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TODAY’S BULLETIN OF MARITIME NEWS

Newsweek commencing 4 August 2024.  Click on headline to go direct to story : use the BACK key to return.  

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FIRST VIEW:   MSC NITYA B

• Road upgrade to help ease Port of Durban congestion
• Port News & Advisories
• WHARF TALK: MR1 class products tanker – PATRICK C
• All aboard for Tanzania’s Standard Gauge Railway
• AfDB expects vigorous economic growth for Madagascar
• La BAD s’attend à une croissance économique vigoureuse pour Madagascar
• SA Navy Chief to Deliver Maritime Security Keynote at AAD 2024 Conference
• WHARF TALK: seismic survey vessel – BGP PROSPECTOR
• Port News and Advisories
• Transnet Pipelines issues EIO for Lilly gas pipeline
• Höegh Aurora, first of the Aurora class car carriers, is delivered
• Two workboats for Port of Cape Town named and launched at Sandock Austral Shipyards UPDATED
• WHARF TALK: Super Handy 32 class bulk carrier – OLYMPIA LOGGER
• Another level crossing tragedy this time near Postmasburg
• Port News and Advisories
• WHARF TALK: Aframax LR2 products tanker – ABLIANI
• TNPA goes to market for a 3MW renewable solar plant at East London port
• A.P.Møller-Mærsk anticipates ongoing supply chain disruption but an upgraded full-year guidance
• Air cargo demand surges 14.1% – Strong first half performance
• AD Ports completes EIA for Pointe Noire’s multipurpose New East Mole Terminal
• SA to further focus on manufacturing and exports to grow economy
• Xeneta Update: Ocean container shipping market reaches a tipping point in July
• Liberian Registry appoints ex-US Navy commander as VP of Port State Control
• Camillo Fontana appointed new CFO for Hanseatic Global Terminals

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

Africa Ports & Ships

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Masthead:  PORT OF CAPE TOWN

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FIRST VIEW:   MSC NITYA B

The container ship MSC Nitya B IMO 9778117) was a recent visitor to the Durban Container Terminal and departed from South Africa’s premier container port on 7 July 2024, headed for destinations in South-East Asia and the Far East.

MSC Nitya was built in 2017 at the Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Philippines yard based in the Philippines, also known as HHIC Phil. The Subic Bay yard was a branch of South Korea’s Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction and successfully built a number of large-size container ships as well as oil and gas tankers until having to file for bankruptcy in 2019 over unpaid loans and thus going out of business.

Owned and managed by Seaspan, MSC Nitya B is one of about 11 sister ships of which five operate in MSC colours under Seaspan Ship Management, two as Maersk ships and four remain named with Seaspan prefixes. MSC Nitya has a deadweight of 141,838 tons and has a length of 330 metres and width of 48.31m. She has a container capacity of 11,000 TEUs.The ship flies the Portuguese flag.

Picture by KEITH BETTS

Africa Ports & Ships

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Road upgrade to help ease Port of Durban congestion

Africa Ports & Ships

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) announced on Wednesday (7 August) of intentions to steadily move ahead with interventions aimed at improving access to facilities at the Port of Durban.

These interventions will include a comprehensive road rehabilitation project aimed at reducing delays caused by dilapidated road infrastructure within port boundaries.

This 24-month project is aligned with the Transnet Recovery Plan and the ports authority’s mandate to provide port infrastructure that ensures the port’s efficient functioning, as the economic gateway to the South African economy.

As reported previously in Africa Ports & Ships, see here, the project commenced in September 2023. The project teams have now successfully completed 58% of the road works in the Maydon Wharf and Bayhead precincts. Toulon Road, Bayhead & South Coast Road intersection, Davey Road, Parker Road, McBride Road, Fletcher Road, Wisely Road, Maydon Road and Johnstone Road have successfully undergone major refurbishments. These entailed the stormwater pipe jetting, cleaning kerbs and channels, milling off existing asphalt and paving.

The repairing of roads is set to improve road safety and improve operational efficiencies with the elimination of incidents caused by slow traffic overflow in the four port precincts – Maydon Wharf, Container, Bayhead and Island View.

TNPA’s acting Port Manager for the Port of Durban, Nkumbuzi Ben-Mazwi said the project team is working diligently to ensure that the project is completed on time.

“We understand that delays could result in further traffic congestion to the port. We urge drivers to be vigilant and patient when using the impacted roads as we endeavour to ease the intensified pressure on the roads which has led to the deterioration of our road infrastructure,” Ben-Mazwi said.

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Port News & Advisories

Africa Ports & Ships

Durban port closed to inbound vessels

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) Port of Durban advised on Wednesday evening, 7 August 2024, that the port had been closed to inbound vessels, due to high swells of between 3.5 and 4 metres.

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Port of Ngqura omission

Maersk Chennai

It has been advised that due to berthing delays in West Africa, the vessel Maersk Chennai will omit Ngqura in an attempt to recover her schedule.

Maersk Chennai will remain in Cape Town and all Export bookings will be amended to the vessel Maersk Iyo.

All Import containers will be discharged in Cape Town and loaded onto the MW1 service to Ngqura.

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Rotation Change

H5N Maersk Valencia voyage 427S

In view of congestion currently present at Jebel Ali terminal, the vessel Maersk Valencia on voyage 427S will now call Salalah terminal instead.

Jebel Ali imports will be transshipped on MECL service out of Salalah terminal.

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WHARF TALK: MR1 class products tanker – PATRICK C

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

In this day and age, the arrival of any product tanker in Cape Town or Durban that is arriving for no other reason than to uplift bunkers, and then to continue her voyage onwards as soon as possible, might be associated with the Houthi menace, especially so if the tanker is arriving from an unusual destination, not ordinarily associated with the flow of fuel products into South Africa. There have been many examples of just that kind of call over the past few months. However, appearances can sometimes be deceptive.

Another familiar product tanker itinerary is that fuel products are delivered to most all Transnet ports in South Africa on a regular basis. Those tankers can either be chartered in on a one off delivery voyage from a departure point on the other side of the world, or it can be out of Durban on a regular coasting delivery voyage.

Richards Bay, Durban, Cape Town, East London, Port Elizabeth, Mossel Bay, and occasionally Saldanha Bay, are all visited with regular deliveries of fuel products. Missing from the list is Ngqura, or Coega, as Port Elizabeth covers that part of the Eastern Cape, and there is no local market surrounding Ngqura that requires a dedicated delivery of a variety of fuel products. Even then, Ngqura still has no dedicated tanker berth that is linked to a nearby tank storage facility. Until now that is. But it is not what it seems.

On 2nd August, at 08:00 in the morning, the small MR1 class products tanker ‘Patrick C’ (IMO 9425497) arrived off Cape Town, from Saint Rose, which is a port on the Mississippi River, and located just upstream from the City of New Orleans in the US State of Louisiana. She was fully loaded, and she entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock where she was berthed on the Landing Wall. Such a berth indicates she was not in Cape Town for discharge purposes, but rather she was in for bunkers. As soon as she was securely alongside the harbour bunker tanker ‘Lipuma’ came alongside her to confirm the reason for her Cape Town call.

Built in 2009 by Hyundai Mipo dockyard at Ulsan in South Korea, ‘Patrick C’ is 184 metres in length and has a deadweight of 36,264 tons. The smallest of the product tanker classes, the MR1 class lies between a deadweight of 35,000 tons, and up to 44,999 tons. She is powered by a single HHI MAN-B&W 6S50MC-C7 six cylinder, two stroke, main engine producing 12,889 bhp (9,480 kW), driving a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 15 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three Hyundai Himsen 5H21/32 generators providing 730 kW each, and she also has a single Cummins emergency generator. She has an Alfa Laval Aalborg Mission XW exhaust gas boiler, and an Alfa Laval Aalborg Mission OL oil fired boiler. For added manoeuvrability ‘Patrick C’ has a Kawasaki KT-88B3F bow transverse thruster providing 900 kW.

She has a total of twelve cargo tanks, and she has a cargo carrying capacity of 40,799 m3. All of her cargo tanks are fully epoxy coated. She has a total of twelve cargo pumps, with ten of her cargo pumps being capable of pumping at a rate of 500 m3/hour, and two cargo pumps being capable of pumping at a slightly lesser rate of 300 m3/hour.

She is one of an extremely popular design of MR tanker from the Hyundai stable, and she is nominally owned by Partankers XXIII AS, of Oslo in Norway. She is operated by Sokana, of Westport in the US State of Connecticut, and whose company houseflag, and name, she displays on her funnel. Sokana operate as a joint venture with Interunity Management Corporation SA, of Athens in Greece, who are the managers of ‘Patrick C’.

Her departure port, Saint Rose in the USA is located at 29°57’ North 090°18’ West, and lies just 23 miles upriver from the city of New Orleans, which is pronounced as N’Awlins by the local population. The port itself is located at Mile Point 118, above the Head of Passes, and on the left descending bank of the Mississippi River. It is considered to be a component part of the Port of South Louisiana, which stretches for 54 miles along the banks of the Mississippi River, and upstream of the Port of New Orleans, and which is known locally as NOLA.

