Bringing you shipping, freight, trade and transport related news of interest for Africa since 2002

For a 2024 Rate Card please contact us at terry@africaports.co.za

TODAY’S BULLETIN OF MARITIME NEWS

Newsweek commencing 8 December 2024.  Click on headline to go direct to story: use the BACK key to return.  Or scroll down.

FIRST VIEW:   SPRING SEA

• Dumping of wastes at sea: Kenya advances efforts to curb
• Red Sea tensions: 4 scholars explain what’s at stake for global trade and security
• FFS Tank Terminals lines up to operate Port of Cape Town’s Liquid Bulk Terminal
• WHARF TALK: luxury cruise ship – AZAMARA QUEST
• MENA: Training on assessment, examination and certification of seafarers
• SA Agulhas II prepares for annual South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE) relief voyage
• Madagascar: Casualty investigation and reporting
• South African government suspends mineral transport to Maputo port
• Tropical cyclone warning for northern Madagascar and Mozambique Channel
• WHARF TALK: passenger cruise ship- NORWEGIAN SKY
• Rwanda opens new Rubavu port to boost regional trade
• Dealing with oil spills – African countries’ plans
• Naming of AMSOL’s latest tanker Uhambo
• Shipbuilder Meyer Werft receives bail-out from German State
• The Cape Town Agreement: Namibia deposits instrument of accession
• Warming oceans are changing marine habitats – study explores the impact on thousands of species
• WHARF TALK: grab dredger – CHUAN HONG 68
• Opinion piece: A Statesman. A Statesman. Our Country needs the voice of reason and wisdom to resolve the Mozambican tragedy
• Mozambique in post-election turmoil: economic policies that could make a difference
• Mozambique’s deadly protests: how the country got here
• Private Sector Calls for Chapter and Verse Revision of DCT Pier 2
• Maritime security in the Western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden
• WHARF TALK: visiting cruise ship – COSTA SMERALDA
• Enhancing port digitalization – Boosting African trade
• Chinese fishing vessel seized by Somali pirates
• AGL to expand Congo Port Terminal amid accelerated oil & gas development
• CFM reports sabotage on Beira-Machipanda railway
• Congestion surcharges levied at the Port of Beira
• First delivery of new straddles arrive for DCT2
• Promoting submarine cable protection – Resilience of undersea cables
• Russia and the west are entering the ‘grey zone’ of warfare – and the oceans are a key battleground

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

Africa Ports & Ships

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Masthead:  PORT OF CAPE TOWN

Stay Well, Stay Safe, Stay Patient, don’t become one

Advertising:– request a Rate Card from terry@africaports.co.za

Join us on our journey through 2024

and stay up to date with Africa Ports & Ships  – 22 years of reporting directly from Africa (est. 2002).  

SEND NEWS REPORTS AND PRESS RELEASES TO   info@africaports.co.za

Your photographs of ships, port scenes, cargo working and cargo rail working for publication are welcome

Africa Ports & Ships

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

FIRST VIEW:  SPRING SEA

After a flurry of glamourous cruise ships calling at the South African ports, it’s time to step back and remind ourselves that much of the cargo carried to or from South Africa is with bulk carriers and general cargo vessels, or in the case of liquid bulk, in tankers.

And that’s not forgetting container ships.

As an example of this, of the 78.3 million tonnes of cargo handled at the port of Durban in 2023, just on 44 million tonnes of the total consisted of bulk and a small amount of breakbulk. At ports such as Richards Bay and Saldanha almost all cargo handled was in bulk carriers.

One such example of this type of ship is the Handysized bulk carrier, Spring Sea (IMO 9639751), which arrived in Durban on 29 November 2024.

Spring Sea was arriving from Richards Bay and proceeded to berth 12 at Maydon Wharf. Flagged in the Marshall Islands the 35,200-dwt vessel has a length of 180 metres and beam of 30m.

Spring Sea was built in 2013 by Nantong Changqingsha Shipyard Co., Ltd., in Rugao, China.

This picture is by Trevor Jones

Africa Ports & Ships

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Dumping of wastes at sea: Kenya advances efforts to curb

Edited by Paul Ridgway 
Africa Ports & Ships

According to news received from IMO, Kenya is making strides in marine environmental protection with a focused effort towards implementing the London Protocol (LP), a global framework aimed at preventing pollution from the dumping of wastes at sea.

As we well know protecting the ocean from dumping of wastes and other matter at sea depends on full implementation of the LP, requiring robust national systems for assessing, permitting, monitoring and enforcement of disposal at sea activities.

Broad representation

A national workshop held in Mombasa from 2 to 4 December brought together more than 25 senior officials from diverse government agencies to discuss the legal, technical and administrative aspects related to applying the London Protocol in Kenya.

A legal framework

The training included an introduction to the Protocol as a legal framework for marine pollution management and considered possible barriers to implementation.

Participants discussed the establishment of national systems for monitoring, assessment, compliance and enforcement, and explored possible next steps for future coordination and cooperation between relevant agencies.

KMA host + UK Govt support + IMO’s ITCP

Hosted by the Kenya Maritime Authority with support from the UK Government and delivered through the IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme, the workshop underscored Kenya’s commitment to safeguarding ocean ecosystems, in alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development  see also here.

For more background

To see the brochure commemorating the LP in the years 1996 to 2016: The London Protocol: what it is and why it is needed readers may wish to use this link: connect here.

Added 16 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Red Sea tensions: 4 scholars explain what’s at stake for global trade and security

Africa Ports & Ships

Kagure Gacheche, The Conversation

Added 16 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

FFS Tank Terminals lines up to operate Port of Cape Town’s Liquid Bulk Terminal

Africa Ports & Ships

FFS Tank Terminals (Pty) Ltd has been selected as the preferred bidder to acquire, operate, maintain, refurbish, construct and transfer a Liquid Bulk Terminal for a 25-year concession period at the Port of Cape Town’s Liquid Bulk Precinct.

This was announced by Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) on Friday (13 December 2024).

FFS Tank Terminals is an existing terminal operator at the port’s liquid bulk precinct. The selection follows participation in the ports authority’s concession process outlined in Section 56 of the National Ports Acts No. 12 of 2005.

The appointment is a strategic move to enhance the Port’s efficiency and competitiveness. It is also in line with TNPA’s mandate to facilitate the provision of port services and facilities with emphasis on port revenue diversification, job creation, infrastructure development and collaboration with the private sector to foster sustainable economic growth.

FFS Tank Terminals (Pty) Ltd, a Level 1 B-BBEE contributor, brings over 25 years of expertise in the liquid bulk sector, specialising in handling products such as heavy fuel oil and edible oils. FFS has been active also in the ports of Durban and Richards Bay.

The new concession agreement is set to inject an investment of R195 million into the facility, enabling terminal infrastructure refurbishment and upgrades that will substantially enhance operational efficiency.

“The selection of FFS Tank Terminals as the preferred bidder solidifies TNPA’s commitment to ensuring continued liquid bulk operations and security of supply, coupled with growing port capacity and volume throughput,” said Ophelia Shabane, TNPA Acting Port Manager for the Port of Cape Town.

She said the transaction will not only support economic growth and development at the Port of Cape Town but will also stimulate the local economy through commitments made by the bidder such as job preservation, employment creation, local supplier development as well as skills development.”

In a statement TNPA said it is implementing a phased approach with the appointment of terminal operators for the Port of Cape Town’s Liquid Bulk Precinct.

“Whilst all the terminals are currently operational in the precinct, more terminals are anticipated to undergo the concession process in the new year, in compliance with the open and transparency requirement of the National Ports Act.”

Added 14 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

WHARF TALK: luxury cruise ship – AZAMARA QUEST

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’ 
Story by Jay Gates

Uptown top ranking. It was a surprise number hit single back in 2001, by Althea and Donna. It is a Jamaican saying which describes being stylish, showing off your best, displaying confidence, walking around with panache, being a part of the upper social strata, and being highly respected. In Jamaica it effectively meant that one had achieved a certain high status in life.

In the modern maritime world of passenger cruise lines, there are one or two such cruise companies who fit that bill, and could easily be described as being operators who are clearly ‘uptown top ranking’. Happily, for the casual maritime observer, these companies often send their cruise vessels on voyages that have them calling at South African ports.

Only recently did I describe the four types of passenger cruise vessel that tend to call at South African ports. First up is the permanent seasonal cruise liner, normally operating out of Durban, second is the one stop cruise liner, transiting on a voyage from one hemisphere to another, third up is the positioning cruise liner, without passengers, and heading to start a cruise programme elsewhere, courtesy of the Houthis. The fourth iteration is the cruise liner arriving on the coast to undertake a short cruise programme, which up to now had yet to arrive. As they say “Seek and ye shall find”, or more accurately “Everything comes to he who waits”!

On 8th December, at 05:00 in the early morning, the luxury passenger cruise liner ‘Azamara Quest’ (IMO 9210218) arrived off Cape Town, from Lüderitz in Namibia. She entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock, and as expected was placed alongside the Passenger Cruise Terminal at E berth, for her stay in the Mother City. Unusually, she was berthed starboard side to, which is not the norm for passenger vessels berthing at E berth.

Built in 2000 by Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard at St. Nazaire in France, ‘Azamara Quest’ is 181 metres in length and has a gross registered tonnage of 30,277 tons. She is a diesel electric vessel and is powered by four Wärtsilä 12V32LN generators providing 26,400 kW for onboard domestic electrical needs, and for propulsion requirements. Power for propulsion is transferred to two GEC Alstom electric motors providing 6,750 kW each, which drive two fixed pitch propellers for a service speed of 18 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery includes a single Cummins KTA19-D(M) emergency generator providing 400 kW. She has four Alfa Laval Aalborg Unex G-226 exhaust gas boilers, and two Alfa Laval Aalborg Unex CHB-8000 oil fired boilers. For added manoeuvrability ‘Azamara Quest’ has two bow Brunvoll FU-63-LTC-1750 transverse thrusters providing 1,750 kW each.

The operating company of ‘Azamara Quest’ was founded in 2007 by Royal Caribbean Line Holdings Ltd. (RCLH), to operate a high end, top class, luxury cruise brand. The company was named Azamara Cruises, and in 2021 RCLH sold off the brand, for US$201 million (ZAR3.58 billion), to a New York based private equity firm, Sycamore Partners.

