed pitch propeller to produce a speed of up to 24.5 knots.  Her current position is in the Arabian Sea heading along the Indian sub-continent coast towards Mundra.

Picture is by Keith Betts

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Ultra Galaxy salvage continues – crew repatriated

Africa Ports & Ships

Salvage work on the grounded Panama-flagged general cargo ship, Ultra Galaxy (IMO 9449352), is continuing, reports the South African Maritime Safety Authority.

This is now more than two weeks after the 13,802-dwt vessel ran aground on the evening of Tuesday, 9 July 2024, off the coast of Duiwegat, just south of Brand se Baai on South Africa’s West Coast. The vessel was on a voyage from Spain to Dar es Salaam with a full cargo of fertiliser.

Earlier, the ship was abandoned by its crew of 18 Filipino seafarers after developing an excessive list. The crew were rescued from their liferaft and taken ashore at St. Helena Bay and have since been evacuated to their homes in the Philippines.

According to SAMSA, the immediate emergency phase of the salvage operation has concluded. This phase included the search and recovery of flotsam and other debris from the ship and sealing the fuel tanks to prevent any oil from spilling into the ocean.

A new salvage company, Smit International, has been appointed to carry on the next phase.

This has involved dive inspections that were conducted earlier in the week to recheck the structural integrity of the ship and fuel tanks. In the coming days, a specialised monitoring system will be installed to track the ship’s movement, stresses, and bending moments.

This system will help determine the best method to safely bring the ship upright and remove it from the beach.

SAMSA reports that in addition, a bathymetric survey or a water depth survey is being conducted in the water surrounding the ship and further off the coastline. A Platform Supply Vessel (PSV) will be brought in and anchored offshore to help stabilise the Ultra Galaxy.

Missing in the sea or along the beaches from Brand se Baai to St Helena Bay are debris that may wash up on the beach, items such as cargo bags, steel hatch covers or other flotsam. The cargo bags will have contained fertiliser although should have dissolved.

SAMSA requests that any items found should be reported to them through the Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre (MRCC) at 021 938 3300 or 012 938 3303.

The public is also advised not to attempt to salvage any debris themselves. It is important to properly dispose of any debris to minimise harm to people and the environment.

In case of an oil spill from the shipwreck, the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) remains on standby and ready to respond should seabirds become affected.

Added 26 July 2024

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New round of MSC funding supports fisheries research

Africa Ports & Ships

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) recently announced 32 new grants through its Ocean Stewardship Fund (OSF). supporting projects from India, Indonesia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua and Peru.

Since the OSF was established in 2018, it has issued over 140 grants totalling £5.123 million. These have supported a wide range of projects which aim to improve the health of stocks, manage harvesting levels carefully, and protect the marine environment.

The 2024 funding includes student research grants aligned with the MSC’s goal to protect biodiversity in the ocean, which will help non MSC certified fisheries to make environmental improvements including minimising harm to wildlife and ecosystems.

The organisation commits 5% of annual royalties from sales of MSC ecolabel products certified as meeting its sustainability standard into the OSF. Increasingly, third-party philanthropic donations and funds from businesses are also contributing to support the fund in accelerating progress in sustainable fishing globally.

The OSF funding in 2024 also includes 9 grants totalling £445,000 to non-certified fisheries working on improvement projects, with the aim of becoming environmentally sustainable.

In addition, up to £5,000 per grant to student researchers supplement individuals’ costs and support their research projects with fisheries. Some of this year’s grant recipients include:

• Rocío Nayeli Avendaño Villeda, from the Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, who will gather data to improve understanding of a Mexican sardine fishery’s impacts on large seabirds. Her research will help scientists calculate accurately the brown pelican population size. Avendaño´s project is funded through a donation to OSF by Carrefour Italy and seafood brand
Delicius, as part of MSC Italy’s Sustainable Seafood Week, 2023.

• Lindiwe Makapela of Stellenbosch University, South Africa, will research the South Africa hake longline fishery’s interactions with orca and Cape fur seals and propose operational techniques to minimise any risk to these marine mammals. Research outputs will also improve the accuracy of stock assessments, and management measures will be shared with other fisheries in the region to help drive best practice. See more here

• Mishel Valery Rañada, from Vrije University, Brussels, aims to improve data gathering processes at a fishery in Suriname. A lack of information on interactions with endangered, threatened and protected species is a major barrier to sustainable fishing for the demersal trawl finfish fishery. The creation of a database using smartphones to log observations will help the fishery and
others in the region will help fishers understand and mitigate their impact.

“The Ocean Stewardship Fund is an excellent vehicle to support scientists early in their careers to test hypotheses and make new discoveries,” said Dr Beth Polidoro, Research Director, of the MSC.

“The marine environment is significantly changing around the globe, and fisheries will have to continue to adapt. Supporting initiatives for improved data and solutions informed by science are imperative to navigating these challenges.”

Dr Beth Polidoro said student research projects can provide invaluable insights for fisheries that are not already certified to improve the way they fish by producing data and analyses that can inform actions to reduce bycatch and fishers’ interactions with vulnerable species and birds.

“Scientists and fishers can learn a lot from each other. The Ocean Stewardship Fund facilitates this collaboration to drive the innovation and progress needed to conserve our ocean’s precious resources.”

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IMO Council: Transparency and access to information

Edited by Paul Ridgway
Africa Ports & Ships
London

It has been reported that the IMO Council has decided to live-stream its plenary meetings and make its documents accessible to the public, in a bid to boost transparency in the Organization.

Meeting in London from 8 to 12 July for its 132nd session, the Council took a series of decisions to modernise its approach and operations.

These include:

* Live-streaming plenary sessions of Council

* Releasing Council documents and summaries of decisions to the public

* Permanently establishing hybrid capabilities to enable for virtual and in-person participation in meetings

* Enhancing multilingualism through a Strategic Framework for Multilingualism

The Council noted the ongoing progress on upgrading and improving the IMO’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS).

GISIS is a comprehensive online hub for the collection, processing and sharing of shipping-related data.

Secretary-General Mr Arsenio Dominguez stated in his opening remarks: ‘My efforts continue on the modernization and transparency of IMO.

“I will continue to seek efficiencies, from restructuring, to the best use of our financial assets, recruitment and the building facilities, to name a few, while I invest in those who make all these possible – the professional staff of the Secretariat.’

(See also here)

The Council is the executive organ of IMO and is responsible, under the Assembly, for supervising the work of the Organization. The Council is made up of 40 Member States, elected by the Assembly for two-year terms.

The session was chaired by Mr. Victor Jimenez Fernandez of Spain, supported by Mrs Amane Fethallah of Morocco as Vice-Chair.

Readers are invited to see the full meeting summary of Council, 132nd session here.

Added 25 July 2024

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The Future is Here: China commissions two all-electric container ships

Africa Ports & Ships

Is this the future of container shipping or will limitations in storage capacity hold back greater progress? China has commissioned a pair of all-electric container ships, marking a bold step toward an answer for cleaner maritime transport.

They will become the world’s largest all-electric container ships and are an answer to the challenge set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2018 when it targeted halving ship emissions by the year 2050. A challenge that has been accepted by much of the international shipping companies through the use of various formula.

Electricity

One of these has been electricity, making use of extensive battery systems. As reported previously in Africa Ports & Ships, Norway’s Yara Birkeland is a pioneer with this, though Yara’s vessel being tested in operation is of necessity relatively small and capable of moving just 120 TEU at a time.

Yara Birkeland moves fertiliser between the ports of Herøya and Brevik in Norway and perhaps more importantly, is designed as the world’s first fully autonomous ship to enter commercial use.

We can also be reminded that the use of batteries as a propulsion power source is not new. Submarines for example have made use of battery power for over a hundred years, being recharged by diesel or nuclear powered engines – among the first dual powered or hybrid vessels.

Other hybrid systems now being introduced include the use of bio-fuels and LNG. Another ‘ clean’ fuel being experimented with is ammonia – for which some serious questions are being asked, see a recent study by the MIT and reported here in Africa Ports & Ships. Even another is hydrogen, a fuel that can be extracted from a readily available source of seawater.

Battery power

But now the Chinese shipyard Jiangxi Jiangxin Shipbuilding Co. has accepted orders from state-owned shipping giant COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited for two battery-powered 740-TEU capacity ships that will significantly extend the size and capacity of electric ships by some margin.

Power units for each of these all-electric feeder-type container ships will be in the form of 10 box batteries delivering 19,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy, that can be swapped or recharged while in port. This is the equivalent of 352 Tesla Model 3 54 kWh standard range motor cars ‘driving’ the vessel for short-haul feeder type operations.

The design shows certain distinctive features – accommodation quarters and battery packs that are well separated at each end of the ship from the battery power, with a twin engine, twin propeller system to enhance manoeuvrability. The vessels will incorporate a bow design to reduce wind resistance, noise and vibration.