The port of Saint Rose serves the tank storage facilities of International Matex Tank Terminals (IMTT), and nothing else. IMTT operate a tank storage facility consisting of 216 tanks, connected by pipeline to local oil refineries and petrochemical complexes. The facility provides storage for petroleum products, biodiesel, renewable fuel feedstocks, vegetable oils, ethanol, and a multitude of chemical products. Saint Rose port provides five deepwater berths for the loading of ocean going tankers, plus additional berths for Mississippi River tanker barges.

The bunker call at Cape Town was swift, and after just thirteen hours alongside, ‘Patrick C’ was ready to sail. At 21:00 in the evening of 2nd August she sailed from Cape Town, and her AIS was showing that her next destination was to be Coega. For any product tanker to be displaying Coega, as her next port of call on the South African coast, is most unusual. For very obvious reasons, the use of Ngqura is not utilised in maritime circles, or on AIS systems, as it is a name as unpronounceable outside South Africa as Gqeberha.

Her transit around Cape Agulhas, and along the Cape South Coast was completed at 10:00 in the morning of 4th August, when ‘Patrick C’ arrived in Algoa Bay, and immediately went to anchor in the Port Elizabeth anchorage. She remained there for just over a day, and at 17:00 in the late afternoon of 5th August, she entered the port of Ngqura (Coega), going alongside the outer general berth, which is also the location of the proposed bulk liquids berth. For those unfamiliar with the layout of Coega, the reason for the use of this berth by ‘Patrick C’ can be ascertained with a close look at recent satellite photograph imagery of the port itself.

This berth has a single pipeline terminal point which is relatively new. In May this year, the culmination of a project to build a 5.4 km pipeline linking the port to a new storage tank facility, was completed, and became operational. The new storage tank facility holds two storage tanks, each with a capacity of 18,000 m3, which are located within the Coega Special Enterprise Zone (SEZ). The tanks have been designed to store Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO), which is scheduled to arrive by product tanker at the new pipeline berth in the port.

The new storage facility is owned by Orion Engineered Carbons Pty. Ltd. (OEC), who are the South African Division of the German company, OEC GmbH of Eschborn in Germany, and whose South African regional office is located in nearby Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha). All of the HFO feedstock for OEC is imported from the USA, and is used to produce the product known as Carbon Black. OEC were formed in 2011 when the parent company gained full ownership of the Port Elizabeth based Joint Venture (JV) company, Algorax.

Carbon Black is produced for a variety of uses, such as inks, dyes, paints amongst others. However, its major use is in the tyre manufacturing industry, where it is utilised to reinforce rubber. The worldwide tyre manufacturing industry accounts for 70% of the global demand for Carbon Black. In 2022 OEC exported 4,659 tons of Carbon Black, and the new facility at Coega will, hopefully, invigorate the local automotive sector, as well as open up new export markets due to the high grade of Carbon Black that will be produced locally.

Assuming that the new pipeline at Coega is able to handle the pumping capacity that the onboard cargo tank pumps can deliver, it is expected that ‘Patrick C’ will only be alongside discharging her cargo at Coega for a short period. However, assuming that only one tank can be discharged at a time, using just one onboard cargo pump at a time, then easy maths tells the casual maritime observer that it might take as long as four days to discharge her fully. As this is a relatively new venture, and Transnet are involved, it may even take longer than that, despite it being just a single product to be discharged!

Added 8 August 2024

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All aboard for Tanzania’s Standard Gauge Railway

Africa Ports & Ships

Tanzania’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) phase 1 has commenced operations, following the official launch ceremony performed by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

The SGR is being built between the port city of Dar es Salaam and Mwanza on the southern shore of Lake Victoria, and to Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika, and will also connect with Burundi and the DRC. Further sections to Rwanda and Uganda are under discussion.

The railway is being constructed in sections, with separate financing arrangements for each. The section just completed and opened between Dar es Salaam and the capital city Dodoma has a distance of approximately 670 km and has cost a reported USD 10 billion.

The SGR’s EMU locomotives were built in South Korea by Hyundai Rotem and coaches at another South Korean manufacturer, Sung Shin Rolling Stock Technology.

Describing the new railway, Tanzania’s president said it was not just a railway, but a lifeline to bring the people together. She said the SGR will enhance trade and spur economic growth.

The Ministry of Transport was instructed to ensure Tanzanians benefited fully from the new train services.

Interestingly, President Samia directed the ministry to hasten the construction and repair of cargo ships on the respective lakes that will be served by the new railway. These should be completed before the railway construction reaches the lakes, she said.

She directed that the completion of the railway in all its sections must be achieved while adhering to agreed standards and quality.

The president contributed further to the official commencement of the SGR service by boarding the train at Dar es Salaam and journeying to Dodoma with stops at Pugu, Ngerengere and Morogoro en route.

Experience a ride on an electric train of the Tanzanian SGR via YouTube [19:25]

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AfDB expects vigorous economic growth for Madagascar

Africa Ports & Ships

The African Development Bank Group’s (www.AfDB.org) Country Report 2024 forecasts vigorous economic activity for Madagascar, with expected growth of 4.5 percent in 2024, climbing to 5.3 percent in 2025. Growth on the Grande Île was 4.4 percent in 2023, compared with 4.3 percent in 2022.

The report, entitled “Driving change in Madagascar by reforming the global financial architecture”, was published in Antananarivo by the Bank’s Country Office in conjunction with the government of Madagascar, on Wednesday 31 July 2024. Government representatives, including the Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Max Andonirina Fontaine, the chief of staff of the Minister of the Economy and Finance, Florence Andrianaivohery and others from the public authorities, the private sector, civil society and development partners of the Grande Île, all contributed to wide-ranging and constructive discussions around the report.

Kevin Chika Urama, Chief Economist and Vice-President of the African Development Bank Group, responsible for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, spoke by video message. He emphasised the importance of country reports, which shed light on national policies and feed into political dialogue between the authorities and the private sector and development partners on structural transformation. He also highlighted the necessity of reforming the global financial architecture to contribute to faster structural change in Madagascar.

Ms Andrianaivohery, for her part, commented that a fundamental reform of the global financial architecture could help her country to take advantage of new opportunities by diversifying the available funding sources, improving lending conditions and making it easier to access innovative financing, to accelerate its development.

“The theme of the Country Report 2024 is in line with the objective of the Bank’s Country Strategy Document 2022-2026 for Madagascar, which is to speed up the structural transformation of the economy, backed by industrialization to create decent, green jobs,” commented Adam Amoumoun, the Bank’s Country Manager for Madagascar. “The mid-term review of the Country Strategy Document, which took place in May 2024, showed that the results achieved were satisfactory. The African Development Bank will build on these over the remaining period of the strategy to contribute to accelerating the country’s structural transformation,” he emphasised.

Minister Max Fontaine stressed that Madagascar still has significant climate funding needs and it is important for the Bank to support the country in preparing projects and mobilizing finance from green funds.

Following the presentation of the report by the Bank’s Country Economist for Madagascar, Hamaciré Dicko, the discussions turned to macroeconomic performance and prospects, tools for promoting strong and resilient growth, progress on the structural transformation of Madagascar and reforms of the global financial architecture.

The Director of Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, Marilys Victoire Razakamanana, who acted as moderator, summarized the discussions with an emphasis on the need to increase climate funding for Madagascar.

On 31 July 2024, the African Development Bank Group’s active portfolio in Madagascar comprised 18 operations, amounting to a total of USD 1.16 billion.

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La BAD s’attend à une croissance vigoureuse pour Madagascar

Africa Ports & Ships

Le Groupe de la Banque africaine développement (www.AfDB.org) dans son Rapport pays 2024, prévoit une activité économique vigoureuse pour Madagascar avec une perspective de croissance de 4,5 % en 2024 qui devrait grimper à 5,3 % en 2025. La croissance de la Grande île était de 4,4 % en 2023, contre 4,3 % en 2022.

Le rapport dont le thème est : « Impulser la transformation de Madagascar par la réforme de l’architecture financière mondiale » a été publié, mercredi 31 juillet 2024, à Antananarivo par le bureau pays de la Banque en concertation avec le gouvernement de Madagascar. Des représentants gouvernementaux, notamment le ministre de l’Environnement et du Développement durable, Max Andonirina Fontaine, la directrice de cabinet du ministre de l’Economie et des Finances, Florence Andrianaivohery, des administrations publiques et du secteur privé, de la société civile et des partenaires au développement de la Grande île, ont pris part aux échanges riches et constructifs autour de ce rapport.

Kevin Chika Urama, économiste en chef et vice-président du Groupe de la Banque africaine de développement chargé de la Gouvernance économique et de la gestion des connaissances, est intervenu par message vidéo. Il a souligné l’importance des rapports pays qui permettent d’éclairer les politiques nationales et d’alimenter le dialogue politique des autorités avec le secteur privé et les partenaires au développement sur la transformation structurelle. Il a par ailleurs, mis l’accent sur la nécessité de réformer l’architecture financière mondiale pour contribuer à l’accélération de la transformation structurelle de Madagascar.

Mme Andrianaivohery, a indiqué, pour sa part, que la réforme profonde de l’architecture financière mondiale pourrait permettre à son pays de tirer profit de nouvelles opportunités à travers la diversification des sources de financement disponibles, et d’améliorer les conditions des prêts et de faciliter l’accès à des financements innovants, pour accélérer son développement.