Sycamore Partners are a private equity firm, not a traditional shipowner, and four of the defunct ‘R’ class cruise vessels are now owned by Sycamore Partners. With ‘Azamara Quest’ nominally owned by SP Cruises Vessel (AQ) Ltd., operated by Azamara Cruises, of Miami in the US State of Florida, and managed by V Ships Leisure SAM, of Monaco.

One of a class of eight sisterships, ‘Azamara Quest’ was originally built for the now defunct Renaissance Cruises, and known as the Renaissance ‘R’ class, with each of one of the sisters given the uninspiring names of the letter ‘R’ followed by a sequential number based on their launch dates. On the collapse of Renaissance Cruises in 2001, four of the class ended up with Oceania Cruises, and with the other four all eventually ending up with Azamara Cruises.

She was the first vessel to enter service with the new Azamara Cruises brand, although at her launch ‘Azamara Quest’ was originally named ‘R7’. Her current Azamara Cruises fleet sisterships being ‘Azamara Onward’ (R3), ‘Azamara Journey’ (R6), and ‘Azamara Pursuit’ (R8). The luxury brand of cruising offered by Azamara Cruises is borne out by the fact that she is listed with the luxury hotel equivalent of 5 Stars. Uptown Top Ranking!

She has eleven decks, of which nine are solely for passenger use, and six of the decks being set aside for cabins, which number a total 361. Her cabins include 44 Stateroom Suites, 199 cabins with balconies, 94 Oceanview cabins, and 26 Inside cabins. She can carry 722 passengers on a double occupancy basis, or a maximum total of 794 passengers, and with them all being looked after by a crew of 408 personnel.

Her upmarket status also means that ‘Azamara Quest’ provides fully compliant cabins which are fully wheelchair accessible, and have been certified for use by disabled passengers, under the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). There are a total of five ADA certified cabins onboard, namely two Balcony, two Oceanview, and one Inside cabin.

Her onboard facilities are extensive, and include eight restaurants, seven bars, two lounges, a theatre, casino, card room, library, boutiques shops, frozen yoghurt bar, spa, gymnasium, beauty salon, treatment rooms, massage rooms, acupuncture rooms, steam room, and aromatherapy rooms. Her deck activities include a jogging track, shuffleboard, table tennis tables, and she has two swimming pools with four Jacuzzi hot tubs.

Her voyage to South Africa began on 20th November, with an 18 day cruise itinerary of Las Palmas (Canary Islands)- Dakar (Senegal)- Banjul (Gambia)- Jamestown (St. Helena Island)- Walvis Bay- Lüderitz (both Namibia)- Cape Town, with her cruise terminating on 8th December. On arrival in Cape Town ‘Azamara Quest’ began a full season of six coastal cruises around South African ports, which will run to February 2025.

The first of these cruises, which are all of twelve days duration, will all follow a roughly similar itinerary, insofar as the list of ports visited will be unchanged, although the order in which they will be visited are slightly different. The first cruise will sail from Cape Town, with the itinerary being Cape Town (8th December 18:00)- Port Elizabeth (10th 07:00-22:00)- Richards Bay (Overnight 12th-13th 08:00-14:00)- Durban (15th 09:00-20:00)- Mossel Bay 18th 07:00-15:00)- Cape Town (19th December 09:00) where the cruise will terminate, before being repeated that day.

At the conclusion of her South African coastal cruise programme in February 2025. ‘Azamara Quest’ will effectively retrace her outbound voyage back to Las Palmas. She will arrive back in Cape Town on the 20th February at 09:00, with an overnight stay, and her northbound itinerary will be Cape Town (21st February 17:00)- Lüderitz- Walvis Bay- Jamestown- Banjul- Dakar- Las Palmas, where she will arrive back in the Canary Islands on 11th March, at the conclusion of an 18 day cruise. From Las Palmas she will continue north to begin a European 2025 summer cruising season covering both the Mediterranean Sea, and Northwest Europe.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, three of the Azamara Cruise fleet were placed into long term lay-up in the King George V Dock, on the River Clyde at Glasgow, in Scotland. The three fleetmates included ‘Azamara Journey’, ‘Azamara Pursuit’, and ‘Azamara Quest’, which spent a total of thirteen months, running from June 2020 all the way through to July 2021, in lay-up.

In June 2022, ‘Azamara Quest’, was in the Mediterranean Sea, on a cruise en route from Barcelona to Malaga, in Spain, when she informed the Spanish Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Palma de Mallorca that they had a person overboard. She was 75 nautical miles off the Balearic Islands when the female passenger was reported as going overboard. Despite an extensive search, consisting of two Spanish Coastguard Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopters, and a Coastguard rescue vessel, the passenger was not found.

In May 2018, ‘Azamara Quest’ was conducting a cruise in New Zealand waters, and was en route to Picton on the South Island. She was in the Marlborough Sound, and altered course to enter the Tory Channel. A breakdown in communications between the Pilot and the Bridge Team meant that ‘Azamara Quest’ initiated her turn into the Channel too late, without a sufficient rate of turn , and she struck the charted ‘Wheki Rock’, causing minor damage to the hull, and damage to one of her propellers.

In March 2012, she suffered a fire in one of her engine rooms, which temporarily disabled ‘Azamara Quest’. At the time she was cruising in the South China Sea, and was en route between Manila, in the Philippines, and the Malaysian port of Sandakan, on the island of Borneo, and was carrying 593 passengers. Five of the crew were injured fighting the fire, one seriously, with the fire being contained in the Engine Room. She made her way to Sandakan where seriously injured crewman was transferred to a local hospital for further treatment.

Back in Cape Town, ‘Azamara Quest’ had completed her bunker uplift, stores onload, and taking on fresh provisions, and with her passenger changeover complete, she was ready to begin her South African coastal cruise programme. At 18:00 in the evening of 8th December, she sailed from Cape Town, now bound for her first of many calls at Port Elizabeth.

Her call at Port Elizabeth was as per her published cruise itinerary, with her arrival off Port Elizabeth at 06:00 in the morning of 10th December. After fifteen hours alongside, she sailed at 21:00 in the evening of 10th December, now bound for the Zululand port of Richards Bay, in KwaZulu-Natal, with an ETA given as 12th December at 07:00 in the morning, for her overnight stop, the only such extended port call on this current first coastal voyage.

Added 13 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

MENA: Training on assessment, examination and certification of seafarers

Edited by Paul Ridgway 
Africa Ports & Ships
London

On 9 December IMO reported that maritime educators and trainers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have gained essential skills and knowledge in seafarers’ assessment, examination and certification.

This followed an IMO familiarization training course delivered in Manama, Bahrain from 24 to 28 November.

IMO model courses

Training is based on IMO’s Model Course 3.12 on Assessment Examination and Certification of Seafarers Training (ASECT) for Administrators, Trainers and Assessors.

The model course is useful for trainers and assessors who are directly responsible for seafarers’ education, training, and certification worldwide. The course helps cultivate competent, appropriately trained, and qualified seafarers who can deliver safe, secure, and environmentally sound operations both on board and ashore.

Aspects considered

In line with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW Convention), IMO Model Course 3.12 covers aspects such as:

* International provisions for training, assessment, examination and certification of masters, officers and ratings.

* Selection of assessment methodologies.

* Organization of assessments.

* Issue and control of certificates.

Broad representation

Twenty participants from nine countries in the region (Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia) attended the training course, including representatives from maritime academies, officials from the maritime administration, and training instructors responsible for implementing the STCW Convention.

Updating of training programmes

The regional training course assisted Parties to the STCW Convention from the MENA region in updating their training programmes for seafarers and promoting the effective implementation of the STCW Convention in their respective countries.

IMO’s ITCP

This training was delivered through the IMO’s ITCP and supported and hosted by the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications, Bahrain.

Unique contribution

The Kingdom of Bahrain highlighted the importance of their seafarers’ training institutions and the opportunity to pay tribute to seafarers from the MENA region for their unique contribution to society in facilitating maritime trade.

Added 13 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

SA Agulhas II prepares for annual South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE) relief voyage

Africa Ports & Ships

The South African Research and Antarctic Supply Vessel, SA Agulhas II (IMO 9577135), which is operated, managed and maintained by AMSOL on behalf of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), is scheduled to soon depart from Cape Town for its annual South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE) relief voyage.

The research and supply vessel will depart for the annual Antarctic mission under the leadership of AMSOL’s Captain Michael Mdluli, together with the vessel’s officers, crew, researchers, and scientists will depart for the annual Antarctic mission.

En route and at the ice shelf the team will undertake several important tasks, including the exchange of personnel, supplies, and equipment at the South African Government’s SANAE base, where the overwintering team is stationed.

The voyage will also support vital climate and oceanographic research. source: AMSOL

Added 13 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Madagascar: Casualty investigation and reporting

Edited by Paul Ridgway 
Africa Ports & Ships
London

On 9 December the IMO news service reported that Malagasy officials had completed comprehensive training on marine casualty investigations – a crucial element in ensuring maritime safety and cleaner seas.

Under provisions of IMO instruments, each flag State has an obligation to investigate every very serious marine casualty (those that entail the total loss of the ship or a death or severe damage to the environment) and others, as defined by the relevant conventions, involving its ships and to report its findings to IMO using the Global Integrated Information System (GISIS) platform. (Log in is needed to access)

Enhancing safety

These reports help to determine whether changes to current regulations are needed, as well as any remedial actions that should be taken to enhance the safety of seafarers and passengers and the protection of the marine environment.

A national workshop was held in Antananarivo, Madagascar from 2 to 6 December aimed to bolster the country’s casualty investigation capacity and increase the rate of reporting.

Broad range of topics

Thirty-one officials, including thirteen women, representing the Ministry of transport and Meteorology (MTM) and the Agence Portuaire, Maritime et Fluviale (APMF) of Madagascar took part in the training, which covered the following topics:

The role of marine casualty investigator

* Obligations of the flag State.

* Mandatory standards.

* Identification of risks.

* Human element.

* Analysis and reporting.