Will advances in battery production allow for an advance in the size of these forerunners. Only time may tell but chances are it is unlikely to be a lengthy wait for the answer to that question.

Added 25 July 2024

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WHARF TALK: MR2 class products tanker – MP MR TANKER 2

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

Remember the days when South African and British shipping companies had naming protocols for their vessels that always followed a pattern, and always seemed appropriate? Locally, Unicorn vessels would be named after South African Rivers (Breede) and Limits (Horizon), Safmarine would be South African geographical places (Sishen), and regions (Cedarberg), Union-Castle vessels were, naturally, always Castles (Good Hope), Ellermans were Cities (Durban), T&J Harrison were Professions (Inventor), amongst many others.

Even the great European shipping companies followed similar formats, such as the Dutch Royal Interocean Lines using Indonesian Rivers (Tjitjalengka) and Straits (Straat Banka), the Italians using prefixes such as Merzario (Jolly) and Grimaldi (Grande), and the list goes on. In this day and age, many companies still follow a format, although it is sometimes just gobbledygook to the uninitiated, such as the Taiwanese company Formosa Plastics Marine Corporation who simply use the company acronym and a number (FPMC 25). Occasionally, even gobbledygook makes sense sometimes.

On 18th July, at 10:00 in the morning, the MR2 class product tanker ‘MP MR Tanker 2’ (IMO 9425526) left the Table Bay anchorage where she had spent some time awaiting a berth, and entered Cape Town harbour. She entered the Duncan Dock and went alongside the inner berth at the Tanker Basin, to begin her discharge.

Built in 2010 by Onomichi Dockyard at Onomichi in Japan, ‘MP MR Tanker 2’ is 183 metres in length and has a deadweight of 50,090 tons. She is powered by a single Mitsui MAN-B&W 6S50MC-C7 six cylinder, two stroke, main engine producing 11,665 bhp (8,699 kW) to drive a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 14 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three generators providing 520 kW each, and a single emergency generator providing 120 kW. She has a single Alfa Laval Qingdao CHO oil fired boiler, and a single Alfa Laval Qingdao CHR Economiser exhaust gas boiler. She has 12 cargo tanks with a cargo carrying capacity of 55,457 m3, and she can carry four grades of product at any one time. She has just four cargo pumps, each capable of pumping at a rate of 1,000 m3/hour.

Her current voyage on the South African coast began on 24th June, when ‘MP MR Tanker 2’ arrived off the Bluff, from Sohar in Oman, and entered Durban harbour, proceeding to her discharge berth at the Island View Oil Terminal. The distance steamed from Sohar to Durban was 3,952 nautical miles. She spent just under three days alongside in Durban, before completion of her discharge.

On 27th June, at 07:00 in the morning, ‘MP MT Tanker 2’ sailed from Durban, bound for East London, where she arrived at 07:00 on the morning of 30th June, after a slow steam on a short coastal voyage of 370 nautical miles. She continued her discharge in the Buffalo City for just under two days, and at 06:00 on 2nd July she sailed from East London to continue her coastal itinerary, now bound for Cape Town.

She arrived off the Table Bay anchorage at 11:00 on the morning of 4th July, where she remained outside Cape Town harbour for a while, awaiting her discharge berth. After a period of just over three days alongside in Cape Town, as always the longest time spent alongside at her three discharge ports, ‘MP MR Tanker 2’ was ready to sail. At 16:00 on the afternoon of 21st July she sailed from Cape Town, now bound for Fujairah in the UAE, where she would await her next loading orders.

Built to a popular design of MR2 tanker, dozens of which have been built for numerous shipowners, ‘MP MR Tanker 2’ was one of two sisterships built for a Hong Kong operator, and she was launched as ‘Unique Explorer’. She was sold to her current owner in 2019 for the sum of US$17.5 million (ZAR322.11 million) and renamed with her current puzzling name.

She is owned by M. Pallonji Shipping (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., of Singapore, whose company houseflag she displays on her funnel, on her hull, and on her prow. She is operated by BW Sheko Pte. Ltd., also of Singapore, and managed by V Ships Shipmanagement (India) Pvt. Ltd., of Chennai in India. She is under pool charter by Hafnia Pools Pte. Ltd., also of Singapore, which ties in with her operator.

She is one of the fleet within the M. Pallonji Group, which was founded in Bombay, now Mumbai, back in 1926, as a paint marketing company. The group grew to specialise in industrial painting, including refineries and vessels, before entering the maritime world with harbour and coastal dredging, offshore construction support, and marine contracting.

In 2006 a subsidiary company, M. Pallonji Shipping Pvt. Ltd., was formed in Mumbai, specialising in the bulk carrier market, and it was followed two years later, in 2008, by the formation of MP Offshore Pvt., Ltd., to cater for the Indian offshore oil and gas market In the same year, 2008, a further subsidiary company, M. Pallonji Shipping (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., was formed in Singapore, to place the company into the tanker market.

The naming of the vessels within the fleets of the M. Pallonji Group’s shipping subsidiaries, irrespective of the vessel being within that of an Indian, or the Singaporean, subsidiary company now becomes obvious, and although questionable, is quite logical. It follows the old business adage of KISS, or Keep It Simple, Stupid.

For example, within the bulk carrier fleet the first Kamsarmax bulk carrier was named ‘MP Kamsarmax 1’, with MP being the acronym of M. Pallonji, and the rest of the name being purely descriptive, similarly with the ‘MP Panamax 5’, which tells you there are at least four others in the fleet. Within the offshore oil and gas fleet there is ‘MP PSV 3’ which tells the casual maritime observer that this is the third Platform Service Vessel (PSV) in the MP offshore fleet.

So it now becomes obvious as to where ‘MP MR Tanker 2’ gets her name. Simply put, she is the second MR class tanker in the M. Pallonji fleet. Within that fleet, naturally, she is joined by her fleetmates of ‘MP MR Tanker 1’, and ‘MP MR Tanker 3’. It might not be a pretty, or a memorable, naming format to the casual maritime observer who is a purist, but it works.

This is not the first coastal voyage of ‘MP MR Tanker 2’ to South Africa in this year, as this is her second back-to-back voyage to these shores. Back on 8th May, at midnight, she had arrived off the Bluff, from Ar Ruwais in the UAE, and entered Durban harbour to begin her first port discharge at the Island View Oil Terminal. After just under two and a half days alongside, she was ready to sail, and at 11:00 in the morning of 11th May, she sailed from Durban, bound for her second discharge port of East London.

She arrived off East London at midday on 13th May, and entered the port to continue her coastal fuel products discharge. She was alongside in East London for just under one day, and at 11:00 in the late morning of 14th May, she sailed for the short hop down the Eastern Cape coast to Port Elizabeth, where she arrived the next day.

At 10:00 in the morning of 15th May, ‘MP MR Tanker 2’ entered Port Elizabeth harbour to begin her third, and final coastal discharge. It took just under two days, and at 08:00 in the morning of 17th May, she was fully discharged, and sailed from Port Elizabeth, now bound for Fujairah in the UAE to await her next loading orders.

The orders were for her to load at Sohar in Oman, and she sailed from there on 5th June, bound back for Durban, and the start of her current voyage, which has now ended, and she is sailing back once more for Fujairah in the UAE, and fresh orders. As she enters the Gulf of Aden, and faces the small risk of Somali Piracy, the casual maritime observer might notice a couple of tubby, permanent, lookouts posted up on the Lower Bridge deck.

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US and Africa: US will work with African nations

To protect interests, encourage cooperation

Edited by Paul Ridgway
Africa Ports & Ships
London

On 23 July Jim Garamone of the US Department of Defense News quoted Maureen Farrell the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Africa during an interview earlier this month. She emphasized that Africa — with more than 1.5 billion people in 54 nations who speak hundreds of languages and have hundreds of cultures — is a diverse continent where a one-size-fits-all approach will not work.

Farrell said there are commonalities. Nations in some sub-regions and particular climate belts share concerns, and often the US government works with the nations in all aspect of government — from the economy to diplomacy to security and more, she said.

But all of this is done, she said: “based on the feedback from our African colleagues, as opposed to what might make sense from a policy maker’s desk here in Washington, where if you haven’t worked on Africa in depth, it can all blend together without the nuance that one clearly needs to understand to be effective.”

African chiefs of defence conference

Listening and engaging with African leaders is an important part of Farrell’s job, and it is also an important aspect of the strategy of Marine Corps General Michael Langley, commander of US Africa Command.

Farrell and Langley and Air Force General CQ Brown, Jr, just returned from the African Chiefs of Defense Conference held in Gaborone, Botswana, where they did listen to and engage with African leaders.