“Le thème du rapport pays 2024 est en phase avec l’objectif du Document de stratégie-pays 2022-2026 (https://apo-opa.co/4fAw3S1) de la Banque pour Madagascar, qui est d’accélérer la transformation structurelle de l’économie, soutenue par l’industrialisation afin de créer des emplois décents et verts,” a déclaré Adam Amoumoun, responsable pays de la Banque à Madagascar. “La revue à mi-parcours du Document de stratégie-pays, qui a eu lieu en mai 2024, a montré que des résultats satisfaisants ont été enregistrés. La Banque africaine de développement consolidera ces résultats sur la période restante de la stratégie pour contribuer à accélérer la transformation structurelle du pays,” a-t-il souligné.

Pour le ministre Max Fontaine, les besoins de financements climatiques de Madagascar demeurent importants et il faut que la Banque appuie le pays dans la préparation des projets et la mobilisation des financements auprès des fonds verts, a-t-il souligné.

Après la présentation du rapport par l’économiste pays de la Banque pour Madagascar, Hamaciré Dicko, les discussions ont porté sur les performances macroéconomiques et les perspectives, les outils pour promouvoir une croissance forte et résiliente, les progrès sur la transformation structurelle de Madagascar et les réformes de l’architecture financière mondiale.

La directrice du suivi et de l’évaluation au ministère de l’Économie et des Finances, Marilys Victoire Razakamanana qui a facilité les échanges, a fait la synthèse des discussions en insistant sur la nécessité d’accroître les financements climatiques au profit de Madagascar.

Le 31 juillet 2024, le portefeuille actif du Groupe de la Banque africaine de développement à Madagascar comptait 18 opérations pour un montant total de 1,16 milliard de dollars américains.

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SA Navy Chief to Deliver Maritime Security Keynote at AAD 2024 Conference

defenceWeb

Chief of the South African Navy, Vice Admiral Monde Lobese, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address for the Maritime Security component of the Africa Aerospace and defence (AAD) Conference on 20 September at Air Force Base Waterkloof, where he will discuss the SA Navy’s plan to get its ships back to sea and introduce new additions to the fleet.

The final day of the AAD 2024 Conference will see Lobese provide a comprehensive overview of the SA Navy’s current vision and future developments. Following the keynote, speakers will delve into the impact of Houthi attacks on international shipping and Somali piracy’s effects on regional and global maritime security.

This will be followed by a presentation on the business case for an auxiliary support vessel or drone carrier to support South Africa’s combat vessels.

Post-lunch sessions will include an exploration of lessons learned from overspecifying requirements in the SA Navy, aiming to streamline future procurement processes and improve operational efficiency.

A panel discussion will emphasise the importance of regional maritime security and cooperation initiatives. This session will underline why collaborative efforts are essential for addressing common security challenges in the region.

Professor Adriano Nuvunga, Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), will discuss strategies for enhancing maritime security, countering violent extremism, and strengthening security sector governance in Mozambique, providing a broader regional context.

In the afternoon, a session will examine the impact of uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) on maritime security in Africa. This discussion will focus on the potential and challenges of integrating USVs into maritime operations, highlighting recent technological advancements and their implications.

The day will conclude with a presentation on using the Oceans and Coastal Information System (OCIMS) to monitor South Africa’s oceans, demonstrating how technology can aid in maritime surveillance and environmental protection.

Day Three of the AAD 2024 Conference is set to offer crucial insights and foster discussions that will shape the future of maritime security and innovation in Africa.

For more information about the AAD 2024 Conference and to register for the event, please visit the AAD 2024 Conference Website.

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

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WHARF TALK: seismic survey vessel – BGP PROSPECTOR

Pictures by Keith Betts
and Trevor Jones
Story by Jay Gates

If there is one vessel type that arrives in a South African port and gets the ecowarrior frothing at the mouth, it is likely to be a seismic survey vessel. Although that is not always the case, as out of sight, out of mind, does sometimes play a part. This is what happened in January 2022, when a seismic survey vessel arrived in Cape Town, took on bunkers, and then headed straight out and conducted a 2-month, 10,000 km2, seismic survey on the west coast on behalf of PetroSA. Her visit, and survey, made hardly a splash, and hardly a protestor was to be heard.

That is not to say that any arriving seismic survey vessel arriving in a South African port is here to conduct a survey in local waters. Having the continent’s best marine engineering infrastructure, and facilities, means that Durban and Cape Town are often the maintenance port of choice for many oil and gas operators involved in African projects, and their arrival is merely just that. It is a halfway house stop to get themselves ready for their next seismic survey which may be taking place thousands of miles away, and where there are no local protestors.

On 4th August, at 11:00 in the late morning, the seismic survey vessel ‘BGP Prospector’ (IMO 9545986) arrived off Durban, from Comodoro Rivadavia in Argentina, and after a short wait of just over an hour, she received her Transnet Marine Pilot and entered Durban Harbour. The reason for her arrival became apparent very early on when she proceeded all the way down the Maydon Channel, and went alongside the Dormac Repair Quay at the Durban Bayhead.

 

Launched in 2011, and commissioned in 2013, ‘BGP Prospector’ was built by one of the lesser known South Korean shipyards, Sekwang Heavy Industries at Ulsan. She is 100 metres in length and has a deadweight of 3,865 tons. Her building programme included having Rolls-Royce being awarded a contract for US$32 million (ZAR593.42 million) to both design, and supply, the vessel propulsion systems, power systems, automated handling systems, and her seismic equipment.

She is powered by two Rolls-Royce Bergen B32:40L8P CD eight cylinder, four stroke, main engines producing 5,365 bhp (4,000 kW) each, driving two Rolls-Royce Kamewa 86A/4D-B controllable pitch propellers, giving ‘BGP Prospector’ a service speed of 15 knots. Her auxiliary machinery includes two Rolls-Royce Bergen C25:33L9A generators providing 2,280 kW each, and a single Cummins NT855-M/-D(M) emergency generator providing 280 kW.

For added manoeuvrability ‘BGP Prospector’ has a Rolls-Royce Kongsberg TT2200 bow transverse thruster providing 883 kW. Designed by Lloyds as a 3D seismic survey vessel, as a NVC 830 CD class vessel, ‘BGP Prospector’ has an ice classification of ICE 1C, which allows her to operate in first year Baltic Sea ice up to a thickness of 0.4 metres.

With a beam of 24 metres, ‘BGP Prospector’ is able to deploy a total of 14 streamers from her stern, and with each streamer drum holding 12,000 metres of seismic cable. For 3D seismic surveys she normally deploys 12 streamers, with each streamer being 8,000 metres in length, and with each streamer separated by 100 metres, giving her a streamer array that is 8km long and 1.1km wide. Such an array gives you an idea as to why seismic survey vessels need to operate in conjunction with guard and chase vessels.

For her seismic survey work ‘BGP Prospector’ is equipped with French Sercel streamers, made up of 150 metre sections, and with each section configured with Sercel Hydrophones. Her recoding instruments are provided by the Sercel SEAL 428 system, with her source equipment being the Sercel G-Gun II, with 8 sub-arrays. Her streamers utilise the Digifin S120 streamer steering system which utilise the Veripos DGPS to hold position.

For moving her vast amount of survey equipment around, she is equipped with two Odim Abas knuckleboom deck cranes, each with a lifting capacity of 12 tons. As well as having two 35 man Norsafe enclosed lifeboats, inflatable liferafts, and a Norsafe 750 Fast Rescue Craft (FRC), ‘BGP Prospector’ is also equipped with two Norpower 30 foot workboats to assist with her seismic survey operations.

She has an endurance of 80 days, and has accommodation for 66 persons. For logistic requirements, and crew change needs, she has a bow helideck, with a ‘D” value of 22.8 metres, and a weight capacity of 15.6 tons, which allows her to accept the largest offshore helicopter currently in use, the Sikorsky S-92A.

She is nominally owned by Prospector Pte. Ltd., of Singapore, and is operated and managed by Hilong Geophysical Co. Ltd., of Tianjin in China. However, the true ownership of ‘BGP Prospector’ is that of the state owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), and her BGP prefix acronym is for the CNPC subsidiary, the Bureau of Geophysical Prospecting, based in Zhuozhou in China. The logos of both CNPC and BGP Chinese state entities are displayed above the bridge of ‘BGP Prospector’.

Founded in 1951 for onshore surveying within China only, the company was renamed as the Bureau of Geophysical Prospecting (BGP) in 1972. It was not until 2006 that BGP entered the offshore oil and gas seismic survey industry, with the acquisition of their first seismic survey vessel, ‘BGP Pioneer’. The causal maritime observer may recall that it was ‘BGP Pioneer’ that conducted the 2022 survey off the South African west coast, using Cape Town as her base. Her visit was reported on in the 19th January 2022 edition of Africa Ports and Ships.

CNPC and BGP are extremely well integrated into both the onshore seismic survey, and offshore seismic survey, oil and gas industries of Africa. They currently operate offices in Chad, Niger, Benin, Ghana, Senegal, Gambia, South Africa, and the Western Sahara. This last region has brought with it problems.