Member State’s audit

The workshop also addressed findings and observations from the member State’s audit, including those outlined in the corrective action plan.

Under the IMO Member State Audit Scheme, Member States (IMSAS) are regularly audited and provided with a comprehensive and objective assessment of how effectively they are implementing mandatory IMO instruments covered by the Scheme.

The training was delivered through IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP) in close collaboration with the Agence Portuaire, Maritime et Fluviale (APMF) of Madagascar.

Added 13 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

South African government suspends mineral transport to Maputo port

Africa Ports & Ships

Faced with ongoing post-election unrest in neighbouring Mozambique, which has spread across much of that country, the South African government has called for a temporary suspension of the transporting of minerals by road to the port at Maputo.

This followed a visit to the Lebombo border post on Monday by transport minister Barbara Creecy, where she witnessed at first hand the long 20km queue of trucks lining the highway leading to the border with Mozambique.

The trucks were prevented from entering Mozambique by protesters angered by the result of the election, which the opposition claims is fraud. The ruling party is claiming over 70% of the vote and since then there has been widespread unrest and protest across various parts of the country.

The Mozambique government reacted harshly and a large number of protesters including innocent bystanders have been shot dead by police.

The transport minister was responding primarily to the long stationery queue of trucks, with more arriving hourly. She said the drivers by being stranded along the highway to the border crossing are deprived of basic requirements such as food and water and toilet facilities. She called for an immediate suspension of further deliveries for the Maputo port.

She said a meeting had been held with the transporters association (Road Freight Association) asking them to delay any further shipments of ore as the border was basically closed to them “until we have information from our counterpart in Mozambique about when the border will be open.”

She said that the Mozambican authorities had opened the Ressano Garcia crossing (on the Mozambique side of the border) in order that empty trucks and passenger vehicles could enter into South Africa, but that since Sunday morning (8 December) no cargo vehicles had been allowed to cross from the South African side into Mozambique.

Eswatini sugar exports affected

In a related matter, deliveries of sugar from Eswatini to the port at Maputo for export have been similarly disrupted, the Voice of America news agency is reporting.

Raw sugar from the Eswatini mills is exported to Europe and the United States through the Maputo port sugar terminal and a spokesman for the Eswatini Sugar Association (ESA) said that using an alternate route via the port at Durban would come at an additional cost.

In 2023 Eswatini exported more than 26,000 tonnes of sugar to the United States, taking benefit from the US African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Added 12 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Tropical cyclone warning for northern Madagascar and Mozambique Channel

Africa Ports & Ships

A moderate Tropical Cyclone named Chido (04S) is currently located approximately 580 nautical miles north of Port Louis (Mauritius) and was tracking westward at 8 knots on Wednesday 11 December 2024.

The Mozambique Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (INAM) warns that by the 13th the cyclone will possibly extend over the mainland region of Madagascar as a Tropical Cyclone, and could hit the Mozambique Channel by Sunday 15 December 2024.

The Pearl Harbour-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) also carries a warning of Cyclone Chido, advising among other items of a significant wave height of 48 ft (14.6 metres).

JTWC issues daily updated reports on this and any other extreme weather systems in the Indian Ocean.

INAM advises that faced with the possibility of Chido entering the Mozambique Channel, “the institution…. continues to monitor the situation”, and calls for competent bodies to take note of and continue monitoring of the situation.

Added 03:30, 12 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

WHARF TALK: passenger cruise ship – NORWEGIAN SKY

 

Pictures by ‘Dockrat’  
Story by Jay Gates

The cruise season is now merrily underway, with passenger cruise vessels seemingly arriving every second day as they make their way around the Southern African coastline. One is conducting a full season on the coast, a few are carrying out a limited season along the coast, a few are making their way from one hemisphere to the next, and making a one off call, and with some simply positioning, without passengers.

These last two types of cruise liners are mostly popping into South African ports because they have no other choice. They would much prefer to be moving between their Mediterranean Sea season, to their next season, either in the Persian Gulf, or the Far East, and all via a quick and easy one week transit of the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, before entering the Indian Ocean and onwards to their new operating port. Sadly, they are effectively forced to endure a one month voyage around Africa to get to the same place, at great expense, courtesy of the Houthi idiocy.

On 7th December, at 07:00 in the morning, the passenger cruise liner ‘Norwegian Sky’ (IMO 9128532) arrived off Cape Town, from Walvis Bay in Namibia. She entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock, and she was placed alongside the Cape Town Passenger Cruise Terminal at E berth for her short stay in the Tavern of the Seas.

With a prolonged entry into service, ‘Norwegian Sky’ was originally ordered by Costa Crociere SpA, of Genoa in Italy, and to be named ‘Costa Olympia’, as the second one of a pair of sisterships to be known as the ‘Victoria’ class. In September 1995 she was laid down in the Bremer Vulkan GmbH shipyard in the German city of Bremen. and was launched in October 1996. However, when only 35% complete, the Bremer Vulkan shipyard hit the economic buffers, and completion work was suspended.

In December 1997 new owners came forward, and the incomplete passenger vessel was towed around to the Lloyd Werft GmbH shipyard, at Bremerhaven in Germany, to allow work to continue. She was completed, and commissioned in August 1999, and now entered service under her new name of ‘Norwegian Sky’.

She is a diesel electric vessel and is powered by three MAN-B&W 7L58/64 generators, providing 9,170 kW each, and three MAN-B&W 6L58/64 generators providing 8,400 kW each. This gives her a total power output of up to 70,685 bhp (52,710 kW), with power transferred to electric motors that drive two Rolls-Royce controllable pitch propellers, giving her a service speed of 23 knots. She has six HDW VAZ exhaust gas boilers, and two HDW VOS15 oil fired boilers. For added manoeuvrability she has three bow Rolls-Royce TT2400 transverse thrusters providing 1,500 kW each, and two stern Rolls-Royce TT2400 transverse thrusters also providing 1,500 kW each.

She has a total of twelve decks, of which nine decks are set aside for passenger use, and seven of these decks being used for passenger cabins. She can carry 2,004 passengers with double occupancy, and a maximum of 2,450 passengers, in 1,002 cabins. Unusually, when originally ordered by Costa Cruises, she had no balcony cabins. However, when completed by her new owners, she was redesigned by having her two upper cabin decks completed with 246 of those cabins having balconies added.

Built at a cost of US$357 million (ZAR6.34 billion), her new owners are NCL Holdings Ltd., of Miami in the US State of Florida. Operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL), as shown with her funnel colours, ‘Norwegian Sky’ is managed by NCL (Bahamas) Ltd., of Nassau in the Bahamas. NCL had a further sistership built for their fleet, and ‘Norwegian Sky’ was now one of two fleet sisterships known within NCL as the ‘Sun’ class.

Her passenger facilities include nine restaurants and cafés, eight bars, and four lounges. She also has a show lounge, a Starbucks Coffee Bar, an Ice Cream Bar, an internet café, a casino, library, boutique shops, meeting rooms, a youth theatre, teens club, video arcade, spa, beauty salon, gymnasium, aerobics studio, treatment and massage rooms, sauna and steam rooms. Her deck sport facilities include a jogging track, gold driving ranges, and a combined basketball and volleyball court. She has two major swimming pools, and four Jacuzzi hot tubs, plus one pool and one Jacuzzi set aside in their own deck area, and solely for the use by children.

In 2004 NCL transferred ‘Norwegian Sky’ to their new American subsidiary, NCL America, to be operated under the protective Jones Act, and she was renamed ‘Pride of Aloha’ for cruises from the US west coast, to the Hawaiian Islands. A competition was opened to design her hull art, which was won by local Hawaiian artist, Linda Umstead. The design is a string of tropical flowers, better known as a Hawaiian Lei, which is a garland of fresh flowers which are intended to be worn, generally around the neck. In 2008 she returned to NCL service, and was renamed back to ‘Norwegian Sky’, and she has maintained her unique Pacific hull art to this day.

Her voyage to South Africa began as a 21 day cruise, originating from Lisbon in Portugal, beginning on 16th November, and with an itinerary of Lisbon- Casablanca- Agadir (both Morocco)- Lanzarote- Tenerife (both Canary Islands)- Dakar (Senegal)- Banjul (Gambia)- Abidjan (Ivory Coast)- Santo Antonio (Principe Island)- Luanda (Angola)- Walvis Bay (Namibia)- Cape Town, where the cruise terminated on 7th December.

From Cape Town, NCL offered a further cruise, for 13 days, beginning on the same day of 7th December, and with an itinerary of Cape Town- Mossel Bay (8th December 09:00-18:00)- Port Elizabeth (9th December 07:00-24:00)- Richards Bay (11th December 07:00-24:00)- Nosy Be- Antsiranana (both Madagascar)- St. Denis (Reunion)- Port Louis (Mauritius), where the voyage will terminate on 19th December. From Mauritius ‘Norwegian Sky’ will make her away across the Indian Ocean to Singapore, and a programme of cruises in the Far East until April 2025.

Next year ‘Norwegian Sky’ will complete her Far East cruising season, and make her way back across the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf, and then back to Mauritius, arriving on 2nd May. From there NCL will begin their return cruise to start their 2025 Northern hemisphere cruising season in the Mediterranean and Northwest Europe. Her itinerary, starting on 3rd May, will be an almost mirror image of her outward voyage that she is currently undertaking.

It is an eleven day cruise with a routing of Port Louis- St. Denis- Antsiranana- Nosy Be- Richards Bay (overnight 10th-11th May 10:00-05:00)- Port Elizabeth (12th May 08:00-19:00)- Mossel Bay (13th May 08:00-16:00)- Cape Town, where she will arrive at 07:00 on 14th May. Once more, unusually for a cruise termination, ‘Norwegian Sky’ is not scheduled for an overnight stop, and she will continue with a cruise itinerary from Cape Town (14th May 16:00)- Walvis Bay- Luanda- Santo Antonio- Abidjan- Dakar- Tenerife- Las Palmas- Lanzarote (all 3 Canary Islands)- Motril- Alicante- Barcelona (all 3 Spain), where the cruise will terminate on 4th June 2025.