The two US leaders, along with Farrell, were able to hold many bilateral talks with African chiefs of defense and have focused discussions. The discussions on West Africa were particularly important, she said, as Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso following recent coups have withdrawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

She said: “There are some interesting politics and threat information at play in terms of the withdrawal of these three states from ECOWAS.”

The African nations in the region and beyond, Farrell said, are looking at the political implications of those policy decisions for the uniformed military services in the region.

African solutions to African problems

African leaders very much want African solutions to African problems, Farrell said, and many nations are working together. She noted that two constellations of nations offered different approaches to the troubles in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has sent peacekeeping forces to the Eastern region of Congo. SADC is also sending peacekeepers to Mozambique where an ISIS-affiliated uprising has killed thousands since 2017 and displaced more than 800,000.

African nations are also working together in the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia.

Climate change

One continent-wide problem is climate change. The Sahara is growing, and the Sahel nations are feeling that effect, Farrell said. This has meant increased migration and struggles for resources from water to food to energy.

She added: “The drought problems afflicting the Horn of Africa are creating increased security pressures. Add to this the economic challenges from the global food crisis caused by the Russia and Ukraine war. All these issues have squeezed systems in Africa.”

Lake Chad

Farrell pointed to Lake Chad — a main source of water for Niger, Chad and Nigeria — as an example. The lake has dramatically diminished in size in recent years placing enormous economic and political pressures on these countries.

Challenges and opportunities

Africa has its challenges, but it has opportunities as well. She noted that Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are investing in the continent. India, Japan and South Korea are active economically and diplomatically with African nations.

China and Russia are also interested in expanding influence on the continent.

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Investigation and enquiry into FPSO fire offshore Nigeria

Africa Ports & Ships

Brittania-U, a Nigerian integrated energy company has initiated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding a fire on its Floating Production Storage and Offloading Facility (FPSO) known as Brittania U (correct spelling), situated at the Ajakpa Field, (OML 90), 10.77 nautical miles South of Forcadoes Terminal in Delta State, Nigeria.

The fire has since been brought under control and no injuries have been reported.

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, which set up a command centre to monitor the situation and coordinate a rescue of those onboard the vessel, said it had received signals from the Regional Maritime Rescue Coordinating Center (RMRCC) in Lagos, alerting them to the fire.

NIMASA reported that all 19 crew on board had been safely evacuated, adding that the agency had collaborated with other responding agencies and first responders to ensure the safe rescue and evacuation of the crew and other exposed persons during the incident.

The Director General of NIMASA, Dr Dayo Mobereola also set about preparing an effective situation-based response plan against oil spillage or other incidents affecting the marine environment and safety of navigation.

In line with its mandate under the Merchant Shipping Act 2007, NIMASA’s Marine Accident Investigation Unit has launched its own investigation into the direct and remote causes of the fire and gave the assurance the outcome of the investigation will be published and recommendations arising from the report will be implemented.

Short [0:56] YouTube video of the Brittania-U FPSO

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Port Updates and Advisories

Africa Ports & Ships

Maersk Vallvik 427S/431N – Port Swap

Maersk advises that due to ongoing delays and congestion in Freeport (Bahamas), the vessel Maersk Vallvik 427S/431N will proceed directly to Durban.

The container vessel’s port rotation in South Africa is now:

10 August – Durban
12 August – Port Elizabeth
14 August – Cape Town

Dates subject to change due to weather/berth delays
Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any further concerns, we remain contactable via our usual channels.

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Santa Rita / 242S – London Gateway Omission

The vessel Santa Rita is running late due to delayed departure from South Africa. In order to avoid the vessel clashing with the vessel ONE Reassurance and to recover schedule, she will omit London. The London Boxes will discharge in Rotterdam to connect to the ONE Reassurance v.242N, with ETA London Gateway 3 August 2024.

Cargo originally planned for loading from London Gateway will be transferred to M/V ONE Reassurance v.243S, ETA London Gateway 3 August 2024.

Santa Rita v.241N/242S ETA

30-31 Jul – Rotterdam
OMIT – London Gateway
01-03 Aug – Bremerhaven
07-08 Aug – Algeciras APM & TTI
20-21 Aug – Ngqura

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Maersk Vilnius 424S/428N – Delays and Durban Terminal Change

The container ship Maersk Vilnius, arriving from the eastern USA, is running behind schedule due to delays on her previous Africa rotation as well as increased waiting time in Freeport (Bahamas) due to congestion.

As a result, the vessel is late for her window in DCT Pier 1 and will therefore proceed to call Point Terminal instead, which will explain the deviation in ETA. Point Terminal waiting time is ranging around 7 days.

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Senegal’s cashew nut season begins with mega-shipment from Dakar terminal

Africa Ports & Ships

The start of Senegal’s cashew nut season has got underway at DP World Dakar, with the arrival of the general cargo vessel Diogue (IMO 8116178) carrying 2,000 tonnes of cashew nuts from neighbouring Guinea Bissau.

West Africa is becoming one of the world’s leading exporters of cashew nuts, and, in Senegal, the nut sector is flourishing due to the country’s role as a key gateway for exports of this precious agricultural commodity. The cashew export season in the West African country started on 5 July.

Last year, some 180,000 tonnes of cashew nuts from Senegal and Guinea Bissau passed through the DP World Dakar terminal for international export, with the team helping local producers and exporters find international outlets for their products, thereby contributing to local development and prosperity. India and Vietnam were the primary destinations.

“The agricultural sector in Senegal and Guinea Bissau represents a significant proportion of economic activity in both countries, which need a stable supply chain that facilitates innovative, flexible and cost-effective solutions,” said Clarence Rodrigues, CEO of DP World Dakar.

As part of its commitment to supporting the cashew export season, DP World works with cashew traders by liaising with shipping lines, monitoring the cargo from its point of departure until it is loaded onto the regular lines, and handling the packaging, stuffing, and weighing operations for transport to its intended destination.

In recent years, DP World Dakar has collaborated with various shipping lines at the container terminal to ensure efficient and seamless export of cashews from Senegal and Guinea Bissau to countries across the world, including key markets in Asia.

“Through faster administrative processes and new storage solutions – such as loading cargo directly at the terminal – we are saving customers time and money. We enable cashew producers in Senegal and Guinea Bissau to have access to international markets,” said Rodrigues.

Over the past 16 years, DP World has invested over US$ 300 million in modernising the Port of Dakar, transforming it from a facility that handled 265,000 TEUs annually in 2008 to a state-of-the-art terminal that handled 800,000 TEUs in , where 2023 – positively impacting trade, economic expansion, and job creation.

DP World has significantly improved the availability of goods for communities across Senegal and beyond, reinforcing the Port of Dakar’s status as one of the most efficient terminals in West Africa and an example of operational excellence on the African continent.

Owned by the Senegalese government, the port of Dakar is managed by the Port Autonome de Dakar (PAD) with the container terminal operated as a joint venture by PAD and DP World.

The JV is also developing the land and maritime infrastructure of the new 600-hectare Port of Ndayane (50 km from Dakar), where DP World is investing US$1 billion in the ongoing construction. The new port development will further enhance Senegal’s trade position.

This is the largest single private sector investment in the country’s history.

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WHARF TALK: Newcastlemax bulk carrier – STAR SIENNA

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

As it was before the Houthis began their idiotic, and indiscriminately random, attacks on international shipping in November 2023, not every vessel calling at Cape Town and Durban for bunkers was down to a diversion. In fact, and in general terms, any vessel rounding the Cape en route to anywhere before the idiocy began was because that was the preferential route, or the logical route, for whatever reason chosen by the owner, shipper, charterer or operator.

Irrespective of the Houthis, as the Suez Canal was never an option due to their sheer size, one vessel not often seen in either port was, and is, the Newcastlemax bulk carrier. Generally speaking, any Newcastlemax bulk carrier arriving in Cape Town was normally a bunker caller, in a ballast condition en route to a loading port, often to Saldanha Bay, or calling to receive either engineering or technical support from shoreside maintenance providers.

On 21st July, at 09:00 in the morning, the Newcastlemax bulk carrier ‘Star Sienna’ (IMO 9756224), in an unloaded ballast condition, arrived off Cape Town, from Jingtang in China. She entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock and went alongside the inner Landing Wall. Both the vessel type, and her berth, was a good indication that she was calling in simply for either bunkers, or seeking some shoreside engineering assistance.

Built in 2017 by Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding at Shanghai in China, ‘Star Sienna’ is 300 metres in length, with a beam of 50 metres, and a deadweight of 207,721 tons. Her building was financed by the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). She is powered by a single CSSC MAN-B&W 6G70ME-C9.2 six cylinder, two stroke, main engine producing 23,460 bhp (17,494 kW) to drive a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 14.5 knots.

As a Newcastlemax sized bulk carrier, she is gearless, and has nine cargo holds, with a cargo carrying capacity of 224,745 m3. A Newcastlemax bulk carrier is so called as she is built to the maximum dimensions that can be accommodated by any vessel calling at the Port of Newcastle, located at 32°55’ South 151°48’ East, in the Australian State of New South Wales.