Due to the ongoing political sensitivities of the occupation of the Western Sahara by Morocco, European seismic survey companies had withdrawn from conducting surveys in those waters on behalf of the oil majors. However, BGP continued by conducting two surveys in Western Saharan waters on behalf of Total Energy of France, and Kosmos Energy of the USA. However, Kosmos pulled out of the region in 2018, and Total pulled out in 2023.

The arrival of ‘BGP Prospector’ in Durban, from Argentina, was at the completion of her latest three seismic surveys, all of which took place in Argentinian waters. The first took place in Block CAN-100, which is located 162 nautical miles to the southwest of the city of Mar del Plata. The survey began in October 2023, from Buenos Aires, and was concluded in March 2024, and was on behalf of Equinor of Norway, Shell of the UK, and YPF of Argentina. Her time in Argentina was not unnoticed by Greenpeace activists who protested her presence in Argentinian waters.

From there she moved south to the waters off Tierra del Fuego, arriving at Comodoro Rivadavia on 18th April. This latest seismic survey took place in Blocks AUS-105 and AUS-106, with these blocks being as close as 14 nautical miles off the coast near Rio Grande, and undertaken on behalf of Equinor of Norway and both YPF and CGC of Argentina.

On completion of that survey, ‘BGP Prospector’ moved further offshore to the Malvinas West Block MLO-121, which was a survey undertaken on behalf of Equinor only. On completion of that survey, she had completed 8,000 km2 of data acquisition in Argentinian waters. She made her last departure from Comodoro Rivadavia at 08:00 in the morning of 10th July, bound for Durban. Her transatlantic voyage took 21 days to complete, and covered 6,096 nautical miles at an average speed of 11.2 knots.

Her arrival in Durban clearly showed that she had been out at sea for quite a while, and she was clearly in need of some maritime TLC at Dormac. How long she remains alongside the repair quay, and if a drydocking session is booked, is as yet unknown. What is equally unknown, is her destination once her refit and maintenance period is concluded.

There are still two, or three, licensed seismic surveys that are to be undertaken off the South African coastline. The aborted Wild Coast survey, the as yet completed South Coast Garden Route survey, and the large West Coast survey remain. That said, it doesn’t mean that this is reason why ‘BGP Prospector’ is alongside in Durban. Mozambique, and Tanzania have a large offshore development programme in progress, as does Namibia. It remains to be seen as to which direction ‘BGP Prospector’ heads off to once she departs from Durban.

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Port News and Advisories

Africa Ports & Ships

Port of Apapa – online TDOs

AP Moller Terminals at the Nigerian Port of Apapa advise that as from 1 September 2024, all Fast Track Customers will be required to submit their request for Terminal Delivery Order (TDO) exclusively through APM Terminals’ Apapa online platform.

“We will no longer provide counter services for Fast Track customers from this date going forward,” APMT advises.

Online TDO requests are attended to from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday while Saturdays and Sundays, requests close at 3 p.m.; requests received after these times will be attended to the next day.

For online TDO account registration and access to online TDO via TERMView please visit here

Customers with any questions or requiring further assistance may contact APM Terminals at +2348097627965 or via email at APPAPMTCTO@apmterminals.com

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Extreme Weather Warning : Cape Of Good Hope

Maersk has advised that extreme weather conditions including high winds and swells are expected in the Cape of Good Hope Region over the next few days (Thursday, Friday and Saturday 8-10 August).

“This will impact vessel movement and operations, the worst impact is expected in and around Cape Town. We expect delays on our vessels as a result of this.”

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Port Omission – Port Elizabeth

6BL MSC ROSARIA 430N

Due to current delays, MSC has advised that the vessel 6BL MSC ROSARIA 430N will omit Port Elizabeth and will proceed to Cape Town Container Terminal after her Durban call. (currently in port at Durban DCT1 as at 19:00 6 August)

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Port Omission – Port Elizabeth / NGQURA

FruitBridge : JPO GEMINI

Maersk advises that having faced heavy delays in Port Elizabeth and Ngqura due to the bad weather conditions experienced over the past few weeks and coupled with extreme Transnet inefficiencies, an irrecoverable delay on the Fruitbridge service schedule has occurred.

As a result and to maintain schedule integrity, the vessel JPO Gemini, will omit Port Elizabeth. “We are looking at alternative coverage options and will communicate once finalised.”

The vessel JPO Gemini is currently at the Port of Luanda in Angola, having docked there from West Africa earlier on 6 August 2024.

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Transnet Pipelines issues EIO for Lilly gas pipeline

Africa Ports & Ships

Transnet Pipelines (TPL) on Tuesday (6 August) issued an Expression of Interest (EOI) for a strategic project to transition the Lilly Gas Pipeline from transporting Methane Rich Gas (MRG) to regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

TPL says the project aligns with Transnet’s commitment to bolster South Africa’s energy infrastructure and support the country’s growing demand for natural gas.

Transnet is committed to spearhead the development of the natural gas sector in South Africa. With the demand for natural gas expected to rise significantly, Transnet is proactively developing the LNG value chain to safeguard South Africa’s strategic interests.

This initiative positions Transnet’s Natural Gas Networks business as a vital contributor to the country’s long-term economic growth and transformation.

The Lilly Pipeline currently transports approximately 500 million cubic metres of MRG annually from Secunda via Empangeni to Durban, with key offtake points along the route.

The project entails:
• Constructing an intake station near Empangeni to connect with the Zululand Energy Terminal (ZET) as the source point at the Port of Richards Bay
• Splitting the flow at Empangeni to allow bi-directional flow towards Durban and Secunda.
• Debottlenecking and modeling the pipeline for maximum future capacity to meet market demand and secure commercial agreements.

On 9 January 2024, Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) appointed the Transnet Pipelines and Vopak Terminals Durban consortium to develop and operate the LNG terminal at the Port of Richards Bay, named the Zululand Energy Terminal (ZET). This terminal will be a crucial hub for importing LNG, which will be integrated into the Lilly Pipeline network.

TPL has invited interested parties to submit EOI to secure pipeline capacity on the repurposed Lilly Pipeline. The EOI process will help TPL assess market interest and demand, which will inform the pre-feasibility study and future request for proposal (RFP) processes.

This EOI is non-binding and aims to gather preliminary market interest. TPL reserves the right to amend, modify, or withdraw this EOI without prior notice. Interested parties must submit their responses by 30 August 2024, at 17:00 (SAST).

This EOI may be downloaded directly from National Treasury’s e-Tender Publication Portal at www.etenders.gov.za or the Transnet Portal at https://transnetetenders.azurewebsites.net.

For more information on the EOI submission process and project details, please contact Transnet Pipelines, Head: Business Development, Kresen Naicker on Tel: +27 83 361 2300, mobile: +27 83 278 6360

or via e-mail: Kresen.Naicker@transnet.net

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Höegh Aurora, first of the Aurora class car carriers, is delivered

Africa Ports & Ships

The first Aurora Class Pure Car & Truck Carrier (PCTC) vessel, Höegh Aurora, has been named and delivered at a ceremony at China Merchants Heavy Industry’s yard in Jiangsu, China on Monday 6 August 2024.

Höegh Autoliners says this is the largest and most environmentally friendly PCTC ever built, which further accelerates their decarbonization efforts and sets a new standard for more sustainable deep-sea transportation.

“Our Aurora Class may be our most significant innovation yet. One that will transform deep-sea shipping and the transportation of cars, breakbulk, and heavy machinery across oceans,” Höegh said.

“With these vessels, we challenge sceptics by demonstrating the feasibility of transitioning from conventional fuel to sustainable alternatives, reshaping the narrative of deep-sea shipping within only a few years.”

These bold statements are based on the Aurora class being the first in the PCTC segment to receive DNV’s ammonia-ready and methanol-ready notations. The Auroras will also be the first to be ready to operate zero-carbon ammonia propulsion with the main engine delivered by MAN and the bridge system supplied by Kongsberg Maritime.

The first Aurora Class vessels will run on LNG, biofuels, and low-sulphur oil and cutting carbon emissions per car transported by up to 58% from the current industry average. From 2027, the aim is that the last four of the 12 Aurora Class vessels will be running on green ammonia, reducing emissions by close to 100%.

Twelve vessels are being built, all by China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) in Jiangsu and to be classed by DNV and registered under the Norwegian flag, NIS.

Höegh Autoliners expects the delivery of two Aurora Class vessels every six months until the first half of 2027, with the option of ordering another four ships to take the fleet to 16 Auroras.

Höegh Aurora, named on Monday, will commence commercial operations immediately. The vessel has a capacity of up to 9,100 cars – and with strengthened decks and enhanced internal ramp systems she can carry electric vehicles on all 14 decks. On the op deck they will have 1500m2 of solar panels, reducing electricity production from the generators by up to 30-35%.

In addition the ships will be able to embrace electric shore power for emissions-free port operations.

“With the Aurora Class, we are pioneering efforts to combat pollution in a hard-to abate segment,” said Andreas Enger, CEO Höegh Autoliners.

“We are setting new standards for sustainable deep-sea transportation, making a significant stride toward our 2040 net zero emissions goal. As the largest and most environmentally friendly PCTCs ever built, the Aurora class vessels embody the change our industry needs.”