In three cruises earlier this year, ‘Norwegian Sky’ called into Tortola, located in the British Virgin Islands, whilst undergoing a winter cruise season in the Caribbean Sea. In March 2024 she sailed with three of her passengers missing. All three were Colombian nationals, and all three simply disappeared. Then one month later in April, again in Tortola, she sailed with two of her passengers missing. One was a Dutch national, and one was from the Dominican Republic. Again, they simply disappeared. Then, bizarrely, in May, ‘Norwegian Sky’ once more departed from Tortola, this time with one passenger missing. The passenger was Colombian, and again to this date, as with the previous five passengers, she remains missing.

Back in Cape Town, with none of her passengers reported as being missing, ‘Norwegian Sky’ sailed from the Mother City at 17:00 in the late afternoon of 7th December, to continue with her cruise schedule, and now bound for Mossel Bay. In five months’ time, she will retrace her steps, and the casual maritime observers around the South African coast will have the opportunity of seeing her once more, but strangely, for both cruises, Durban is not on the calling list.

Added 12 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Rwanda opens new Rubavu port to boost regional trade

Africa Ports & Ships

Rwanda officially inaugurated the Rubavu Port on 6 December, marking a significant milestone in the country’s efforts to enhance regional trade and strengthen its connectivity with neighbouring countries.

Located along the shores of Lake Kivu in the western part of Rwanda, the port is designed to facilitate the movement of goods and passengers, particularly between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Spanning 2 hectares, Rubavu Port is capable of handling up to 700,000 tons of cargo annually and serving 2.7 million passengers. The port can accommodate two cargo vessels simultaneously, each with a carrying capacity of up to 500 deadweight tons (dwt).

This capacity positions Rubavu as a critical logistical hub that will enhance Rwanda’s access to global markets, especially given the country’s landlocked status.

The development of Rubavu Port is part of Rwanda’s National Strategic Transformation (NST1) plan, which envisions the construction of four ports along Lake Kivu. The other planned ports — Rusizi, Karongi, and Nkora — are expected to further strengthen trade and mobility across the region. Together, these facilities will help position Rwanda as a central trade hub within East Africa.

At the inauguration ceremony, Rwanda’s Minister of Infrastructure, Jimmy Gasore, emphasised the strategic importance of the port, noting that it will improve maritime transport on Lake Kivu and promote regional integration.

He also expressed appreciation for the international partners who contributed to the project’s success, underscoring the role of the port in fostering community development and economic growth in the region.

The $9 million project was funded through a collaborative effort, with the Rwandan government contributing 5% of the total cost, while the Netherlands-backed Invest International and the British government, through TradeMark Africa, provided the bulk of the funding. The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) financed 50% of the development, while the Netherlands contributed 45%.

Rubavu Port is designed with modern infrastructure to support both cargo and passenger operations. Its cargo facilities include a dedicated wharf with docking capabilities for two vessels of up to 60 metres long, a petrol station, a sewage treatment plant, and staff accommodations.

The passenger terminal, equipped with administrative offices and security checkpoints, will handle the movement of millions of travelers each year.

Since the completion of its pilot phase in June 2024, Rubavu Port has been fully operational and is already serving as a key gateway for trade and transport across the Lake Kivu region.

The new facility is expected to not only enhance Rwanda’s economic competitiveness but also boost broader regional integration, offering new opportunities for businesses and communities across East Africa.

Added 11 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Dealing with oil spills – African countries’ plans

Edited by Paul Ridgway 
Africa Ports & Ships
London

According to the IMO news service on 9 December twenty African countries have outlined priority areas for action to strengthen oil spill preparedness and response in the region.

Meeting for the 10th Regional Conference of the Global Initiative for West, Central and Southern Africa (GI WACAF) in Lomé, Togo, from 25 to 28 November, national delegates highlighted specific needs that require IMO assistance, including:

* Improving national response systems and updating national oil spill contingency plans.

* Developing guidelines, practical guides and checklists to help with updating the national plans.

* Strengthening cooperation between government and industry within countries, and between neighbouring countries.

The biennial gathering was an opportunity for the region to review progress in oil spill preparedness, share experiences and good practices, and set strategic priorities for the next two years.

Country Maritime Profiles

Delegates assessed the level of preparedness in their respective countries and updated their Country Maritime Profiles. They drafted national action plans, highlighting potential areas of further support through the GI WACAF Project.

Joint initiative

GI WACAF is a joint initiative of the IMO and IPIECA, the global oil and gas industry association for advancing environmental and social performance. Its main objective is to improve the level of preparedness and response to oil spills in the west, central and southern Africa region. The scope of the project is currently being extended to include hazardous and noxious substances, in line with provisions in the 2000 OPRC-HNS Protocol.

IMO’s ITCP

The 10th GI WACAF Regional Conference was delivered through IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP).

The following countries were represented at the event:  Angola, Benin, Cabo Verde, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Togo.

Added 11 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Naming of AMSOL’s latest tanker Uhambo

Africa Ports & Ships

At a renaming ceremony held at the Dormac Ship Repair yard at the Bayhead, Port of Durban on Monday (9 December), AMSOL welcomed into its service the product tanker Uhambo (IMO 9613977).

The 5,482-dwt products tanker arrived in Durban in September from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, signalling an expansion of the AMSOL tanker fleet.

The vessel has been reflagged under the South Africa register, provided with a new and local name (Uhambo means The Journey) and will enter service transporting multiple grades of fuel in the local market.

The handing over of the tanker took place in the UAE, where a South African crew went onboard for the journey to Durban. Graham Dreyden, AMSOL’s Chief Commercial Officer, was quoted saying it had not been difficult to attract an experienced team of seafarers for what was a ‘Proudly South African’ voyage that brought Uhambo home.

The addition of the product tanker brings AMSOL’s fleet to 19 vessels, including three product tankers and two bunker barges. Dreyden said AMSOL is motivated to continue to develop a talent pipeline of tanker-endorsed, certificated South African seafarers. “Our investment reflects this commitment,” he said.

Uhambo is the former product tanker Ask Progress and prior to that, was named Southernpec 9. She was built at the Taizhou Zhongxing yard in Taizhou, China.

With a length of 101 metres and width of 16m, Uhambo has 12 coated tanks, double sides and a double bottom and is powered by a single Daihatsu 6DKM-28 main engine with a BHP of 2,602, plus three generators to provide a speed of 12 knots.

Added 10 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Shipbuilder Meyer Werft receives bail-out from German State

Africa Ports & Ships

The European Commission has given approval for the German State’s planned public bailout for the financially troubled shipbuilder, Meyer Werft.

This was announced last Thursday by the commission, as reported by the German News Service.

The European Commission ruled under the EU Merger Regulation that the government rescue package doesn’t pose any competition concerns across the EU’s common market.

Meyer Werft, a major employer in northern Germany and a major builder of cruise ships, ran into financial trouble after contracted prices for ships, settled well in advance, failed to keep pace with rising costs, which increased dramatically after the coronavirus pandemic.

The German federal government and the Lower Saxony state government are each contributing €200 million ($210 million) to Meyer Werft as part of the rescue plan.

In return, they will acquire an 80.73% stake in both the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg and the Neptun Werft shipyard in Rostock.

Additionally, the federal and state governments will guarantee up to 80% of bank loans to Meyer Werft totalling €2.6 billion.

Authorities consider Meyer Werft to be of systematic importance for the maritime industry involving many thousands of jobs. In addition, the shipyard is capable of playing an important role in Germany’s energy transition. source: German News Service

Added 10 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

The Cape Town Agreement: Namibia deposits instrument of accession

Edited by Paul Ridgway
Africa Ports & Ships
London

On 5 December the IMO news service reported that Namibia had deposited its instrument of accession to the 2012 Cape Town Agreement, demonstrating its support for the safety of fishing vessels and their crews.

Namibia accedes

The High Commissioner and Permanent Representative of Namibia to IMO, Ms Linda Scott, deposited the instrument at IMO HQ on 5 December, making it the 23rd country to accede to the Agreement.

Encouragement

The same week, during the 109th session of IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee, new interim guidance was adopted to assist in the implementation of the Agreement and to encourage more ratifications.

The Cape Town Agreement, once in force, will bring in mandatory international safety requirements for fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over, including provisions addressing stability and associated seaworthiness, machinery and electrical installations, life-saving appliances, communications equipment and fire protection, as well as fishing vessel construction.

For the Agreement to enter into force, at least 22 States, with an aggregate 3,600 fishing vessels meeting the length requirements operating on the high seas, must express their consent to be bound by it.

To date, only one of these criteria has been fulfilled with 23 States having acceded to the Agreement. Namibia’s accession brings the total number of fishing vessels to 2935, with 665 more required to reach 3,600 declared fishing vessels. The Agreement will enter into force twelve months after these conditions have been met.

Combatting IUU fishing

The Agreement will be a useful tool in combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and forced labour, as well as reducing pollution from fishing vessels, including marine debris.

Contracting States

Contracting States to the 2012 Cape Town Agreement include: Belgium, Belize, Congo, Cook Islands, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Kenya, Namibia, Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sao Tome and Principe, South Africa and Spain.

Added 10 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below
Warming oceans are changing marine habitats – study explores the impact on thousands of species

Andreas Schwarz Meyer, University of Cape Town and Christopher Trisos, University of Cape Town

Added 10 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

WHARF TALK: grab dredger – CHUAN HONG 68

“They who have no known grave, but the Sea.”

Pictures as indicated 
Story by Jay Gates

For those casual maritime observers who enjoy roaming throughout the rabbit holes of the internet in search of interesting articles on shipping news, and stories of the maritime here and now, they do occasionally come up with various articles of activities that are upsetting or disturbing. This is especially if the casual maritime observer has a penchant, or a predilection, for searching out the military naval news stories, and more so if the stories are historical and linked to the great naval battles of the Second World War.

Once the military articles of interest are found in a random internet search, surely there can be nothing more upsetting than coming across those stories which are upsetting, when reading about those callous treasure hunters who dig up sites of wartime archaeological importance, purely to loot them of military artifacts, in order to sell them on the online open markets that trade in such pieces of militaria. Can there be anything more upsetting? The answer to that question is ‘Yes’, very much so.