The maximum dimensions of a Newcastlemax bulk carrier are a length of 300 metres, and a beam of 50 metres, and with a deadweight lying between 200,000 and 210,000 tons. Newcastle is the world’s largest coal exporting port, and in 2023 Newcastle exported a total of 95.51 million tons of coal. Compare this to Richards Bay which, in 2023, exported a total of 47.21 million tons of coal, the lowest figure since 1992. Another Transnet failure.

One of 16 sisterships, of which 14 are now in the fleet of her current owner, ‘Star Sienna’ was launched as ‘Aboy Sienna’ to the order of Augustea Atlantica SpA, of Milan in Italy. In 2018, Augustea Atlantica SpA sold off their fleet which included two Newcastlemax bulk carriers, with ‘Star Sienna’ being purchased for US$35 million (ZAR632.32 million).

Nominally owned by Aby Nine LLC, of Monrovia in Liberia, a brass door plate company, ‘Star Sienna’ is part of the fleet of Star Bulk SA, of Athens in Greece, whose company houseflag she displays on her funnel. She is operated by Star Bulk Carriers Corporation, also of Athens, and managed by Star Bulk Management Incorporated, also of Athens. Her charterers remain as Augustea Bunge, of Floriana in Malta.

Augustea Bunge were a subsidiary company of her previous owners, Augustea Atlantica SpA, and when they sold their fleet of 14 bulk carriers to Star Bulk SA, the CEO of Augustea was given a position on the board of Star Bulk SA, hence the connection between the two companies. On completion of the sale to Star Bulk SA, their fleet immediately increased in size by 24%.

Star Bulk, who operate with a fleet of 120 bulk carriers, which includes 14 Newcastlemax, 25 Kamsarmax, 15 Capesize, 2 Mini Capesize, 7 NeoPanamax, 15 Ultramax and 10 Supramax bulk carriers are listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange of New York City. They remain the largest shipowner to be listed on the NASDAQ.

After just over 30 hours alongside in Cape Town, ‘Star Sienna’ was ready to continue with her voyage to her next loading port. It was not to be Saldanha Bay. She sailed from Cape Town at 18:00 in the late afternoon of 22nd July, with her AIS showing that she was bound for the Sepetiba Bulk Terminal in the port of Itaguai in Brazil.

The Itaguai port complex, which is located at 22°51’ South 043°46’ West, contains three separate port infrastructures, all having major bulk ore terminals, for the export of iron ore. The three ports are Itaguai, Ilha Guaíba and Sepetiba Bay. The bulk export terminals are operated by the giant Brazilian iron ore mining company, Vale SA.

Ilha Guaíba is unusual in that it is located on an offshore island, that has no roads leading to it, nor has it any inhabitants, as there are no towns on the island. There is only a railway bridge linking the island to the mainland, and all of the iron ore at the terminal is brought in by special ore trains from the Vale SA iron ore mines in the interior of Minas Gerais state.

Opened in 1982, the Sepetiba Bulk Terminal, where ‘Star Sienna’ is scheduled to load her next cargo of iron ore, is capable of loading at a rate of 7,000 tons per hour. The recent port itinerary history of ‘Star Sienna’ shows that this is her second back-to-back voyage rotation between Itaguai and Jingtang. Prior to this she had been chartered to carry iron ore from the port of Dampier, in Western Australia, to China.

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Houthi Red Sea crisis hurts Suez Canal revenues

Africa Ports & Ships

The Israel-Gaza-Houthi-Iran dispute has resulted in large-scale diversions across most sectors of shipping, forcing large numbers of vessels to take the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope rather than risking a passage through the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea.

This is having a seriously adverse effect of Suez Canal revenues, on which Egypt’s economy strongly depends. According to the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), Admiral Osama Rabie, canal revenues declined from US$ 9.4 billion in the financial year 2022/2023, to $7.2bn in 2023/2024.

The previous fiscal year ended 30 June 2024 so the crisis affected just seven months of the year.

He said 20,148 ships carrying a net of one billion tons transited the canal during FY2023/2024, which is down from 25,911 ships carrying a net of 1.5 billion tons in the previous year.

The diversions affected the most recent fiscal period 2023/2024 for only a part of the year and should they continue for the remainder of 2024/2025 the financial effect will be much higher, he stressed.

Adm Rabie pointed to the costs to shipping of having to navigate much longer distances, to which he said must be added higher carbon emissions, increased port congestion costs and delayed freight deliveries.

The SCA chairman stated that the Red Sea tensions are impacting the broader maritime transport market, global trade movements,and international supply chains.

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Suez Canal Company takes delivery of locally-built floating crane

Africa Ports & Ships

Egypt’s Suez Canal Company (SCA) has taken delivery of a new floating crane to add to its growing maritime fleet.

Construction of the floating crane was arranged through the Alexandria-based local company Kased Khair. The crane has a total lifting capacity of 2,200 tons from four lines, each with a 550 tons lifting capacity.

Welcoming the canal’s latest acquisition, SCA chairman Adm Osama Rabie said the SCA had adopted an ambitious strategy aimed at modernising and developing the canal’s fleet of support vessels. This included constructing new vessels loca;ly in the SCA’s shipyards, or collaborating in joint constructions with international shipyards.

Where necessary the SCA will acquire new units already available in the maritime market, he said.

The SCA already has two floating cranes, ‘Rescue 1’ and ‘Rescue 2’ each with a lifting capacity of 500 tons.

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Maersk Frankfurt fire – one seafarer dead on ship

Africa Ports & Ships

The fire on board the container ship, Maersk Frankfurt, which has been burning in containers near the front of the ship since Friday 19 July, continues to thwart efforts at extinguishing the burning containers. Thick thick clouds of smoke continue to emerge from several affected containers.

Sadly, it is reported that one of the crew has died – a body seen on the lashing bridge with rescuers unable to get close because of the heat.

The remainder of the crew are reported to be safe.

The Indian Coast Guard reported the fire as having spread to the starboard side of the vessel and was impacting containers below deck, necessitating the use of direct injection and regulation systems.

It was confirmed that the owners of Maersk Frankfurt have mobilised a salvage team from SMIT Salvage and the Indian Coast Guard was requested to assist them in boarding the container ship.

Maersk Frankfurt, which is a new ship delivered in June this year and is on charter to Maersk, reported a fire in a container shortly after the vessel had sailed from the Indian port of Mundra, bound for Colombo and South-East Asia and China.

Five Indian Coast Guard patrol vessels responded, Samrat, Sujeet, Sachet, Varaha and Samudra Prahari and together with their onboard helicopters, have been spraying water and fire retardant on the blaze with the ship stopped in the water. The fierce blaze was eventually dampened, leaving thick smoke to blanket the scene.

Maersk said it was in contact with the crew and is ensuring that they receive all possible support.

Maersk also reported that the ship remained in a stable condition, and still capable of being navigated.

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Mombasa Container Terminal at risk of catching up on Durban’s DCT

Terry Hutson

Kenya’s Port of Mombasa is on course to overtake Durban as the leading or busiest container port in Sub-Saharan Africa within the next ten or less years.

This startling fact is becoming clearer as Durban has made little or no progress in 15 years, and has in fact regressed despite a few advances made in container volumes during the intervening years.

Meanwhile the port of Mombasa, where there are several similarities to Durban – such as serving a hinterland hundreds of kilometres distant from the port’s location, is growing steadily in container handling and is proving more efficient in terms of time taken to turn around ships at the terminal.

Elsewhere in today’s edition we report on a container ship that has spent ten days at the container terminal.

In 2023 the port of Mombasa handled 1.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). In the same period the port of Durban handled 2.544 million TEUs, a respectable 900 thousand more TEUs than its Kenya counterpart.

The point is that container volumes at Mombasa have been steadily increasing and according to Kenya Ports Authority MD William Ruto, Mombasa will further increase its container handling by at least 200,000 TEUs for the current year. The question is, can anyone at Transnet say the same for the port of Durban?

For the half year ending 30 June 2023, the Durban Container Terminals handled 1.291 million TEUs and if annualised, Durban will handle 2.582 million, almost exactly the same as for 2023.

That’s not the most reliable way to calculate annual results, especially as we are heading towards some of the busiest months of the year – not a guarantee but probably safe to assume a sightly better second half-year.

It would appear then that the port of Durban will finish the year having handled about 2.6 million TEU, maybe 2.65 million. An increase on 2023 but is that enough to celebrate?

Here’s the sobering truth. In 2010, that’s 15 years ago, the Durban Container Terminal handled 2.553 million TEUs, which is actually a little more than what was handled in the past year and almost the same as it will in 2024.

During the intervening years from 2010 to today the port did actually manage some increases, managing 2.712 million in 2011 but making no progress the following year at 2.632 million.