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Two workboats for Port of Cape Town named and launched at Sandock Austral Shipyards

Africa Ports & Ships     UPDATED

It was a Red Letter Day in Durban on Monday 5 August 2024 when two workboats for the Port of Cape Town were officially named and then launched at a ceremony held at the Sandock Austral shipyard.

Built for Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) as part of the port authority’s Marine Fleet Renewal programme, the two workboats will be taken to Cape Town where they will enter service replacing two older port launches.

According to TNPA the purpose of the programme is to improve shipping efficiencies at the South African ports by increasing marine craft availability.

The TNPA Marine Fleet Renewal programme is also one of TNPA’s strategic deliverables in the Transnet Recovery Plan.

The naming ceremony followed the normal tradition of the two workboats being individually blessed and then named each with a bottle of sparkling wine broken across the bows.

Construction of the Queen Modjadji and Noah for the Port of Cape Town followed the awarding to Sandock Austral of a contract of approximately R58 million in November 2022.

“The arrival of these new craft comes at an opportune time when TNPA is executing the Transnet Recovery Plan, through the acquisition of a fit-for-purpose marine fleet to improve operational efficiencies,” said TNPA Acting Port Manager for Cape Town, Ophelia Shabane.

“This also aligns with our commitment to meeting industry demands in the western region,” she added.

Referred to as launch boats, they play a crucial part in port operations at Cape Town as they are the only craft that can assist in towing and pulling vessels into confined sea channels and berthing areas such as at the tanker terminal.

They will also be used to run mooring lines and assist in docking, sailing and shifting of fishing and other smaller vessels within the port. The port of Cape Town is home all year round to a large international and local fishing fleet.

Queen Modjadji and Noah will replace the existing two launches that are over 40-years old and have reached their operational and design lifespan.

The design of the work or launch boats is in accordance with the rules of Bureau Veritas Class notation and SAMSA requirements for this type of vessel.

“We welcome an opportunity to assist TNPA with the replenishment of its marine fleet under the TNPA Marine Fleet Renewal programme and Transnet Recovery Plan,” said Prasheen Maharaj Chief Executive Officer of Sandock Austral Shipyards.

“SAS continues to play a pivotal role in the engineering and manufacturing of multiple purpose vessels for TNPA, many of which still provide a critical service to ports around the country.”

The Sandock Austral Shipyards, a fully accredited ship building and ship repair facility holding various ISO accreditations, undertook a large part of the manufacturing work with support from its specialist service providers.

“The project has generated the creation of approximately 70 direct jobs and 40 indirect jobs through the SAS contractors,” said Maharaj.

“The project has also supported the practical on-the-job training of 20 apprentices who gained an invaluable opportunity to apply newly acquired theoretical skills from the classroom training acquired within the SAS accredited in-house Apprentice Learning and Development Centre.”

Technical

Some additional technical information available since the above was reported:

Length Overall    13.0 m
Breadth (Mid)      4.5 m
Depth                  2.3 m
Design Draft        1.6 m
Compliment         3 Crew
Engine Power      331 kW
Speed                 8.1 knots
Bollard Pull         4 Tons

Added 6 August 2024

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WHARF TALK: Super Handy 32 class bulk carrier – OLYMPIA LOGGER

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

Even before anybody had even heard of the word Houthi, let alone know what one was, vessels of all shapes and sizes would be calling into South African ports to uplift bunkers, take on stores, and load fresh provisions. For a while, Algoa Bay acted as an offshore bunkering point, until the tax man got involved, and not forgetting Richards Bay which also continues to operate a harbour bunker tanker, mainly for the purposes of those visiting bulk carriers arriving to load, as opposed to vagrant passing traffic, as now happens in Cape Town and Durban.

Cape Town and Durban have operated a number of harbour bunker tankers to cater for passing traffic for many decades. The position of the ports on the major north/south routes, and the major east/west routes is the very reason, and the guarantee, for the continued demand for this service. The recent idiocy of the Houthi menace has merely added to the demand, and traditional callers on the historic north/south and east/west trades still call for a bunker uplift.

On 2nd August, at 13:00 in the early afternoon, the loaded Handy class bulk carrier ‘Olympia Logger’ (IMO 9432529) arrived off Cape Town, from Lanshan in China. She entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock, and went to a berth on the Landing Wall. Her arrival and berthing arrangements were a good indication that a bunker uplift may have been the reason for the call. This was confirmed when, as soon as she was secured alongside, the harbour bunker tanker ‘Southern Valour’ came alongside her to begin a transfer of bunkers.

 

Built in 2010 by Hakodate Dock Co. shipyard, at Hakodate in Japan, ‘Olympia Logger’ is 176 metres in length, and has a deadweight of 33,263 tons. Handy class bulk carriers lie within the deadweight tonnage limits of 24,000 tons to 35,000 tons. She is powered by a single Mitsubishi Akasaka 6UEC45LSH six cylinder, two stroke, main engine producing 9,302 bhp (6,840 kW), which drives a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 14.4 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three Yanmar 6EY18AL generators providing 400 kW each. She has a single Deutz BF6L913 emergency generator providing 64 kW. She has a single Osaka auxiliary, vertical, composite exhaust gas boiler. For her cargo work, she has five holds, serviced by four electro-hydraulic cranes, each with a lift of 30 tons. She also carries rigged logging stanchions, and has the capability of using grabs. Her cargo carrying capacity is 40,494 m3.

She is known as a ‘Super Handy 32’ design of vessel, and more than 60 of this class of Handy bulk carrier were built at the Hakodate shipyard between 2004 and 2014, with many of the class in the fleet of her current operator. The design was considered a pioneer at the time, as it featured an ultra-wide beam, a shallow draft, and semi-box type cargo holds. The ‘Super Handy 32’ design from the Hakodate Ship Design office went on to become the de facto standard for many subsequent designs of handy sized bulk carriers built at other shipyards in the Far East.

Nominally owned by the one ship company of Olympia Logger Ltd., ‘Olympia Logger’ is both operated and managed by Pacific Basin Shipping (Hong Kong) ltd., of Hong Kong, whose company houseflag, which is a conjoined P and B, she displays on her funnel, and whose company name she displays prominently along the length of her hull.

She was originally built as ‘Ocean Harmony’, and when sold by her original owners to Pacific Basin Shipping in 2017, she was purchased for the price of US$9.5 million (ZAR173.49 million). Pacific Basin Shipping (Hong Kong) Ltd., also run an office in South Africa. It is based at Kloof, in Durban. This local office operates with both a Chartering Management division, and a Commercial Operations Management division. Pacific Basin Shipping (Hong Kong) Ltd. are the largest operator of handysize bulk carriers in the world, with 5% of the global fleet capacity.

Her loading and departure port in China, Lanshan, is very much a part of the modern harbour development that is very prevalent in the three major BRICS nations of China, India and Brazil, whose burgeoning economies are being catered for by the building, and commissioning, of brand new commercial harbours all around each country. Russia is also building a lesser number of new harbours, with South Africa effectively having built one, that of Ngqura, which is a port built mainly to take much existing business from nearby Port Elizabeth, rather than to develop the local, or regional, economy with separate new import and export markets.

Lanshan was developed as a large bulk import and export port, and is located in Northeastern China, on the coast of the Yellow Sea at 35°09’ North 119°39’ East. The major export commodities loaded at Lanshan are Cement and Coal. In 2023, Pacific Basin Shipping (Hong Kong) Ltd. reported that Cement covered 14% of their total cargoes carried, which was the second highest commodity after Grains. Coal accounted for 8%, or the sixth highest shipped commodity, with the bulk of the coal being shipped out of Australian ports.

In Cape Town, her uplift of bunkers was completed after just nine hours, and together with any stores loaded and fresh provisions taken onboard, ‘Olympia Logger’ was ready to sail for her discharge destination. At 22:00 in the late evening of 2nd August she sailed from Cape Town with her AIS indicating that her destination was to be the port of Suape in Brazil. A voyage from China to Brazil is one that does not require to be conducted as a result of any requirement to avoid the Houthis, and so her bunker call in Cape Town was an historical norm for the port.

The port of Suape, located at 08°23’ South 034°58’ West, started being developed from 1978, and was fully operational by 1992. The port was designed primarily for the export of bulk cargoes, mainly fuels and cereals, and was to transfer those cargoes away from the nearby port of Recife. Today, Suape is one of the largest ports in Brazil, and has been considered one of the most technologically advanced. To assist in docking, the port offers a monitoring system and laser ship docking system that enables effective, secure control.

The export of bulk liquid cargoes, such as fuel products, chemical products, ethanol, and vegetable oils now constitute more than 80% of the total amount exported from Suape, making it the largest national port for the movement of liquid bulk cargoes. Other commodities being exported from Suape include automobiles, iron ore, soybeans, sugar, and containers.

As any committed environmentalist will tell you, any port development in this day and age is damaging and can have unintended consequences to the local wildlife and their habitats. The construction of the port at Suape caused great disturbance to local shark habitats. These shark populations were forced to move north, and to the vicinity of the region around the city of Recife, which lies just 25 nautical miles to the north of Suape.