In fact there is something much more upsetting than a dumb clown with a metal detector sifting through the soil. That would be someone who knowingly, and without permission, decides to desecrate a known, and sacred, war grave, disturb those who lie there with no respect for the sanctity of the war dead, and conduct a systematic programme of destruction, and complete break-up, of that war grave, simply in order to sell the pieces of the grave to the highest bidder, even if that means the complete, and utter irrevocable, loss of the war grave.

On 1st December, at 16:00 in the afternoon, a vessel identified as a Grab Hopper Dredger, and named ‘Chuan Hong 68’ (IMO 9736523) arrived off the Table Bay anchorage, after a slow rambling voyage from Pengerang in Malaysia, via Singapore, and a short stop in Algoa Bay. She went to anchor off the great maritime city of Cape Town, and that is where she still sits, over one week later, as this article is being written on 9th December. The question is why is she here?

Her description of Grab Hopper Dredger is a smokescreen for what she actually represents. Built in 2014 by Fujian Changxing Shipbuilding at Fujian in China, ‘Chuan Hong 68’ is 122 metres in length and has a gross registered tonnage of 8,352 tons. She is not a dredger in the real sense of that word, but she is, in fact, a deepsea, scrap metal, salvage vessel.

The ownership of ‘Chuan Hong 68’ is Shanghai Chonghe Marine Co. Ltd., of Shanghai in China, and she is operated by Fujian Yarui Marine Engineering Co. Ltd., of Fuzhou in China. She is managed by Fujian Fuan Wang Sheng Shipping Co. Ltd., of Fu’an in China. Her operating company was founded in 2013, mainly to undertake services such as sunken wreck removal, wreck oil spill emergency removal, underwater heavy lifting, and other marine engineering services. The company ordered ‘Chuan Hong 68’ at its inception to carry out these services.

Her technical specifications are sparse, but she has a transit service speed of 11.8 knots. She has a low hull profile, with a flat continuous deck. Fitted to this deck, at the bow, is a large 360 degree, full slewing, crane which is advertised as having a dredge bucker with a capacity of 60 m3. In fact, it is not a dredge bucket, but a large grab almost 15 metres in height, reaching over four decks high. At the rear of her flat deck is a smaller crane, but still of impressive size, and presumably used to move her cargo around the deck. She does not appear to have any cargo hold, and does not have a hopper for dredge spoil either.

The vague description of what she does becomes abundantly clear once you read into her history. That history is so disturbing to any naval historian, and her true activities are such that she has become identified as a criminal entity on the waters of Southeast Asia. There is a question as to why her AIS information appears to be false. Is it linked to that same history.

 

One look at any Marine Traffic website shows her to be identified as ‘Hua Li’ and registered under the Tanzanian flag. Muddying the waters as to her true identity may be due to her recent history. The real Tanzanian flagged vessel, known as ‘Hua Li’ (IMO 9084695), was a small product tanker that was removed from commercial service in 2022, and presumed scrapped.

Naval historians, and especially those who follow the actions of the Royal Navy in the second world war, will be well aware of the loss of the Battleship ‘HMS Prince of Wales’ and the Battle cruiser ‘HMS Repulse’ on 10th December of 1941, just two days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. On 16th November 1941 ‘HMS Prince of Wales’ had called into Cape Town for a two day bunker call whilst en route to Singapore to rendezvous with ‘HMS Repulse’.

Both warships were sunk by Japanese carrier launched aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy, off the east coast of Malaysia. The loss was a disaster for the British defence of Singapore and of the Malayan peninsula. The attack was so catastrophic that 327 crew members of ‘HMS Prince of Wales’, and 513 crew members of ‘HMS Repulse’ died in the attack, and went down with their ships, and who remain where they fell.

A little known fact for South Africans, of those that died aboard ‘HMS Repulse’, was that one of the 513 that perished, posted as ‘Missing Presumed Killed’ (MPK), and who remains still with his ship, was a South African, Ordinary Seaman William Douglas Adamson RNVR, seconded from the South African Naval Force (SANF), Official SANF Number 69001, and who hailed from Klerksdorp in the Transvaal. His name liveth for evermore, and is commemorated on the Naval Memorial, on Panel 58, on Column 3, which is located on Plymouth Hoe, in the United Kingdom.

The outcome of having a total of 840 officers and sailors lying at rest meant that the British Government declared in 2002 that both warships to be a ‘Protected Place’, and under the protection of the ‘Protection of Military Remains Act of 1986, as well as under Article 4 of the 3rd Geneva Convention of 1949, CIMH Rule 115, Chapter 35. In effect, both vessels are designated war graves, well known, and are to be left untouched. The Royal Navy regularly sent down divers to replace the White Ensign that flew above their upturned hulls on the seabed.

Then in 2017, it was noticed that one of the huge phosphor-bronze screws was missing and had been cut off the wreck of ‘HMS Prince of Wales’. It was thought at the time that ‘Chuan Hong 68’ may have been responsible. At the same time three Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer war graves were looted, namely ‘IJS Sagiri’, where 121 crewmembers lost their lives, the Japanese Troopship ‘Hiyoshi Maru’, where 5 crewmembers lost their lives, and the Japanese Troopship ‘Katori Maru’, where 10 crewmembers and an unknown number of Japanese troops lost their lives. Again, it was reported that all 3 vessels had been ‘salvaged’ by ‘Chuan Hong 68’.

She was arrested by Indonesian authorities, and her crew of 20 were placed under arrest, pending investigations into the salvage. The owners claimed that ‘Chuan Hong 68’ was only in Indonesian waters because due to an engine breakdown, that occurred in nearby Malaysian waters, and that she had drifted into their waters. Whilst waiting for Indonesian Navy escorts to arrive, ‘Chuan Hong 68’ slipped her anchor and headed back into Malaysian waters.

On arrival in Malaysian waters she was promptly arrested for failing to report her arrival. Her owners further claimed that she was working for the University of Sabah, and under charter to a Malaysian firm, and that her brief was merely to retrieve objects from the seabed, which were to be taken for display at a Museum exhibition, and that they had only taken an anchor from a small 100 ton sunken vessel. Despite these claims, nobody had been granted a salvage permit from the Malaysian Government, least not the ‘Chuan Hong 68’.

Then in early 2023 she was noticed offloading scrap metal in a Malaysian scrapyard, which included a large Admiralty Pattern anchor, two 5.25″ gun barrels, and both ammunition for 5.25″ and 40mm guns. Only ‘HMS Prince of Wales’ carried 5.25″ guns, and it was obvious where ‘Chuan Hong 68’ had been working. She was duly arrested for anchoring without a permit by the Malaysian authorities, who discovered further ammunition lying amongst the steel scrap on her deck. It was reported by local fishermen and divers that she had been working over both wreck sites for over 90 days, i.e. since late 2022, and had delivering scrap metal to the same scrapyard at Belungkor Kampung throughout the period.

Satellite views confirmed her over both British wrecks, and with a 10km oil slick , though to have come from a breached oil tank on one of the wrecks, running behind ‘Chuan Hong 68’. Investigations showed that she had been operating unauthorized salvage on at least 6 wreck sites, some of which were also war graves. A report from the Malaysia based newspaper, the New Straits Times, stated that they believed that ‘Chuan Hong 68’ was responsible for 90% of the looting of World War Two wrecks in the region, and which included within the waters of Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

In all, a total of just under 3,000 sailors and soldiers have had their final resting place desecrated in this region, with one report stating that 3 Royal Dutch Navy warships, sunk in 1942 with the loss of 919 crew, have disappeared in their entirety from the seabed, and with witnesses stating that bags of human remains from these ‘scrapped’ warships were simply tossed into mass graves on the island of Java.

Despite two arrests in the area in less than five years, ‘Chuan Hong 68’ turned up again in Malaysian waters in June 2024, and at the same scrap yard, and close to the same wrecks. Again, she was detained by the Malaysian authorities, and charged with paperwork violations, including having no port clearance, errors on her crew manifest, and other irregularities. It also included her having 60 undeclared gas bottles aboard, similar to those used for cutting up scrap metal.

Malaysian authorities also stated that ‘Chuan Hong 68’ appeared to operate a modus operandi by having her AIS turned on whenever she was in port, or in transit, but then switched it off when she approached the two wreck sites, and her AIS remained off until she was once more in transit back to the scrap yard. The authorities questioned why, despite her record, had she been allowed to return to Malaysian waters. Further investigations showed that two permits that were issued to her in June 2023, for non-naval ship wrecks, had both mysteriously disappeared from Government records. She had been reported as having proceeded to these sites, and then moved to undeclared sites, where other wrecks were thought to lie.

The reason for her plundering war graves, with little respect for those that lie within the wrecks, is that the steel, copper and bronze metals that make up these wrecks were forged before the first atomic bomb explosions. This means they are considered to be extremely valuable as the metals are free from radionuclides, such as Plutonium-239, Strontium-90, Caesium-137, and Technetium-99 isotopes. These ‘low background’ metals are highly sought after, as they can be used for use in measurement and detector scientific instruments, as used in the Space Industry, the Medical Industry, and the Scientific Research Industry.

Her record of desecrating war graves, of looting materials from these war graves, of plundering the entire structures of these warships, and of disturbing the last known resting places of sailors and soldiers, and all for profit, without seeking permissions, authority and permits is an utter disgrace. Yet, despite her history, the Chinese Authorities, when told of their arrest, did not show contempt for what their citizens had done, nor display anger that they may have brought the reputation of their country into disrepute. Instead they issued a statement asking the Malaysian authorities to “handle the case justly in accordance with law”, adding that the “security and lawful rights and interests” of Chinese citizens must also be protected.

One has to ask why she is in South African waters. More to the point, what would the Memorable Order of Tin Hats (MOTH), the Naval Officers Association of Southern Africa, the South African Legion, the Naval Heritage Trust of South Africa, the Cape Town branch of the Royal Naval Association, and even the current crop of South African Navy senior officers think about a naval war grave robber, including one wherein lay a fallen South African sailor, a looter, a plunderer, a desecrator, a disgraceful ghoul, is doing being looked after in South African waters?

The real question is what is ‘Chuan Hong 68’ doing here using a false AIS, where is she going next, and why?