In 2016 the container handling was still hovering around at 2.620 million TEU and then in 2018 it skyrocketed to a record 2.956 million TEU and people at Transnet and across the container sector were talking of an urgent need for expansion.

Sadly, that need has since evaporated year by year until the volumes are back at the 2.5 million mark once again, where it has remained until now.

It has also to be stated that this is not just a reflection on container handling at the port of Durban, because the port is not demonstrably losing container traffic to other ports, although a small number may have migrated to Maputo.

It is rather a reliable reflection on the state of South Africa’s economy which appears to have stagnated since 2010 or thereabouts. The container trade in South Africa provides a useful reflection of the nation’s economy and if mining and agricultural exports were included we would see much the same picture.

Meanwhile, if we gaze outside the borders we see progress and growth in Maputo, the same for Mombasa and an encouraging increase in privatisation at Dar es Salaam and a similar healthier situation at many of the container ports along the west coast of Africa, where significant improvements have been made.

Why are we not also making any progress?

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WHARF TALK: MR2 products tanker – HAFNIA SWIFT

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

Sometimes a vessel name, or even a modern shipping company name, gives no clue as to the shipping provenance that the vessel holds, in respect of the owner. Many great shipping companies have simply wound up and ceased to be. Whilst other great names have merged, and subsequently been swallowed up, effectively disappearing from view.

In some cases, many have relocated to warmer, foreign, maritime cities where business is easier to perform, or marketing executives have decided to change the name of the company with some ‘street cred’ type name that would appeal to 16 year olds, but has no meaning in terms of identity. In some cases, two merged companies simply ‘mix and match’ names between both entities, which just muddies the ownership waters.

Almost one month ago, at 19:00 in the evening of 28th June, the MR2 class product tanker ‘Hafnia Swift’ (IMO 9713844) arrived at the Umhlanga anchorage, just north of Durban, after a voyage from Jebel Ali in the Dubai Emirate of the UAE. She went to anchor, and remained outside the port of Durban, awaiting a discharge berth. It was the start of a South African coastal discharge voyage that would run full circle.

Just over four days after going to anchor, at 21:00 in the evening of 2nd July, ‘Hafnia Swift’ entered Durban harbour, proceeding down the Bluff Channel, and going alongside her working berth at the Island View Oil Terminal. However, her stay was not that long, and after less than 20 hours alongside, she sailed from Durban at 16:00 in the afternoon of 3rd July, now bound for the Eastern Cape port of East London.

She arrived off the Buffalo City at 08:00 in the morning of 5th July, after a voyage of 317 nautical miles, and entered East London to commence her discharge at her second port of this voyage. Again, her call was not exceptionally long, and at 13:00 in the early afternoon of 6th July, after a call of less than 30 hours, she sailed from East London, now bound for Cape Town.

Her arrival in Cape Town on 8th July, after a voyage of 908 nautical miles, had her being directed to enter the Table Bay anchorage, and await a berth. She remained there for almost six days, and at 15:00 in the mid afternoon ‘Hafnia Swift’ entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock and going alongside the inner berth at the Tanker Basin to begin her third discharge period.

Exasperating as these Cape Town calls sometimes can be for the owner, and despite already completing two partial discharges in other ports along the South African coast, she was to spend the longest time alongside on this voyage to, presumably, complete what was becoming a multi-stop coastal discharge. It is becoming symptomatic of Cape Town that tankers spend more time discharging there than, on average, than at any other port along the coast.

Built in 2016 by SPP Shipbuilding at Goseong in South Korea, ‘Hafnia Swift’ is 183 metres in length, and has a deadweight of 49,999 tons. She is powered by a single HHI MAN-B&W 6S50ME-B9 six cylinder, two stroke, main engine producing 9,844 bhp (7,240 kW), and driving a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 15 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three Hyundai Himsen 5H21/32 generators providing 900 kW each, and a single Cummins 6CTA-8.3-D(M) emergency generator providing 180 kW. She has a Kangrim PCZZZZP32 exhaust gas boiler, and a Kangrim PB0301AS18 oil fired boiler. She has 12 cargo tanks with a cargo carrying capacity of 51,700 m3, and can carry 7 grades at any one time. She is equipped with 12 cargo pumps, each capable of pumping at a rate of 600 m3/hour.

One of 12 sisterships, and originally launched as ‘BW Swift’, ‘Hafnia Swift’ is owned by BW Clearwater Pte. Ltd., of Singapore. She is operated by Hafnia Pte. Ltd., also of Singapore, and whose houseflag she displays on her funnel, and is operated by BW Fleet Management Pte. Ltd., also of Singapore. Her change of name comes courtesy of the 21st century history of her owner.

Her owner history begins back in 1955 with the formation of one of the world’s greatest bulk shipping companies. Worldwide Shipping was founded in Hong Kong by Sir Y.K. Pao, whose growth included his entry into the tanker market in the mid-1960s. In 2003 Worldwide Shipping acquired the great Norwegian bulk shipping concern Bergesen d.y. ASA, and the combined shipping conglomerate was rebranded as BW Group Ltd.

In 2018 the BW Group took a controlling stake in the Danish tanker operator, Hafnia Tankers of Copenhagen. A year later, the BW Group tanker arm merged with Hafnia Tankers, and in 2022 they formed the MR Pool. Some of the BW Group fleet had their names amended from their prefix of ‘BW’, to that of ‘Hafnia’, as occurred with ‘Hafnia Swift’.

Today the combined BW and Hafnia fleet numbers 450 vessels, of which 202 of them are product tankers, which makes the group the largest product tanker operator in the world. Of that total of 202 tankers, 116 of them are fully owned, and 81 of them are MR2 class tankers. The fleet operates within 8 tanker pools, which includes another 30 partners.

Her discharge in Cape Town was complete after almost three and a half days alongside. At 03:00 in the early morning of 18th July, ‘Hafnia Swift’ sailed from Cape Town, in order to complete what looked to a perfect South African coastal round trip, with her AIS showing that her next destination was to be back to Durban. A strange routing, unless she was to be chartered for a further coastal voyage, or still had some product to discharge, and the charterer changed the discharge itinerary, to direct ‘Hafnia Swift’ back to Durban for a final discharge of product

After a standard three day voyage from Cape Town, ‘Hafnia Swift’ arrived off the Bluff on 21st July, at 10:00 in the morning. As with her first arrival three weeks earlier, she was directed to the Umhlanga anchorage, where she remained only for a short period. After seven hours swinging on the pick, she entered Durban harbour at 17:00 in the afternoon of 21st July, and proceeded down the Bluff Channel to go alongside at the Island View Oil Terminal.

Whilst she was alongside in Cape Town, an unusual gathering of tankers occurred, whereby the port was the host to no less than 6 tankers at the same time. This is a number that is normally only to be seen in Durban harbour, which has a large oil terminal facility offering up to nine tanker berths at Island View. The gathering occurred on the 16th July, and involved the following tankers;

1.Hafnia Swift (Tanker Basin berth 1) arrived 14th July from East London.
2.Essien (Tanker Basin berth 2) arrived 14th July from Richards Bay.
3.Angela Glory (Eastern Mole tanker berth) arrived 15th July from East London.
4.Oriental Acacia (Eastern Mole outer berth) arrived 15th July from Las Palmas.
5.Oriental Viola (Duncan Dock E berth) arrived 16th July from Karachi in Pakistan.
6.Eneos Explorer (Landing Wall) arrived 16th July from Kalbut in Indonesia.

The last three were all Red Sea diverts, calling for bunkers only, hence them getting berthed all around the Duncan Dock at non-tanker berths, with ‘Oriental Acacia’ sailing on the 17th July for Reunion, ‘Oriental Viola’ sailing on the 17th July for Marseilles, and the first of the sextet to sail was the ‘Eneos Explorer’, which sailed at 18:00 on 16th July, after just a short 12 hour bunker call, bound for Freeport in US State of Texas.

The casual maritime observer would also have noticed, that even in this day and age, many of the Hafnia tanker fleet still display signs of maintaining anti-piracy measures onboard the vessels. In the case of ‘Hafnia Swift’ the whole stern region, from the aft port side point of the lockable accommodation block, and around the stern to the accommodation on the far starboard aft side of the accommodation block, had the anti-boarding curved boards deployed around the whole line of railings.

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Container ship spends ten days and counting alongside Durban Container Terminal

Africa Ports & Ships

The container ship Maersk Stadelhorn (IMO 9726671) has remained at the Durban Container Terminal for the past ten days and until late on Monday 22 Jul had still not completed having her cargo loaded.

The container ship is a regular caller at South Africa’s ports on Maersk’s Safari service between South Africa and the Far East.

The ship entered port at Durban on 12 July and went alongside at the Durban Container Terminal North Quay where the ship remained for the next ten days.