Not only is Recife the capital city of the State of Pernambuco, and a major port in its own tight, but it is also a tourist venue, much like Durban. The outcome of the development of Suape was that the first verified shark attack off Recife took place in 1992, the year the port became fully operational. Since then, more than 60 people have been attacked by sharks, which sadly includes 24 fatalities. The fatalities have mostly been surfers, who venture beyond the barrier reef that protects Recife tourist beaches.

For the nomenclature aficionado, Pacific Basin Shipping (Hong Kong) Ltd. have a naming policy whereby over 80% of their fleet received names that recall geographical features of the nations that surround the Pacific Rim. Most folk probably think that the City of Seattle is the State Capital of the US State of Washington, on the Pacific west coast of the USA. In fact, the capital city of the State of Washington is Olympia, located at the southern end of Puget Sound, and 60 miles south of Seattle. Olympia has a population of just 55,000 people, compared to 755,000 people that inhabit Seattle.

Added 6 August 2024

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Another level crossing tragedy this time near Postmasburg

Africa Ports & Ships

Another level crossing accident has claimed the lives this time of four people travelling in a bakkie road vehicle. Two other occupants of the pickup were seriously injured.

The latest accident occurred between Tsantsabane and Groenwater in the Postmasburg district of the Northern Cape on Sunday, 4 August 2024.

Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) confirmed the collision and said that emergency services had been immediately activated and had been quick to respond to the scene.

“Preliminary indications are that the bakkie, which was carrying twelve people, had failed and was stuck on the level crossing when it was struck by the approaching train,” said TFR. “The two injured were transported to the nearest hospital.

“This is a tragic incident and we convey our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased, and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.”

The national minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Ms Maropene Ramokgopa, said she had learned with sadness of the loss of life in yet another level crossing accident in the country.

“This tragic accident highlights the importance for all stakeholders to work together to promote railway level crossing safety. I would like to express my deepest and heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased passengers.”

As the Executive Authority of the Department of Public Enterprises, the minister conducted a site visit at Tsantsabane Local Municipality on Monday, 5 August 2024 and paid her respects to the victims of the accident.

The incident is being investigated by the South African Police Service. TFR said it will conduct a full investigation.

Last week Wednesday, 31 July, a TFR freight train was in a fatal level crossing accident involving a school bus near Mafube Village at Arnot Station on the old Belfast Road outside Middleburg, Mpumalanga province. Five of the occupants of the bus were killed and nine others received serious injuries.

See that report here.

Added 5 August 2024

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Port News and Advisories

Ships queueing at Durban

Congestion at the port of Durban and particular at the container terminals is reaching critical levels again and must remain a serious concern as the number of vessels continue to increase, though with normal fluctuations. On Sunday night 4 August at 22:00 the number of ships within the port numbered around the 30 mark, including 6 container vessels at the DCT Piers 1 and 2, and 2 at the Point.

Outside at the outer anchorage were another 18 container ships waiting for a berth from a total of 38 ships either at anchor or drifting outside the port.

Among the 38 ships outside were the 18 container vessels mentioned above, 7 tankers, a number of dry bulkers, a car carrier, a reefer vessel and various general cargo ships.

Inside the port, in addition to the 8 container ships were two car carriers, two reefers plus 7 ships on berth at the Maydon Wharf and 4 tankers plus a dry bulker at Island View.

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Maydon Wharf channel dredging

Transnet National Ports Authority has advised that dredging of the Maydon Channel in the Port of Durban will take place as from Sunday 4 August 2024.
As the dredging will take place during each night, the Maydon Channel will be closed to shipping during the hours of darkness.

The channel will remain open to shipping and other craft during the daylight hours.

The dredging programme will continue until further notice.

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SAECS Service:

Santa Rita London Cargo and ONE Reassurance Port Swap

Santa Rita on voyage 241N will omit London.

Imports discharged in Rotterdam will connect to Maersk El Palomar with ETA London 4th August.

The vessel One Reassurance on voyage 242N will call at London before Rotterdam.

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CMA CGM San Antonio voyage 431N

The container ship CMA CGM San Antonio, ex Nhava Sheva and currently at the Durban outer anchorage since 28 July 2024, will now call at the Point Terminal (from 4-6 August) to perform discharge and thereafter shift to the Durban Container Terminal Pier 2. Should the DCT2 berth become available the San Antonio will move across and complete her discharge at this terminal.

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SAECS Service:

Santa Teresa on voyage 242N will perform a port swap

This is due to delays in departing from SA and heavy congestion in Rotterdam.

Santa Teresa/242N will perform a port swap to call London before Rotterdam.

Tentative Dates

6th August: London
8th August: Rotterdam

London : 6th Aug
Rotterdam : 8th Aug

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Maersk Service Rotation – SAF – FEA Trade/ Safari service

Blanking San Fernando voyage 425N

The Safari service by Maersk, which operates in the South Africa, India, Middle East, and Africa trade lane, has been facing operational difficulties at the Durban port. These challenges include local congestion in terminals and adverse weather conditions.

To recover the schedule, Maersk has decided to blank the SAN FERNANDO 425N voyage. Additionally, vessel capacity from the Far East Asia (FEA) to South Africa (SAF) has been reduced, impacting the loading of dry ladens from Durban on Safari vessels. Cargo for the next five sailings will need to be cut and rolled to fulfill existing bookings. Maersk aims to restore normal service by Week 36 or 37.

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WHARF TALK: Aframax LR2 products tanker – ABLIANI

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’
Story by Jay Gates

The Houthi menace is ensuring that some strange voyages are taking place. There are container vessels that are showing a departure from Singapore, with an AIS destination being given of Port Said, but the vessels are having to effectively circumnavigate the whole continent of Africa in order to reach their destination, as the risks to using the Suez Canal, and running the gauntlet through the Southern Red Sea are simply not worth that risk. For these voyages, the escalated costs to both the shipowner, and thus passed onwards to the shipper, must be horrendous.

That said, there are still plenty of shipowners who have no compunction of sending their vessels through that corridor, and are quite happy to expose their crews to that risk. Not all of these vessels make it through unscathed. Occasionally, there is a vessel that appears to be on a voyage from Europe, transiting via the Suez Canal, which looks viable, but then seems to become another bizarre voyage itinerary, whereby the Suez Canal transit seems to have been unnecessary as it ended up in West Africa, and another dubious circumnavigation. However, not all is as it seems.

On 30th July, at 19:00 in the early evening, the Aframax LR2 product tanker ‘Abliani’ (IMO 9693068) arrived off the Table Bay anchorage, from Walvis Bay in Namibia, and went to anchor for just over a day and a half. At 10:00 in the morning of 1st August she left the anchorage and entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock, and went alongside the Eastern Mole tanker berth.

It is very rare that the largest of the product tanker class of vessel, the LR2, arrives in Cape Town for purposes of discharging fuel products, and is seemed that her arrival was also not for purposes of discharging, as she appeared to be in a ballast condition, and her arrival was indicative of a call for bunkers, stores, fresh provisions, and a possible need for some shoreside engineering support. Her length was such that the Eastern Mole was possibly the only berth long enough to take her at the time of her arrival.

Built in 2015 by Daewoo Mangalia shipyard, at Mangalia in Rumania, ‘Abliani’ is 250 metres in length and has a deadweight tonnage of 109,999 tons. The LR2 class of product tanker are all within the 80,000 to 160,000 deadweight ton category. She is powered by a single Doosan MAN-B&W 6GME-C9.2 six cylinder, two stroke, main engine producing 15,024 bhp (11,050 kW) to drive a fixed pitch propeller for a service speed of 14 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes three Doosan MAN 6L23/30H generators providing 900 kW each. She has a single Saacke CMB-VS exhaust gas boiler, and two Alfa Laval Aalborg Mission OL oil fired boilers.

She has twelve cargo tanks, all full epoxy coated, and with a cargo carrying capacity of 124,518 m3, which is two and half times greater than the standard MR2 tanker that is normally to be seen in South African ports discharging fuel products. Capable of carrying just three grades at any one time, ‘Abliani’ has just three cargo pumps, with each cargo pump capable of pumping at a rate of 3,000 m3/hour.

One of four sisterships, all sailing within the same fleet, ‘Abliani’ is nominally owned by Fortune Marine Ltd., of Athens in Greece. She is both operated, and managed, by Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Ltd. (EASTMED), also of Athens, and whose houseflag is displayed on her funnel.

Her operating company have a mixed fleet of both bulk carriers and tankers, and appear to be content to allow them to make transits of the Suez Canal, despite the risk from the Houthi Menace. Many of their tankers appear to have been carrying cargoes of Russian Oil to India and China. With these regular transits via the Southern Red Sea, one would hope that the law of averages will not eventually catch up with you.

On 10th May, ‘Abliani’ had arrived at Le Havre, in Northern France, and after two days alongside, and presumably discharging, she sailed from Le Havre on 12th May at 22:00 in the late evening, bound for Suez. She passed through Suez, and was reported as having loaded in the Saudi Arabian port of Jazan, which is located just north of Yemen at 16°53’ North 042°33’ East, and the location of the Jazan oil refinery, which produces gasoline and diesel. She departed from Jazan on 1st June, bound back towards the Suez Canal.