Added 9 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Opinion piece: A Statesman. A Statesman. Our Country needs the voice of reason and wisdom to resolve the Mozambican tragedy

Africa Ports & Ships

By Gavin Kelly 
CEO: Road Freight Association

There is no need to regurgitate what is currently happening in Mozambique [but do read the two reports immediately below]. But what is important is to highlight what that crisis has done to the South African economy – and more importantly – what it has highlighted as the weaknesses and fail-points in the greater South African logistics chain.

The Road Freight Association (RFA) has repeatedly noted the security conditions, as well as interrupted logistics operations, to the various authorities – who have done admirable things above and beyond their daily requirements to address the symptoms (or consequences) of what is happening across the border.

It is very clear that, without the road freight route to the Port of Maputo – through Lebombo, that many South African mining companies face a very bleak future. Our own ports and rail systems have failed us (which is a shame) and the only alternative left to many industries was to make use of the Port of Maputo.

This has now been effectively cut off by the political unrest and continuing protests.

Is this not the time that our President steps in to bring about a peaceful resolution to what is happening in Mozambique? We have a Government of National Unity – which has many warts and tribulations – but is the most probable answer to progress.

We need a Statesman to explain to Mozambique that our country is suffering – and that there needs to be a resolve to agree on the way forward – and whilst that is happening, the corridor to the Port of Maputo needs to be secured. At all costs and by any means.

In the meantime, businesses across the SADC region are looking at bleak prospects in the interim. If you cannot get your goods to your customer (exported through the Port of Mozambique), then there is no revenue, no funding and no sustainable resources to continue in the business.

Our drivers, our trucks, our customers’ cargo, the business image of thousands of African businesses are all threatened day after day. Drivers are beaten (and they have nothing to do with the political landscape in Mozambique), trucks are looted, burnt, roads to the Port of Maputo blockaded and the very Port itself placed under siege.

In the past week there has been an inevitable and slow progression towards the reality that ravaged Mozambique in the early 1970s – a destructive civil war that left the country in ruins with a desperate population hanging on to life. Starvation, disease and land mines haunted every citizen every day.

Do we want to return to that? NO. However, without the intervention of a Statesman (or Woman), this scenario will become ever more true (violence erupts with outright war between various factions and the whole country becomes unstable).

This means any form of product or commodity and passengers/tourism will be halted into and through the country.

The severe disruption of all trade logistics (air, rail, road and sea) will come to a halt and that means huge financial repercussions for both countries (and the greater SADC): loss of revenue in terms of duties and income tax, VAT, company tax, as well as loss of income for businesses (large and small).

The RFA estimates that the full closure / suspension of Port of Maputo operations and the ceasing of any road freight logistics within Mozambique costs around R10 million a day (total cost to SA economy only). Direct losses to freight logistics is around R6mil (includes damage to / loss of vehicles, injury / loss of drivers, looting of loads, inability to retrieve vehicles / disruptions of exports / imports / loss of business due to consignment loads not being fulfilled / loss of fleet capacity to perform linked or other load agreements, loss of revenue for operations / extra security deployments.

The remaining R4 million a day is lost in other sectors including servicing, manufacturing, tourism, retail, mining and agriculture (some of which have more reliance of road freight transport than others).

That means less jobs, higher unemployment, hunger, and all those other “small” things that go hand-in-hand with a collapsing economy. One business at a time – so an economy collapses, and we have seen enough of that in Africa already.

The RFA calls on those who have the connections, the status, the ability to intervene to play the role of statesman. This is about Mozambique, South Africa and the SADC region.

Added 9 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Mozambique in post-election turmoil: economic policies that could make a difference

Africa Ports & Ships

Sam Jones, United Nations University

Turmoil following presidential and parliamentary elections in Mozambique has been severe. Preliminary official results from the 2024 elections indicated a landslide win by the ruling party, Frelimo. These results are widely contested, with various reports of irregularities.

Post-election squabbles are not new to the country. But this time feels different.

The current protests have been more sustained and widespread than ever before. A week-long paralysis of economic activity called by Venâncio Mondlane, one of the opposition presidential candidates, has received widespread support, especially in the capital city, Maputo.

Virtually all socioeconomic strata have participated, with up-market neighbourhoods adopting the panelaço, a coordinated banging of pots and pans, to show their discontent.

At times, protests have flared into violence and looting, leading to the temporary closure of the country’s main land border with South Africa. For the first time, internet access has been curtailed.

But the unrest is not only about contested election results. It reflects widespread disenchantment with the status quo, including limited social mobility for many. For some scholars, the emergence of Islamic terrorism in the north of the country since 2017 is another symptom of growing inequalities and unfulfilled expectations from natural resource extraction, amid rapid population growth.

Despite calls for dialogue, including a citizen manifesto prepared by leading academics, a political compromise does not appear to be in sight. Regardless of what political settlement emerges, though, the new government faces stark economic policy challenges. These will only become more acute if instability and violence continue.

Drawing on a range of evidence and based on years of academic research in the country, I suggest that current political unrest reflects discontent with the socioeconomic status quo, including limited opportunities for advancement. To put Mozambique on a pathway to development and poverty reduction, I propose priorities and actions for a new government to consider.

Precursors

The current crisis arose from various long-running economic and institutional challenges. Key among these is the “hidden-debt crisis” that came to light in 2014, involving billion-dollar commercial loans guaranteed by the government to set up a tuna fishing fleet. When these debts became known to the public, Mozambique saw a sharp contraction of official development assistance to the government, rapid exchange rate depreciation, and high consumer price inflation.

Research suggests these dynamics have contributed to substantial increases in poverty in the country. The government’s recent National Development Strategy acknowledged that nearly two-thirds of the country’s population of 30 million live below the national poverty line. This is up from just under 50% ten years ago.

But crises rarely have only one cause. Deeper issues include distortions due to organised crime and perceptions of elite capture. There is a widely held view that government contracts and mining concessions are tightly controlled to the benefit of political insiders. These insiders often act as gate-keepers to external private investors.

On top of this, the country has faced recurring shocks, such as COVID-19 and major climate events.

Management of public finances has added fuel to this smouldering fire. Long hoped-for windfalls from natural resource extraction, including coal and natural gas, remain distant.

Over the last decade, public investment has fallen dramatically and lending by local banks to the government has soared. Government spending has been squeezed as most tax revenues now go to pay public sector wages, service debts and maintain a bare minimum of public services.

Economic policy priorities

The political legitimacy of the new government will turn on its ability to make genuine improvements within a reasonable time.

With severe resource constraints and only crude economic policy levers, careful reflection and debate is required to identify what to do first and how to deliver results.

In my view, five priorities should guide the economic policy focus of a new government:

• • Strengthen macroeconomic stability through prudent public finances. Make fiscal space by managing the wage bill and internal debt.
  • Establish a new social contract. Public expenditure must focus on critical public services, address regional inequalities and support the most vulnerable. The new government needs to inspire the younger generation that they can expect a better life than their parents.
  • Undertake large-scale investments in economic infrastructure, to adapt to climate shocks and longer-run climate change. This will be critical to stimulate and sustain economic growth.
  • Actively support (green) export sectors as drivers of growth and job creation, particularly in agriculture, where the majority of workers and the poor are found, as well as related agro-industries.
  • Upskill the civil service, promoting professionalism, technical competence, non-partisanship, integrity, transparency and accountability.

Concrete actions now

Of course, setting priorities is the easier part. More difficult is to identify feasible means to achieve them. I put forward some ideas for immediate concrete actions:

• • Place a temporary freeze on government salary expenditures and acquisition of non-critical new equipment.
  • Smartly repackage public debt, if necessary through renegotiation with major creditors.
  • Set out a clear pathway towards a more competitive real exchange rate. This should recognise that moderate and managed inflation can reduce the real cost of government wages and certain debt obligations. And that a more competitive and stable exchange rate should boost export sectors.
  • Reform and expand social protection programmes. This needs to be done urgently. The aim would be to get money flowing through the wider economy (especially beyond urban centres) and to support the most vulnerable. The country’s largest social protection scheme, a social pension for the elderly, has made virtually no transfers since 2023.
  • Try offering smallholder farmers a minimum price for selected agricultural products, to promote income stability and stimulate agricultural value-chains.
  • Base policy on high-quality evidence and deliberation.

Lastly, the government should consider measures to raise additional resources for investment and social protection. These could include:

• • Making the case for fast-track access to global funds for climate adaptation and mitigation. This requires upfront investment in diplomacy, technical expertise and project development across government.
  • Reclaiming a share of ill-gotten assets. This could be done, for example, by reconciliation agreements. At a minimum, public registers of assets held by politically exposed persons, whether at home or abroad, should be established.

This is an ambitious agenda, but there are no simple fixes. The incoming government must not ignore the gravity of the economic challenges facing the country. And it would be unwise to adopt purely ideological, populist or untested reforms.

Placing Mozambique on a path that provides younger generations with opportunities for social mobility is essential.

Sam Jones, Senior Research Fellow, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), United Nations University

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

Added 9 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Mozambique’s deadly protests: how the country got here

Added 9 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Private Sector Calls for Chapter and Verse Revision of DCT Pier 2

Africa Ports & Ships

By Juanita Maree

Logistics Industry leader Dr Juanita Maree is the Chief Executive Officer of the Southern Africa Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF)

Robust, dynamic discussions shaped the logistics industry symposium held last week, highlighting positive signs for the year ahead. The meeting called for government to maintain its focus on consultation and collaboration with the private sector at this crucial juncture.

Dr Juanita Maree, Chief Executive of the Southern Africa Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) emphasised that while progress is being made, the process of freeing logistics from monopolistic practices and control – which is hindering economic growth in South Africa, remains a key challenge.

She stressed the importance of heightened awareness and course correction, urging the government to urgently engage with the industry on ongoing efforts and very specifically on work-in-progress projects of critical importance.

This year marks the first year of the implementation of the Freight Logistics Roadmap, following its approval by Cabinet in December 2023. The roadmap was developed in consultation, by the Presidency and private sector representatives and aims to transform South Africa’s monopolistic logistics network structures through the implementation of a vertical separation strategy.

This approach seeks to foster a more efficient, competitive supply chain logistics system for the country. It typically involves separating the ownership and management of the infrastructure from the operation of the services, which helps improve competition and efficiency in the system.