Productivity on this ship was extremely slow, reported Maersk, saying that quayside cranes and straddle carrier breakdowns were responsible.

Maersk said it took the decision to remain alongside to make sure all their customers’ laden cargo was loaded, and so avoiding any cut and run that would have left some cargo behind.

Maersk added this was being done at the expense of their schedule reliability and the improvement that Maersk has been working on to reduce their waiting time in Durban.

“We as Maersk are committed to improving our Safari schedule and reducing the waiting time, despite the terminal equipment failures and delays in the required repairs,” the company said.

Maersk Stadelhorn finally completed loading and departed from Durban at around 20:00 on Monday evening, 22 July 2024, bound for Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia.

Maersk Stadelhorn was built in 2015 and has a length of 299 metres and width of 48m. Her container capacity is 9,640 TEUs.

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Senegal an exporter as first oil shipment heads to Europe

YouTube video about the Sangomar project off Senegal. [04:37]

Africa Ports & Ships

West Africa’s Senegal has become an oil exporter following the shipment of its first consignment of crude oil to Europe.

The 158,268-dwt crude oil tanker Maran Poseidon (IMO 9402926) carried the initial shipment of Senegal’s medium-sour crude on export to the Netherlands and Germany.

The oil was drilled and secured at the African country’s Sangomar offshore oil and gas field in the Mauritania-Senegal-Guinea Bissau Basin, about 60 miles south from Dakar, Senegal’s capital and main port.

A second shipment is expected to load immediately for Trieste in Italy. It’s reported that the 154,781-dwt Liberia-flagged tanker Goldway (IMO 9742900) will lift the second shipment. AIS shows the tanker currently approaching the Sangomar field.

It is understood that both shipments have been purchased by Shell.

The Sangomar project is under development by a joint venture consisting of Rufisque Offshore, Sangomar Offshore and Sangomar Deep Offshore, with Australia’s Woodside Energy the project operator.

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SA Port Statistics for June 2024

Africa Ports & Ships

Port statistics for the month of June 2024, covering the eight commercial ports under the administration of Transnet National Ports Authority, are now available.

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

Motor vehicles are measured in vehicle units being the equal of 1 tonne per unit.

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

PLEASE NOTE: The figures provided to us by TNPA reflecting ship arrivals at the ports are incorrect and a duplication of those recorded for May 2024. As soon as corrected figures are available they will appear on this page – those shown below (only the Vessel Arrivals section), are for May 2024.  SINCE UPDATED WITH JUNE 2024 SHIP ARRIVALS 2024-07-22 12:40

Figures for the respective ports during June 2024 are:

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

PORT	June 2024 million tonnes
Richards Bay	6.879
Durban	6.511
Saldanha Bay	6.203
Cape Town	1.419
Port Elizabeth	1.049
Ngqura	1.401
Mossel Bay	0.100
East London	0.167
Total all ports	23.730 million tonnes

CONTAINERS (measured by TEUs) during June 2024
(TEUs include Deepsea, Coastal, Transship and empty containers all subject to being invoiced by NPA

PORT	June 2024 TEUs
Durban	243,120
Cape Town	70,170
Port Elizabeth	17,147
Ngqura	60,069/td>
East London	2,098
Richards Bay	12/td>
Total all ports	392,616 TEU

MOTOR VEHICLES RO-RO TRAFFIC (measured by Units- CEUs) during June 2024

PORT	June 2024 CEUs
Durban	41,524
Cape Town	3
Port Elizabeth	16,173
East London	7,513
Richards Bay	0
Total all ports	65,213

SHIP CALLS for June 2024

PORT	June 2024 vessels	gross tons
Durban	247	7,449,128
Cape Town	236	4,049,630
Richards Bay	109	4,834,141
Port Elizabeth	69	1,926,170
Saldanha Bay	48	3,243,528
Ngqura	63	2,803,388
East London	28	936,711
Mossel Bay	10	89,024
Total ship calls	810  (June 2024)	25,331,720

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

Added 21 July 2024, Updated 22 July 2024

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WHARF TALK: MR2 products tanker – ANDREA VICTORY

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

The constant stream of increased traffic around the Cape does not always tell a story that any arrival in Cape Town, or Durban, who is calling purely for bunkers, is necessarily a divert away from the Suez Canal, as a result of yet more Houthi idiocy. Despite the bluster coming from the Houthi military spokesman, all ships are at risk, and this was brought home this week.

The latest attack is a sobering example of how idiotic these people really are. Despite the real risk to the lives of innocent crew plying their trade in international waters, there is a poetic irony about the last attack. Russia pays Iran, their ally, for drone weapons to use in Ukraine, Iran uses that income to manufacture, and provide, the same drones to the Houthis to destabilise world trade, the Houthis target shadow fleet tankers carrying Russian oil to China, the third member of the Triumvirate. The circle of life in the axis of evil continues.

However, despite the Russians continuing to direct shadow tankers down the Red Sea, there are some other tanker operators that are not going to use this route, based on their traffic pattern. It is the routing of these particular tankers that cannot always be pointed at as, necessarily, rounding the Cape sea route as a result of the risks of using the Red Sea.

On 16th July, at midnight, the fully laden MR2 class product tanker ‘Andrea Victory’ (IMO 9288849) arrived off Cape Town, from her last loading port of Dumai in Indonesia. She entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock, and going alongside the inner Landing Wall. Thus, her arrival was not to discharge any petroleum products into the local oil storage infrastructure, but ostensibly to uplift bunkers, with the Cape Town harbour bunker tanker ‘Lipuma’ coming alongside her as soon as she was secure on the berth.

Built in 2005 by Hyundai Mipo shipyard at Ulsan in South Korea, ‘Andrea Victory’ is 183 metres in length and has a deadweight of 46,803 tons. She is powered by a single HHI MAN-B&W 7S50MC-C seven cylinder, two stroke, main engine producing 12,340 bhp (9,480 kW) and driving a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 14 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three MAN generators providing 740 kW each. She has a single Kangrim auxiliary oil fired boiler, and a single Kangrim EGE economiser exhaust gas boiler. She has 12 cargo tanks with a cargo carrying capacity of 52,700 m3, and can carry seven grades of product at any one time. She has 12 cargo pumps, each capable of pumping at a discharge rate of 600 m3/hour.

She is one of a series of ten sisterships, all originally built to the order of BP Tankers Ltd., of the UK, and she was launched with the traditional BP name of ‘British Tranquility’. Sold on in 2018 and renamed ‘Andrea Victory’, she is currently owned and operated by WA Tankers AS, of Bergen in Norway, and is managed by Thome Shipmanagement D.O.O of Zadar, in Croatia.

Her port of departure gives a clue as to what cargo she was actually carrying on arrival in Cape Town. She had loaded firstly in Belawan, and then in Dumai, both ports to be found on the northern coast, on the Malacca Strait side of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Both ports are principle export ports for Palm Oil, which is an edible vegetable oil, and with Indonesia being the world’s largest exporter of Palm Oil, exporting an average of 2.1 million tons per month.

Dumai is Indonesia’s largest Palm Oil exporting port, accounting for 39% of all Indonesian Palm Oil exports, with Belawan accounting for 11% of all Indonesian Palm Oil exports. In 2020, the Indonesian state owned port operator, Pelabuhan Indonesia 1 (Pelindo 1) decided to develop both Dumai and Belawan as the two major Palm Oil export ports for Indonesia.

Infrastructure upgrades in Dumai included increasing bulk liquid loading capacity from 300 tons/hour per tanker, to 500 tons/hour per tanker. At Belawan, the decision was taken to construct an integrated pipeline facility, which would connect the port loading facilities with the dozens of Palm Oil storage tank terminals, totaling hundreds of storage tanks, which are located all around the Belawan port complex.

After less than 24 hours alongside in Cape Town, and with her bunker uplift completed, together with any stores loaded and fresh provisions safely replenished onboard, ‘Andrea Victory’ sailed from Cape Town at 20:00 in the evening of 17th July, with her next port of arrival given as New Orleans, in the US State of Louisiana. This destination port made eminent sense of her cargo of Palm Oil.

Of the total of Indonesian Palm Oil exports, the USA is the 5th largest importer of this product, with the Palm Oil exports from Dumai to the USA accounting for just 5% of that total, with the USA importing Palm Oil with a total value of US$2.2 billion (ZAR40.2 billion) in 2022. The port complex of New Orleans, along the banks of the Mississippi River, being the recipient of 82% of the total of Indonesian imported Palm Oil.

In terms of the agriproducts that are imported into the USA through the port complex of New Orleans, Palm Oil accounts for just 18% of that agriproduct total, but this total accounts for 35% of the total of all Palm Oil imports into the USA.