Most casual maritime observers, who keep a close eye on what is happening in the Southern Red Sea, might recall that, on 1st June, the Houthis made one of their grandiose claims that they had attacked the US Navy aircraft carrier ‘USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)’, another US Navy Destroyer, and three merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea. One of those vessels attacked was ‘Abliani’.

Luckily, the missiles aimed at ‘Abliani’ exploded close to her, but caused no damage, or injuries to her crew. It was the latest attempt of the Houthis to attack vessels operated by EASTMED. On that same day they also attacked the bulk carrier ‘Maina’, also operated by EASTMED, which was underway from Ust-Luga in Russia, to Krishnapatnam in India. Unluckily for ‘Maina’, they were attacked again a few days later, this time in the Arabian Gulf, but again escaped unscathed.

A previous attack on an EASTMED bulk carrier in April has resulted in a hit, but again no injuries reported by the crew. For ‘Abliani’ she was reported to have arrived back at Suez on 4th June and had made her transit back through the canal on 5th June. Her destination appears to have been Lagos, In Nigeria, where she was reported on 24th June. From Lagos, she made her way a short distance across the Gulf of Guinea, and arrived at the Lomé anchorage on 2nd July.

Again, the casual maritime observer will be aware that the Lomé anchorage, off the coast of Togo, is a major halfway anchorage used by tanker owners for their vessels to await orders to proceed to their next loading port, and ‘Abliani’ remained in the anchorage until 18th July. She sailed from there, now avoiding a passage that might take her back to Suez, as her next destination was set for Walvis Bay in Namibia, where she arrived on 25th July, at 0100 in the early morning.

It would appear that her call into Walvis Bay was short, only for ten hours, as at 11:00 that same morning of 25th July, she sailed once more. Her short call at Walvis Bay may have been for logistical reasons, such as crew change, bunkers, stores, or fresh provisions, or even for engineering support for a small problem. However, whatever the reason, it only required a quick call, and on sailing her AIS was set for Cape Town, where she arrived on 30th July.

Her stay in Cape Town is now beyond a standard bunker call, as she by the early hours of 4th August, ‘Abliani’ was still alongside the Eastern Mole, approaching a full three days after her arrival. This points to a potential engineering, or technical, issue being resolved. When ready to sail, no doubt to her next loading port, it is expected to be either in the Persian Gulf region, or possibly in the Singapore region, based on her passage south to take the Cape sea route. However, which actual port is as yet unknown.

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TNPA goes to market for a 3MW renewable solar plant at East London port

Africa Ports & Ships

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has gone to the market for the development of a 3MW renewable solar plant for the port of East London.

TNPA on Friday published a Request for Proposals (RFP – see link below) saying it is seeking to manage energy costs and reduce emissions by diversifying its energy mix through alternative energy sources and renewable energy.

This RFP is necessary ahead of appointing a service provider to design, build, test, commission, operate and maintain the 3MW photovoltaic (PV) with a battery energy storage system.

This will be installed and maintained at the Port of East London for a period of seven years. The plant’s construction will include a grid-tied carport solar PV and rooftop plant system to generate the required capacity.

The project is part of TNPA’s Renewable Energy Purchase Programme to deploy approximately 100MW across all eight South African commercial seaports.

“The Ports Authority is actively working towards climate change resilience, mitigation, and adaptation by deploying cleaner and cheaper energy solutions, in line with the Carbon Neutral Government Programme,” said TNPA’s Acting Chief Executive, Phyllis Difeto.

She said this requires public entities to be carbon neutral by 2050, and in line with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) strategy which advances safer economies for net zero emissions.

Within this programme, the Port of Ngqura is currently in the process of appointing a service provider to develop a 7MW renewable plant, while the Amulet Group Consortium has been awarded the 20MW plant in the Port of Richards Bay, following its appointment in June 2024.

The RFP document can be accessed on the Transnet e-tender portal, click here

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A.P.Møller-Mærsk anticipates ongoing supply chain disruption but an upgraded full-year guidance

Africa Ports & Ships

Based on preliminary figures, A.P.Møller-Mærsk A/S (APMM) reports an unaudited revenue of USD 12.8bn, underlying EBITDA of USD 2.1bn and underlying EBIT of USD 756m (reported EBIT of USD 963m) for Q2 2024.

APMM reported on Thursday (1 August) an upgrade of its full-year 2024 guidance and says it now expects an underlying EBITDA of USD 9 to 11 billion and an EBIT of USD 3 to 5 billion (previously USD 7 to 9 billion and USD 1 to 3 billion, respectively), with a free cash flow of at least USD 2bn (previously at least USD 1bn).

This, it says, is a result of the continued supply chain disruption in the Red Sea, which APMM says is now expected to continue at least until the end of 2024, coupled with robust container market demand

APMM’s outlook for the global container market volume growth for the full-year 2024 has been revised up to 4-6% (previously towards the upper end of 2.5-4.5%).

The logistics Group cautions that trading conditions remain subject to higher than normal volatility given the unpredictability of the Red Sea situation and the lack of clarity of supply and demand in Q4.

The Group will publish its full Q2 interim results on Wednesday 7 August 2024.

About Maersk
A.P.Moller-Maersk is an integrated logistics company operating in more than 130 countries and employs around 100,000 people.

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Air cargo demand surges 14.1% – Strong first half performance

Edited by Paul Ridgway   
Africa Ports & Ships
                  London

IATA and air cargo: June 2024

On 30 July from Geneva the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for June 2024 global air cargo markets showing continuing strong annual growth in demand. This contributed to an exceptional first half-year performance for air cargo, with volumes exceeding 2023, 2022, and even the record-breaking 2021 levels.

Total demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres, rose by 14.1% compared to June 2023 levels. This is the seventh consecutive month of double-digit year-on-year growth.

Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometres, increased by 8.8% compared to June 2023.

Total half-year (H1) demand increased by 13.4% compared to H1 2023, by 4.3% compared to H1 2022, and by 0.02% compared to H1 2021.

In the words of Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General: ‘Air cargo demand surged in June. Strong growth across all regions and major trade lanes combined for a record-breaking first-half performance in terms of CTKs.

“Maritime shipping constraints and a booming e-commerce sector are among the strongest growth drivers. Meanwhile, the sector has remained largely impervious to ongoing political and economic challenges, and the US customs crackdown on e-commerce deliveries from China.

“Air cargo looks to be on solid ground to continue its strong performance into the second half of 2024.’

ME and Africa

With regard to the air cargo market as it affects Africa and the Middle East, Africa carries 2.0% of the world market and the Middle East 13.5%.

June Regional Performance

Demand on the Africa-Asia trade lane grew by 37.5% year-on-year, while the Middle East-Asia trade lanes rose by 15.1%.
<p.
Middle Eastern carriers saw 13.8% year-on-year demand growth for air cargo in June. The Middle East–Europe market performed particularly well with 30.2% annual growth, ahead of Middle East–Asia which grew by 15.1% year-on-year.

African airlines saw 11.8% year-on-year demand growth for air cargo in June. Demand on the Africa–Asia market increased by 37.5% compared to June 2023, the strongest performance of all trade lanes. June capacity increased by 23.8% year-on-year.

To read the latest Cargo Market Analysis readers are invited to use this link.

IATA represents some 330 airlines comprising over 80% of global air traffic. IATA statistics cover international and domestic scheduled air cargo for IATA member and non-member airlines.

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AD Ports completes EIA for Pointe Noire’s multipurpose New East Mole Terminal

Africa Ports & Ships

AD Ports Group has completed an environmental and social impact assessment (EIA) for the multipurpose New East Mole Terminal in Pointe-Noire in the Republic of the Congo – Brazzaville.

This forms part of AD Ports 30-year concession agreement with the Government of the Republic of the Congo – Brazzaville, for managing and operating the new terminal.

The study was conducted using diverse scientific methodologies in line with the national Congolese regulations and international best practices, such as International Finance Corporation (IFC) environmental and social performance standards.

It outlines the optimum recommendations for AD Ports Group to enhance the social, communal and environmental performance of the project during the construction and operational phases.

As part of the study, a public consultation was held in May 2024 attended by all relevant stakeholders in Pointe Noire. These included the port authority – Port Autonome de Pointe-Noire, Préfecture – Prefecture De Pointe-Noire, Marine Marchand, Mayor’s office, national & international NGOs, port operators, and all major minister’s representatives relevant to the project.

The aim was to inform and engage with the relevant parties in the development of the project.

In addition to the provision of state-of-the art hardware such as portside equipment and cargo-handling cranes, which is part of the Group’s commitment to this project, AD Ports Group will also provide the new facility with digital services and technological solutions to enhance its efficiency and minimise impact of its operations on the environment.

Throughout the concession agreement, AD Ports Group says it remains committed to excellence in policies related to urban planning, safety, security, and sustainability. The environmental and social issues are of paramount importance and demonstrating community support is a priority, it said..

Mohamed Eidha Tannaf AlMenhali, Regional CEO – AD Ports Group, said that the AD Ports Group recognises its role in driving economic growth and prosperity, both locally and globally in the communities where they operate.

“Conducting these environmental studies before we embark on any project reflects our approach focused on integrating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations into our business practices to drive sustainable growth and create long-term value for all stakeholders,” he said.