South Africa must seize the opportunity to restore and strengthen its competitive edge in supply chain logistics. Achieving competitiveness hinges on reducing logistics costs, which, in South Africa currently account for 57% of the total cost of an end product.

To drive this reduction in cost, alignment across the logistics system is essential to eliminate waste, friction and other inefficiencies -paving the way for streamlined, cost-effective international, regional and domestic supply chains.

Across de world, in this transformative, evolving landscape, public, private partnerships (PPP) are increasingly shaping a range of project finance platforms across technical, operational and developmental fields, enabling private sector participation and the involvement by special dispensation of other third parties through concessionary projects.

In 2023 Filipino ports company International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI) won the bid for the 25-year contract to operate and develop South Africa’s Pier 2 at the Durban Container Terminal – Africa’s largest container hub.

However, a legal dispute between competing bidders has emerged, further disrupting the positioning of solutions to the national logistics network crisis, stalling the momentum of this vital initiative undermining the project at its base and foundation.

The legal wrangle has prompted reaction from private sector operations. According to media reports, companies are holding APM Terminals – the losing bidder and a subsidiary of a major Danish shipping company, responsible for halting the PSP structure.

The company obtained an interdict, accusing Transnet of unfair practice during the evaluation process that led to the awarding of the contract to ICTSI. This week the court will decide whether the appeal will be granted.

The final ruling is set for March 12, 2025. This delay, resulting in a pause to the rescue project for Pier 2, adds yet another layer of disruption to South Africa’s already strained logistics network – amid a national logistics crisis.

This situation is deeply concerning, and it is imperative that both the nation and the industry should not overlook these developments.

Pause for reflection

This pause presents South Africa with a unique chance to reevaluate the concessions’ framework and to reassess whether it is fully aligned with the country’s specific needs and objectives. Is the PSP for Pier 2 fully supportive of critical national imperatives?

“In the midst of every crisis lays great opportunity,” said Albert Einstein. This pause in the Pier 2 process allows us to revisit and reassess the building blocks and feasibility of the concession:

* Is this agreement tailored to our own specific local conditions?
* Is it the most appropriate, efficient PSP model for Pier 2 – South Africa’s biggest container terminal?

The IRERC Report

The Interim Rail Economic Regulator Capacity (IRERC) Report and corresponding network statement is set to be published this December and will indeed mark a significant milestone in South Africa’s logistics rail sector. The progress reflected in this report underscores the growing maturity of the country’s vertical separation programme as it is unfolding in the rail network.

It is particularly encouraging to note the remarkable transparency in the IRERC report. Transparency is key to ensuring that all stakeholders – whether public or private, domestic or international – have access to credible, relevant data, methodologies and decisions shaping the future of South Africa’s rail and other logistics modalities.

This openness signals a mature regulatory environment which is essential to fostering long-term investment and innovation, suggesting also commitment to stakeholder engagement.

The IRERC process is testament to the country’s ability to build a world-class logistics network across all transport modalities – air, road, ocean, rail and pipelines and reflects the broader vision of an integrated, efficient and competitive ecosystem.

When all modalities work in synergy, it can significantly boost South Africa’s position in global trade, as well as regional and domestic economic growth.

Building the architecture of the future nation

Our fragile economy calls for strong leadership. It is no longer feasible to undertake any PSP transaction in isolation. What may look at first like a soft loan may incur an opportunity cost or cause attrition in the flight of local talent, may also cause loss of control of critical infrastructure – among other many possible consequential risks.

The time has come to examine the building blocks of this deal and to establish a robust mechanism to oversee future agreements as we shape our collective future.

Every strategic project now plays a critical role in shaping the architecture of our nation’s future. It is essential for the public and private sectors to join forces, combining expertise to engage South Africa’s brightest minds, experts in their fields in this transformative journey.

Together we must cultivate a culture of excellence, rooted in integrity and transparency, always prioritising the best interests of SA Inc. as we forge a path to a stronger and more resilient future.

The building blocks

* What is the ultimate master plan for SA Inc. to achieve an intact logistics network across all modalities?

* Performance tracking the PSP for Pier 2 to yield the contracted results over a 25 year period (how will Government ensure and enforce best practices?)

* Productivity Index base?

a. fit for purpose
b. deployment of new technology
c. price setting for terminal handling
d. other related charges?

* Clarity on the Implementation of Protocols for a 49% shareholding transaction in the country’s biggest container terminal

* Clarity is required on the oversight role the PSP will play in structuring a multimodal structure with an Inland terminal, back-to-port operations and freight villages

Call to action

LET’S TAKE THIS DEAL BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD! – LET’S TAKE ANOTHER LOOK.

Under an umbrella of good governance and policy reform, we will diligently craft the building blocks. Building trust through transparency, we have the data, configuration and world best practices available to us.

Government and the nation can count on the Private Sector. We got your back SA Inc.

Added 8 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Maritime security in the Western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden

Edited by Paul Ridgway 
Africa Ports & Ships
London

Coordinated action:  Signatory States to the Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC) and its Jeddah Amendment concerning the security of the western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden met from 28 to 30 November in Dar Es Salaam at the Seventh High-level Meeting on the implementation of the Djibouti Code of Conduct/Jeddah Amendment.

The meeting brought together high-level stakeholders to discuss how to continue to work together to protect the region from piracy, armed robbery against ships and other illicit maritime activities.

S-G IMO opens

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez, who opened the meeting, drew attention to the need for all parties to work in cooperation, to develop meaningful action plans, to implement those action plans and to be able to demonstrate concrete success in order to secure further support in the future.

Whole-of-government approach

Delegates at the meeting decided to establish a working group on operational cooperation and coordination at sea. The resolution establishing the Working Group recognized that the successful implementation of the DCoC and its Jeddah Amendment (JA) needs a whole-of-government approach, making full use of all the competences, skills and capabilities of national authorities, both civilian and military.

Agencies working together and sharing capabilities act as a force multiplier, increasing effective results while reducing costs to signatory States’ taxpayers.

All parties’ potential recognized

Participants also recognized the potential of national, regional and international naval forces to assist maritime law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies to carry out their duties.

This will require close cooperation, coordination and communication between navies, law enforcement and civilian authorities and the Regional Coordination Operations Centre; and between navies themselves at the national, regional and international levels. It will also require consistency and compliance with national legislation and international law.

Vessels of Interest (VOI) database

The participants agreed to establish a regionally owned, shared Vessels of Interest (VOI) database, primarily to assist in countering illicit activities in the maritime domain.

This High-Level Meeting was convened jointly by IMO with the United Republic of Tanzania and supported by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). The meeting was chaired by Dr Lufunyo S Hussein (Tanzania) and co-chaired by Mr Metse Ralephenya (South Africa and Chair of DCoC/JA).

Also attending were participants from seventeen DCoC countries, as well as implementing partners from twenty States and organizations.

Participating States were: Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia, Republic of South Africa, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, and Yemen.

Partnering nations represented were Denmark, France, India, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States of America.

DCoC/JA National Focal Points meeting

Signatory States of the Djibouti Code of Conduct convened a meeting of the DCoC/JA National Focal Points on 29 November.

Participants raised concerns about the growing threats in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and western Indian Ocean, and agreed to highlight and keep these areas of concern in focus while making efforts to find regional solutions to mitigate them.

They highlighted the need to expedite the effort of the Regional Information Sharing Network (ISN) to enhance awareness of threats and boost response capabilities.

Friends of the DCoC Meeting

In its parallel meeting, the Friends of the DCOC – which includes organizations and States that have shown demonstrable capabilities in support of the work of the DCoC(JA) – proposed improvement to the DCOC Capacity Building Matrix, to make it a more effective tool for matching regional States’ needs with development partners’ assistance programmes.

The Friends of the DCOC also considered how to enhance information sharing, capability development, capacity building, and operational coordination.

Added 8 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

WHARF TALK: visiting cruise ship – COSTA SMERALDA

Pictures by ‘Docrat’
Story by Jay Gates

This is the first Austral cruise liner season that the behemoths have made their appearance in South African ports. Of course, thus far, they have all been headed elsewhere to begin a new cruising season, rather than taking up station from South Africa and running a limited programme of cruises for locals to enjoy. Again, the only reason that they are passing through is thanks to the idiocy of the Houthis. However, beggars cannot be choosers, and the casual maritime observer will happily accept the forced outcome of yet another behemoth calling in.

On 4th December, at 09:00 in the morning, the large passenger cruise liner ‘Costa Smeralda’ (IMO 9781889) arrived off Cape Town, from Walvis Bay in Namibia. She entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock, and as expected she went alongside the Passenger Cruise Terminal at E berth.

Built in 2019 by the Meyer Turku OY shipyard at Turku in Finland, ‘Costa Smeralda’ is 337 metres in length, and has an impressive gross registered tonnage of 185,010 tons. This makes her the eighth largest passenger cruise vessel in the world. She is powered by four MaK 16VM46DF dual fuel engines, providing 15,440 kW each. Her dual fuel engines are capable of burning liquid natural gas (LNG) as a fuel, which makes her just the second passenger cruise liner built that is fully capable as being LNG powered.

A diesel electric vessel, as well as providing all onboard domestic power, her engines transfer power to two ABB electric motors that power two ABB Azimuth Propulsion Units, each providing 18,500 kW each, to give ‘Costa Smeralda’ a maximum cruising service speed of 21.5 knots. For added manoeuvrability she has no less than four bow transverses thrusters. By burning LNG, ‘Costa Smeralda’ reduces SOx emissions by 100%, NOx emissions by 85%, CO2 emissions by 20%, and Particulate emissions by 95%. This has enabled ‘Costa Smeralda’ to be awarded the ‘Green Plus’ Notation by her classification society, Registro Italiano Navale (RINA).

Not unexpectedly for a vessel of this size, her building included 300 km of wiring, and she is covered with 380 tons of paint. With no less than twenty decks, of which eighteen of them are set aside for passenger use, ‘Costa Smeralda’ has eleven of these decks set aside for cabins, which total 2,612, and of which 1,550 of these cabins have a balcony. She is able to carry 5,224 passengers in double occupancy, with a maximum total of 6,554 passengers if required, all of whom are looked after by a crew of 1,646.