There is only one Palm Oil import and refining terminal in the port complex of New Orleans. The Palm Oil refinery, as opposed to just storage, is the first of its kind in the USA, and it is situated on the old Huntingdon Ingalls shipyard site, located at Avondale on the west bank of the Mississippi River, some 20 nautical miles upriver from New Orleans. It was completed as recently as 2021 at a cost of US$70 million (ZAR1.28 billion). The old Avondale shipyard is located at 29°55’ North 090°11’ West.

Interestingly, had there been no Houthi menace, and no risk to a vessel bound for the USA, a voyage from Dumai to New Orleans, via the Suez Canal, covers a distance of 11,166 nautical miles, and would take 46 days at a speed of 10 knots. The same voyage, via the Cape sea route, covers a distance of 12,554 nautical miles, and takes 51 days to complete, also at a speed of 10 knots. The question raised by such a statistic is would the difference, on a commercial cost basis, lead this voyage to be one that could be considered to be yet another Red Sea diversion.

Back on 12th May 2019, ‘Andrea Victory’ was involved in a terrorist action in the waters of the UAE, off Fujairah. Four tankers lying in the outer anchorage were all the victims of a similar attack, which occurred one after the other, when an explosion at the stern of each vessel blew a hole in the hull of each vessel at the waterline. The explosive device was deemed to have been a limpet mine, and Iran was identified as the most likely perpetrator of the terrorist acts. It followed a recent limpet mine attack on two other tankers, transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, off the Iranian coast.

All four vessels off Fujairah were targeted at their stern, which is a vulnerable part of a vessel, and is the hardest area to cover by radar, and the most difficult area to see from the bridge. The limpet mines were thought to have been stuck to the hull by a diver, or from a small boat, and detonated by a timer. The holes were consistent with a 5 kg charge, which is similar to the amount of explosives used in a Limpet mine, and there was a lack of scorching, or burning, that a rocket or missile might leave.

The attack on ‘Andrea Victory’ had occurred just after she had arrived at the Fujairah anchorage after a voyage from Durban, where she had discharged a full cargo at the Island View oil terminal. The report also pointed out that it was probably the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that was behind the act of sabotage.

In an act of irony, despite the nation thought involved in her attack, once ‘Andrea Victory’ had her hull repaired, and been returned to commercial service, she loaded her next cargo of fuel products in the UAE. Her port of discharge was given as the port of Bandar Imam Khomeini, which is located 30°30’ North 049°04’ East, in northern Iran.

Added 21 July 2024

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Red Sea escalation: Israel bombs Yemen’s Port Hodeidah

Africa Ports & Ships

Israel’s air force has carried out an intensive airstrike on the Yemen port of Hodeidah in response to a long-range Iranian-made drone attack that evaded Israeli defences and struck a building in Tel Aviv’s business area on Friday (19 July 2024), killing one man and injuring at least 10 others.

An Israeli spokesman said the drone attack was the first time that there had been a fatality, despite the Houthi’s having launched over 200 drone or missile attacks in the direction of Israel.

Israel’s response via the airstrike on the port city in Yemen, he said, was swift and came within 24 hours of the Houthi drone attack.

He said the precision air strike on the Yemen port city by Israel’s air force was directed at military targets. The Houthis responded saying that oil tanks in the port were struck and were burning fiercely and that there had been fatalities. The Houthi’s television station also described explosions among the oil tanks at the port.

The Israeli’s response was carried out by a combination of F-35 stealth fighter jets, F-15 fighters, reconnaissance aircraft, and refueling aircraft to carry out the long-range airstrike on the port of Hodeidah. The mission was aptly named ‘Operation Long Arm’.

The air strike of more than 1,700 kilometres down the Red Sea to strike strategic targets in the Houthi’s main port has inevitably led to a concern that the both long-range attacks mark an escalation in the Middle East and Red Sea region in particular that could spiral out of control.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has meanwhile called for international action to be taken against Iran, which he called the “head of the snake” and responsible for providing the Houthis and others with more sophisticated weapons.

Added 20 July 2024

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The Ever Changing Face of Ships – the Ulstein Twin X-Stern

Africa Ports & Ships

The shape of modern ships has undergone some radical changes in recent years as it evolves to meet the many new functions that shipping is being called on to perform.

The ULSTEIN TWIN X-STERN is one such example. Aptly dubbed the ‘4-wheel drive for the seas’, the unique design is remarkable for its exceptional manoeuvrability.

What distinguishes the design is ts dual stern configuration, equipped with main propellers at each end. This unique setup enhances manoeuvrability and motion, leading to improved fuel efficiency – a critical factor in the drive towards more sustainable and efficient maritime operations.

This has been tested with recent sea trials of the Olympic Boreas, a 90-metre construction service operation vessel (CSOV) utilising hybrid battery propulsion and prepared for methanol fuel to enable low-emission operations. This is already a nominee for the ‘Ship of the Year 2024’ Award.

Ten TWIN X-STERN vessels are currently under construction as CSOVs for the offshore energy industry. However, the design is applicable to a variety of vessel types and sizes – from the 69m long Service Operation Vessel (SOV) ULSTEIN SX234 to the 170m long Cable Laying Vessel (CLV) ULSTEIN SX225.

Ulstein says it anticipates that subsea operations and cable laying will be the next sectors to reap the benefits of these versatile vessels and adds that the challenges it solves are being recognised.

The distinct advantage of te twin stern vessel lies in its ability to transit forward or backward, as this offers significant time efficiency.

The TWIN X-STERN also enhances the ability to operate with the stern or bow facing the weather, eliminating the need for the vessel to reorient if sea state conditions change. This increases the operational window, a feature that is particularly important for other energy vessels, such as subsea and cable-laying vessels.

Cable-laying vessels, which spend a significant amount of time at sea, have limited flexibility to adjust their heading towards the weather as the final position of the cable determines the heading. The TWIN X-STERN’s seakeeping performance will be instrumental in future subsea operations, enabling safer and more effective operations.

In all three segments, manoeuvrability and workability are key to the vessel’s competitiveness and operational efficiency.

Ulstein acknowledges that the size of the deck area is a critical factor in determining the amount of cargo that cable-laying, pipe-laying and subsea vessels can carry on deck, and that in such vessels a rounded stern might pose a limitation. However, says Ulstein, it is possible to compromise on the shape of the stern above the waterline and retain the squared shape of the deck to maximize cargo capacity.

Global Construction and Operations

Six of the CSOV TWIN X-STERN vessels are set to be constructed at Ulstein Verft, with an additional four being built at an external yard. These vessels, designed to endure harsh sea conditions, are the brainchild of Ulstein Design & Solutions AS, a company acclaimed for its innovative and resilient vessel designs.

Added 21 July 2024

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A new global alliance on ocean litter: Invitation to shipping and fisheries companies

Edited by Paul Ridgway
Africa Ports & Ships
London

Businesses operating in the shipping and fisheries sectors have been invited to express their interest in joining the Marine Plastic Litter Global Industry Alliance (GIA). This was reported by IMO on 17 July.

The alliance will bring together maritime and fisheries industry leaders, with the aim of developing innovative solutions to prevent and reduce ocean plastics, while addressing common barriers to the uptake of technologies and alternative approaches.

Leveraging IMO’s experience in establishing and leading GIAs, including on greenhouse gas emissions and biofouling, this new alliance will address marine plastic litter originating from shipping and fisheries sectors.

The Marine Plastic Litter GIA will be managed by IMO as part of its OceanLitter Programme – a portfolio of projects that includes the GloLitter Partnerships project (GloLitter) and Regional Litter Project (RegLitter). It will build on and replace the project-specific GIA established previously under the GloLitter project.

Marine Plastic Litter GIA

The Marine Plastic Litter GIA is expected to include a wide spectrum of maritime stakeholders, including shipowners, ports, fisheries industry, recycling companies, technology and data providers and class societies. A taskforce will steer workstreams and activities.

Members will convene on a regular basis to share knowledge and expertise including through roundtable dialogues, develop industry guidelines and tools to help address plastic litter, and raise awareness of potential green solutions through studies and other activities.

Outputs from these activities will be shared with IMO bodies such as the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) and the London Convention/Protocol for their information and action, as appropriate.

Eligibility

Membership of the Marine Plastic Litter GIA is limited to industry companies only, defined as:

* Individual, for-profit, commercial businesses or companies including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives, whether national or multinational.

* State-owned enterprises, to the extent that they behave or operate as commercial businesses or companies.

* Corporate foundations directly funded and/or governed by business.

Business associations and other entities, such as in the public sector or academia, are not eligible for formal membership, but may be invited to participate in specific workstreams or activities.

To be considered for membership, companies should be able to clearly demonstrate the following:

* Commitment/in addressing sea-based sources of marine plastic litter (SBMPL).

* Willingness to actively engage and contribute.

* High-level of commitment (financial and technical in-kind contribution).