Under the terms of the agreement signed in June 2023, AD Ports Group will have the exclusive right to invest in the development, operation, management and maintenance of the ‘New East Mole Port’ that will handle containers, general cargo, break-bulk and other types of cargo.

The Agreement runs for thirty years from the date of signing and AD Ports Group shall have the right to further extend it for a further period of twenty years on the same terms and conditions.

AD Ports Group will invest more than US$ 500 million over the life of the concession, with around US$ 220 million allocated for phase 1, which is expected to be completed over the next 30 months.

Pointe Noire is the main commercial centre of the Republic of the Congo – Brazzaville, and its port plays a key role in the economy and development of the nation and wider region.

Executives are confident that the collaboration will help stimulate trade and enhance connectivity for the Republic of the Congo – Brazzaville, which is pursuing a new National Development Plan (NDP) focusing on economic diversification and high, resilient, and inclusive growth.

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SA to further focus on manufacturing and exports to grow economy

Africa Ports & Ships

Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister Andrew Whitfield says it is essential that South Africa’s economic growth is grounded in manufacturing-led growth and export-oriented economy.

To this end, he said, the department will support local industries to increase their manufacturing capacity and volumes, enhance their competitiveness and identify suitable export markets for their manufactured products.

Whitfield was speaking during a debate on the Budget Vote of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in Parliament on Tuesday.

“It is essential that South Africa’s economic growth is grounded in manufacturing-led growth,” he said.

“Manufacturing is indeed less volatile and less vulnerable to economic downturns and will create real, sustainable and decent paying jobs for our people.

“South Africa must also create an export-oriented economy. A dedicated focus on manufacturing growth will also lead to export growth,” he said.

Key Focus Areas

Whitfield said one of the dtic’s key focus areas under the new administration will be a renewed export drive to lower the risk of slow domestic growth, while also identifying high growth opportunities.

“The creation of an export-oriented economy can be realised through a dedicated focus on implementing measures to boost the competitiveness of local industries in global markets, streamlining export processes, lowering trade barriers, offering financial and technical assistance to exporters and cultivating beneficial trade alliances with other nations,” explained Whitfield.

He said South Africa’s exports in May this year totalled over R178 billion and the country recorded a trade surplus of over R20 billion, significantly higher than forecast, and the widest trade surplus in six months.

“This is commendable and illustrates the important contribution that exports can make to our fiscus. We will support local industries by building a supportive and competitive ecosystem to drive manufacturing growth.

“We will also identify intermediate goods that could make our manufacturers more competitive; as well as identify products that we produce competitively and the markets that consume those products in large and/or growing volumes,” Whitfield said.

Smart Industrial Policy

Earlier this month, dtic Minister Parks Tau reiterated the commitment to “smart industrial policy”, which will support the successful implementation of government’s development imperatives.

“In line with what the President said [during the Opening of Parliament Address] when talking about smart industrial policy, the dtic group will implement sectoral plans building on the successes recorded in the automotive, clothing and textiles, retail and agro-processing sectors.

“Smart industrial policy speaks to underlining beneficiation and export-led growth. It highlights the imperatives of the Public Procurement Act that will complement the essential legislative tools to unlock localisation and transformation.

“Every year the South African economy spends 25% of the national wealth created on imported goods. Not only is this propensity to import much greater than our competitor countries, it is also out of sync with our developmental needs,” Tau said.

The Minister said government will reverse this in pharmaceuticals and medical devices, green industries, food products and manufactured goods, among others. He noted that smart industrial policies and programmes are being implemented to respond to the global market trends towards electric vehicles. source: SAnews.gov.za

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Xeneta Update: Ocean container shipping market reaches a tipping point in July

Africa Ports & Ships

The ocean container shipping market reached a tipping point in July, with long term rates on major fronthaul trades showing signs of life just as spiraling short term rates begin to soften.

The Xeneta Global XSI®, which covers all valid long term contracts in the market, edged up 2.5% in July to stand at 151.5 points.

More notably, the underlying XSI® sub-index for Far East Exports – which includes the world’s biggest fronthaul trades to Europe and the US – increased 12.6% in July to 178.8 points.

This coincides with short term rates on major trades from the Far East to the US and Europe beginning to soften in July from the massive increases seen over recent months.

Emily Stausbøll, Xeneta Senior Shipping Analyst, said: “Long term ocean container shipping rates remained subdued despite massive increases on the short term market in May and June – but that is starting to change.

“For example, while short term rates on the Far East to US West Coast trade increased more than 140% between 30 April and 1 July, the long term market increased by 20%. However, short term rates to the US West Coast have fallen by 12% since 1 July, just as the long term market shows signs of life.”

Increasing long term rates and decreasing short term rates means the spread is narrowing between the markets, which presents a delicate balance ahead of long term contract negotiations between shippers and carriers later this year.

Stausbøll said: “This is a pivotal time for the market. The big question is, how high will long term rates climb before growth is stunted by the falling spot market?

“Shippers will be hoping the spot market crashes back down hard and fast, while carriers will be doing everything possible to keep short term rates elevated for as long as possible.

“Where the long and short term markets land at the point new contract negotiations begin will be crucial in determining whether shippers or carriers have the strongest hand.

“A few weeks ago, when spot rates were still spiraling, carriers would have been feeling confident about long term contract negotiations – but market sentiment can change very quickly.

“Shippers won’t want to see the long term market starting to increase because it has already been a bruising 2024 in the spot market. But they should have cautious optimism because, at the moment, it feels like there is more room for spot rates to fall than there is for long term rates to rise.”

Stausbøll reiterated that ocean supply chains remain under pressure and there are potential disruptions on the horizon.

She said: “Diversions are still in place in the Red Sea, meaning the majority of container ships are continuing to sail around the Cape of Good Hope.

“There is the threat of union action at ports on the US East and Gulf Coasts, while a Trump presidency could see businesses rush to ship goods ahead of new tariffs on Chinese imports.

“There is also the risk of new geopolitical incidents, as we are seeing in Bangladesh where civil unrest is impacting port operations.

“It will not take much to push ocean supply chains back into the red and send spot rates heading upward once again, which would also have consequences for the long term market.”

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Liberian Registry appoints ex-US Navy commander as VP of Port State Control

Africa Ports & Ships

The Liberian Registry, the world’s largest shipping registry, has appointed Commander Norm Witt (U.S. Coast Guard, retired) to its team as Vice President, Port State Control Affairs.

Witt will be responsible for coordinating and building professional relationships with various PSC (Port State Control) entities including the United States Coast Guard to better support the Registry’s clients.

Through this position, he can assist ship owners and operators through inspections or other obstacles they may face.

“I’m excited to be in a position where I can leverage my previous Coast Guard experience in helping clients achieve high levels of regulatory compliance, which in turn minimises shipping delays and enhances overall safety,” Witt said.

“Improving our safety performance on a continuous basis is a priority for everyone,” he added.

Witt takes a wealth of experience with him to the Liberian Registry, highlighted by over 23 years of service with the U.S. Coast Guard.

Notably, he served as the Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit in Savannah, Georgia, where he held the position of Captain of the Port. During his tenure, Norm led the response to the capsizing of the vessel Golden Ray, coordinating an operation that involved 500 personnel and 70 vessels.

“In addition to his knowledge on PSC matters, Norm brings valuable international relations experience to the Registry as he had tours in Liberia and Fiji Islands as a USCG officer, as well as commercial experience in the offshore wind industry,” said Alfonso Castillero, CEO of the Liberian Registry.

“We are excited to have him join the team, and his knowledge will be an asset in our growth and operations.”

To learn more about the Liberian Registry see here

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Camillo Fontana appointed new CFO for Hanseatic Global Terminals

Africa Ports & Ships

Hanseatic Global Terminals (Hapag-Lloyd infrastructure holdings), which has interests in 20 strategically located container terminals in 11 countries, including in Africa, Asia and the Americas, has appointed Camillo Fontana as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Fontana, who has more than 15 years of finance experience in container shipping and land-logistics businesses, takes up his position from today, Thursday 1 August 2024.

He has held several international management positions within the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) organisation, initially based in its Geneva headquarters as Finance Manager and, from 2014, as Regional CFO of Asia and Middle East, based in Singapore.

In 2018 he was appointed CFO of Medlog S.A., the land-logistics division of MSC, a position he held until 2022. For the last two years, he has served as a board member for several MSC agencies as well as Head of the MSC Group CFO Office.

“We are delighted that with Camillo we have found a very experienced financial expert to be the new CFO of Hanseatic Global Terminals,” said said Dheeraj Bhatia, Chief Terminal and Infrastructure Officer (CTIO) of Hapag-Lloyd and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hanseatic Global Terminals.

“We have ambitious growth plans with Hanseatic Global Terminals, and we will be making major investments in quality, efficiency and sustainability to benefit our customers. It will therefore be crucial that we manage the related financial aspects in the best way possible,” said Bhatia.

See related article Hapag-Lloyd terminal division rebranded as Hanseatic Global Terminals

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GENERAL NEWS REPORTS – UPDATED THROUGH THE DAY

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

PORT	June 2023 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 during June 2023	23.370 million tonnes

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Terry Hutson