Call for Expressions of Interest (EOI)

Companies interested in becoming a member are invited to submit an EOI of no more than two pages, to include the following:

* Rationale for joining the Marine Plastic Litter GIA.

* Current initiatives addressing marine plastic litter within the company (if any).

* Details on potential technical expertise or contribution (e.g. reviewing and providing feedback on Marine Plastic Litter GIA documents and products, co-drafting publications, and providing input to industry roundtable meetings. A minimum of 25 days per year of in-kind technical expertise is expected).

* Confirmation of annual membership fee of $20,000 technical in-kind contribution.

* Any other relevant information to be considered.

Further information can be found in IMO Circular Letter 4877, available via IMODOCS on application.

Added 21 July 2024

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Maersk Frankfurt on fire in Arabian Sea

Africa Ports & Ships

A large fire is burning on board a new Maersk container ship, the 76,500-dwt, 255m long Maersk Frankfurt (IMO 9969065) which broke out following explosions as the ship sailed between the Indian port of Mundra and Colombo in Sri Lanka.

At the time of the explosion Maersk Frankfurt, which is on a time charter to Maersk and is managed by Bernard Schulte, was seven nautical miles south of the India city of Karwar.

The fire appeared to have started in a container close to the front of the vessel.

The ship remains underway at a reduced speed while several Indian Coast Guard patrol vessels in attendance, ICG Sujeet, Sachet and Samrat, are in attendance and helping prevent the fire from spreading.

The seas are reported to be rough seas and inclement weather. The crew are reported to be safe and unharmed and remain onboard.

Maersk Frankfurt was en route to China via Sri Lank, Malaysia, and Singapore.

It has been a busy week for the Indian Coast Guard. On Wednesday 17 July they rescued nine crew members from a Comoros-flagged oil tanker named Prestige Falcon, which capsized in the Arabian Sea close to the coast of Oman.

Nor has it been a happy time for Maersk. Another of its container ships, Maersk Sentosa came under attack from Houthi drones which landed in the Arabian Sea close to the ship but without causing any reported damage.

To watch a short video on X Twitter) showing the burning fire on board the Maersk Frankfurt, click here.

Added 20 July 2024

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Transnet secures USD 1 billion loan from African Development Bank Group

Africa Ports & Ships

The African Development Bank Group has approved a US$ 1 billion (R18.85bn) corporate loan to Transnet for its recovery and growth plans. The 25-year loan approved by the Bank Group’s Board of Directors on Friday, 12 July 2024, is fully guaranteed by the government of South Africa.

The loan will be used to facilitate the first phase of the company’s R152.8 billion ($8.1 billion) five-year capital investment plan to improve its existing capacity ahead of expansion for the priority segments throughout the transport value chain.

In its own statement the bank said Transnet has faced operational challenges mainly in the critical rail and port businesses resulting from underinvestment in infrastructure and equipment, theft and vandalism, and external shocks such as floods and the effects of the COVID19 pandemic.

Transnet, it said, is committed to addressing past challenges, fostering integrity, and enhancing efficiency within the organisation. “It has made progress in some key areas including reforms in governance procurement and financial management.”

The recovery plan, launched in October 2023, seeks to rehabilitate the infrastructure and accelerate the relaunch of operations over 18 months, focusing on restoring operational performance and freight volumes to meet customer demands.

“Transnet, the custodian of South Africa’s critical transport and logistics infrastructure, plays an indispensable role in the economy of the country, ensuring a competitive freight system and serving as a gateway to the SADC region,” said Solomon Quaynor, African Development Bank’s Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialisation.

He added that the bank’s partnership with Transnet is aligned with South Africa’s strategic ‘Roadmap for Freight Logistics System,’ which is overseen by the National Logistics Crisis Committee, chaired at the Presidency level.

“This initiative signifies our commitment to enhancing national logistics capabilities and driving sustainable economic growth,” Quaynor said.

Added 18 July 2024

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Giant CMA CGM container ship cleared to sail after losing containers overboard

Africa Ports & Ships

The 18,000-TEU container ship, CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin (IMO 9706891), has been allowed to sail from Algoa Bay after satisfying South African maritime authorities that her cargo of containers is fully secured.

On 9 July, while the giant 400-metre long ship was sailing off the KwaZulu-Natal coast opposite Durban she reported that in bad weather one of the container stacks collapsed, with 44 loaded containers falling overboard. Caught up in the quick-flowing Agulhas Current the boxes were swept away, with some appearing off Port Shepstone to the south a short while later.

The ship had been directed to seek shelter in Algoa Bay until the remaining containers on board were made fully secure and only after a full assessment was the ship permitted to sail, which she did on the evening of Tuesday 16 July 2024.

This was after the operator of the ship had identified a suitable weather window to conduct the passage around the Cape of Good Hope, which lately should be referred to by its original name of Cape of Storms.

By Thursday morning the ship had successfully rounded the Cape and was passing St Helena Bay.

CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin would ordinarily have sailed from the Far East to Europe via the Suez Canal, but like so many other container ships, is now forced to travel the longer route around the Cape on account of the dangers of Houthi attack in the Red Sea.

SAMSA said on Thursday that the next phase of the operation is to understand the fate of the containers that are on the seabed.

“It is highly probable that these containers are located on the seabed outside of South African waters in depths of more than 500 metres,” SAMSA said perhaps hopefully in an update.

Together with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), SAMSA will be working closely with the container ship’s owner and their insurers to chart a way forward regarding the missing containers.

A navigation warning to all vessels operating in the area remains active, advising them to navigate with caution.

Vessels and the public are urged to report any sightings of the lost containers to the relevant authorities by contacting the Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre (MRCC) at 021 938 3300 with the position, number, and colour of the containers if observed.

Added 19 July 2024

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Damen contracts with Toyota Tsusho for four tugs for Namibe port

Africa Ports & Ships

Earlier this year Damen Shipyards Group signed a contract with Toyota Tsusho for the construction and delivery of four harbour vessels for the Angolan port of Namibe.

The order consists of two ASD 2813 Tugs, a Pushy Cat 1004 and a Stan Pilot 1905 which will be delivered in the first quarter of 2025. The relative speed of delivery is possible as a result of Damen’s practice of building its proven, standard vessels in series for stock.

The vessels are being provided to the Ministry of Transport Angola as part of a Japanese Government funded port development project in Namibe.

The four vessels which were already under construction for stock are being completed at Damen Shipyards Gorinchem, the Netherlands (Pushy Cat 1004), Damen Shipyards Antalya, Turkey (Stan Pilot 1905) and Damen Song Cam Shipyard, Vietnam (ASD Tugs 2813).

Toyota Tsusho is a new client for the Dutch shipbuilder. The large Japanese trading house, in addition to supporting the business activities of Toyota Motors, is also active in industrial, commercial and consumer sectors and frequently collaborates with the Japanese Government on infrastructure projects around the world.

“The port development project enables an increase in vessel traffic in Namibe,” said Hiroumi Ohara, Toyota Tsusho’s General Manager Africa Power & Infrastructure Department.

“To facilitate this, the port requires a number of new, high quality workboats. We approached Damen, being aware of the company’s reputation for the fast delivery of proven, high performing vessels,” Ohara said.

He added that the four workboats will play an important role in giving a boost to the Angolan economy in the coming years.

The Namibe port development project, which was signed on 11 January 2019, involves a comprehensive development of Namibe Bay and is Toyota Tsusho’s first such project in Angola. The company has, however, a long history in Angola, having exported its cars to the country since 1966.

The project comprises two parts, the rehabilitation of the Saco-mar iron ore export terminal, and the expansion of the Namibe container terminal, which is located on the opposite shore to Saco-mar.

This has been designed to allow larger vessels to call at the port and diversifying the materials it is able to handle.

As a result, the port development project is anticipated to provide wider employment opportunities in Angola, while also providing the country with full independence in import activities, reducing the costs of freight transportation and boosting the national economy.

The Saco-mar terminal was opened in 1967 for the export of iron ore from the Kassinga Mine in the south of the country. The civil war brought a stop to this activity but Angola plans to reopen the mine and resume these port operations.

The importance of the container terminal lies with Namibe being the terminus of the Moçâmedes Railway, which serves the hinterland of southern Angola. The existing general cargo quay had a shallow depth alongside ensuring that only small shallow-draught vessels could call.

This placed Angola in the situation of having to rely on Namibia’s port of Walvis Bay for some of this container and general cargo traffic to be feedered to Namibe.

Added 18 July 2024

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GENERAL NEWS REPORTS – UPDATED THROUGH THE DAY

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

PORT	May 2023 million tonnes
Richards Bay	6.467
Durban	6.120
Saldanha Bay	5.548
Cape Town	1.348
Port Elizabeth	1.437
Ngqura	1.520
Mossel Bay	0.020
East London	0.158
Total all ports during May 2023	22.619 million tonnes

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Terry Hutson