Again, as expected of such a gargantuan vessel, her passenger facilities are vast, and includes eleven restaurants, nineteen lounge bars, a show lounge, theatre, casino, cookery school, Italian design museum, outdoor movie screen, boutique shopping mall, teens club, kids club, nursery, spa, gymnasium, sauna, Turkish bath, beauty salon, wellness rooms, treatment rooms, massage rooms, and a therapy pool. Her outdoor activities include a rock climbing wall, aerial ropeway course, mini golf course, and a water park. Her pool offerings include no less than thirteen different pools and Jacuzzi hot tubs, plus one laned pool set aside for swimming laps.

Costing US$950 million (ZAR17.14 billion) to build, she is one of no less than eleven sisterships, of which only nine have so far entered service. All of the sisterships are spread throughout the varied fleet of the Carnival Corporation &PLC, of Miami in the US State of Florida, with each subsidiary company giving different class names to their own sisterships. AIDA Cruises call their sisterships the ‘Helios’ Class, whilst both P&O Cruises and Carnival Cruises call their sisterships the ‘Excel’ Class. With ownership of ‘Costa Smeralda’ being Carnival Corporation & PLC, she is operated by Costa Crociere SpA, of Genoa in Italy, and she is managed by Carnival Maritime GmbH, of Hamburg in Germany.

Within Costa Crociere (Costa Cruises) ‘Costa Smeralda’ is one of two sisterships, both known as the ‘Excellence’ Class, and she is the largest vessel in the current Costa Cruises fleet. For the nomenclature aficionado her name translates as the ‘Emerald Coast’, which lies along the northern coast of the Italian island of Sardinia. The area is only 20 miles in length, but it is one of the most expensive locations in Europe for purchasing property, with some house prices on the Costa Smeralda region reaching up to US$392,200 (ZAR7.07 million) per square meter!

Her voyage to Cape Town began back on 14th November, when she sailed from Civitavecchia in Italy, bound for Dubai in the UAE, on a 36 day cruise, and a voyage which ordinarily would have taken a route through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. However, thanks to the Houthis her full cruise itinerary is Civitavecchia- Genoa (both Italy)- Marseilles (France)- Barcelona- Cadiz (both Spain)- Tenerife (Canary Islands)- Walvis Bay (Namibia)- Cape Town- Port Elizabeth- Port Louis (Mauritius)- Muscat (Oman)- Dubai (UAE), with an arrival of 21st December.

On this voyage, on 27th November, whilst off the coast of West Africa, and on the leg from Tenerife to Walvis Bay, ‘Costa Smeralda’ declared an onboard medical emergency. Lack of suitable medical facilities in this region, meant that she was forced to divert, at her maximum speed, towards the coast of Ghana, which lay over one day’s sailing away. The passenger who had the medical emergency was transferred ashore by launch, when ‘Costa Smeralda’ arrived off the port of Accra on the night of 28th November. After receiving treatment in an Accra hospital, the passenger will be medically repatriated back to their home country.

This cruise was also being offered as one that terminates in Cape Town for some passengers, as well as being offered as one starting in Cape Town to Dubai. Unusually for a terminal cruise changeover, as many previous cruise liners have done, ‘Costa Smeralda’ was not scheduled for an overnight stay in Cape Town. However, unusually, her next call at Port Elizabeth does include a published overnight stay. It is not often that the tourist delights of the Western Cape are relegated to second choice to those tourist delights offered by the Eastern Cape.

From Dubai, ‘Costa Smeralda’ will undertake a programme of ten, seven day, cruises starting on 21st December, and running until 25th February 2025, with a fixed itinerary of every cruise being Dubai- Abu Dhabi (both UAE)- Doha (Qatar)- Muscat (Oman)- Dubai. At the conclusion of her winter cruising season in the Persian Gulf, she will retrace her route back to Genoa in Italy, to begin a summer season in the Mediterranean Sea.

Her repositioning cruise, which almost mirrors her outward cruise, will begin on 1st March 2025 with the itinerary being Dubai- Muscat- Port Louis- Port Elizabeth (16th March 08:00-20:00)- Cape Town (18th March 08:00-20:00)- Walvis Bay (overnight 21st-22nd March 08:00-17:00)- Tenerife- Tangier (Morocco)- Barcelona- Ajaccio (Corsica)- Genoa, with an arrival on 7th April 2025.

Back in November 2023, ‘Costa Smeralda’ had a further medical emergency when she was off Barcelona, on a Mediterranean cruise. The vessel was en route from Barcelona to Marseilles, when an outbreak of a gastrointestinal virus flared up onboard, which had already been reported one week earlier, and for which safety measures had been put in place. A 68 year old female passenger fell ill with severe intestinal problems, which worsened, and ‘Costa Smeralda’ diverted towards Barcelona. Sadly, before the vessel arrived, the passenger passed away, which resulted in the Italian Prosecutors Office opening a case of manslaughter.

In January 2021 ‘Costa Smeralda’ experienced a steering failure when coming alongside in the Italian port of Savona during a Mediterranean cruise. The failure caused the vessel to collide with one of the commercial terminals, and resulted in one of the grain silo quayside elevators being pushed off its rails, damage to the terminal infrastructure, and one of the lifeboats of ‘Costa Smeralda’ being crushed, ripped open, torn from its davits, and falling into the harbour.

In Cape Town, ‘Costa Smeralda’ concluded her passenger tours, passenger changeovers, and uplifts of stores and fresh provisions, and after just a short 13 hours alongside in the Mother City, she sailed at 22:00 in the late evening of 4th December, bound now to the Eastern Cape and her next advertised cruise itinerary stop of Port Elizabeth.

After a leisurely 33 hour cruise along the Southern Cape coast, ‘Costa Smeralda’ arrived off Port Elizabeth on 6th December at 07:00 in the morning, entering the port and going alongside for her overnight stay in the Windy City. After a 36 hour period alongside, she was ready to sail on time, and at 19:00 in the evening of 7th December, she sailed from Port Elizabeth, now bound for her next scheduled cruise stop at Port Louis in Mauritius, with an ETA of 12th December at 07:00 in the morning.

It cannot be ignored that the design of the modern mega-liner in this day and age takes some getting used to, despite some of the more modern casual maritime observers being enamoured to such vessels. As can be expected, there are those, of which I fall into that old school view, who do not see them as any more aesthetically pleasing than representing something akin to a large seaside block of balconied apartments.

However, like her or loathe her, ‘Costa Smeralda’, and those like her, will make a return to South African ports in the Austral autumn months, and for the fans of ‘Costa Smeralda’ they will be able to see her again in March 2025, in both Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, plus her having an overnight stay in Walvis Bay on her northbound run back to Europe. Enjoy such visits by these behemoths whilst you can, as they will not last, and the Houthis cannot go on forever, creating mayhem to world maritime trade of all persuasions.

Added 8 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Enhancing port digitalization – Boosting African trade

Edited by Paul Ridgway 
Africa Ports & Ships
London

IMO has joined states of the African Alliance for Electronic Commerce (AAEC)* to support work on The Role of Single Windows and Digitalization in Boosting African Trade. This was achieved at an AAEC-led workshop held in Casablanca on 4 December.

Participants learnt about the 2022 amendments to IMO’s FAL Convention, which now directs the electronic exchange of mandatory data in ports for the completion of formalities.

Centralized digital platform

It is apparent that since 1 January this year all IMO Member States have been required to use a centralized digital platform or Maritime Single Window to collect and exchange information with vessels when they dock at ports.

This workshop boosted states’ ability to implement an MSW, which aims to significantly reduce time and costs associated with port procedures and thereby enhance the efficiency of shipping worldwide.

Organized by the AAEC this workshop was held in partnership with the Moroccan Single Window, Portnet SA.

* Members of AAEC are: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Senegal and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) Commission see here.

Added 8 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Chinese fishing vessel seized by Somali pirates

Africa Ports & Ships

A Chinese fishing vessel, operating within the territorial waters of Somalia, has been highjacked by Somali pirates, according to a report issued by the European Union Naval Force EUNAVFOR ATALANTA.

Following an alert by the Puntland Maritime Police Force, Eunavfor Atalanta maritime forces began monitoring the fishing vessel off the northeast coast of Puntland to determine whether the vessel has been highjacked.

Operation Atalanta subsequently reported the presence onboard the fishing vessel of armed men, brandishing AK-47 and machine guns and who appeared in control of the vessel.

On board the fishing vessel are 18 crew members plus the pirates. None of the crew appear to be injured and following observation of the vessel the case as been officially classified as ‘Armed Robbery at Sea’.

Operation Atalanta says it is in permanent contact with the appropriate Somali and Chinese authorities, as well as with the Delegation of the European Union to Somalia.

In an update on the situation, Operation Atalanta says it is closely monitoring the incident and strongly recommends merchant and other vulnerable vessels to register in the MSCHOA’s* Voluntary Registration Scheme (VRS), “to provide the most effective monitoring and response by Atalanta forces and their partners in countering maritime security threats.”

Earlier, Operation Atalanta issued a warning of the possibility of piracy occurring with the end of the monsoon, when sea conditions will improve and that a pirate group could become active in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin.

* MSCHOA – Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa

Added 6 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

AGL to expand Congo Port Terminal amid accelerated oil & gas development

Africa Ports & Ships

Africa Global Logistics (AGL), a subsidiary of MSC and operator of Congo Terminal, recently announced the expansion of the Port of Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo (ROC) in partnership with the China Road and Bridge Corporation. The new port platform, set for completion in early 2027, aims to position Pointe-Noire as a major maritime hub in Central Africa.

With an investment of €400 million, the project includes 750 metres of quays to a depth of -17 metres alongside and 26 hectares of quayside space. The initiative also involves widening the port channel to 300 metres.

This infrastructure upgrade will enable the port to handle larger-capacity container ships, serviced with 16 gantry cranes, while aligning with the country’s goal to increase oil production to 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) and LNG capacity to over 3 million tons per annum (mtpa) within the next five years.

The African Energy Chamber (AEC) has praised the project, highlighting its potential to enhance regional trade and affirm the ROC’s status as a leading hydrocarbon exporter. The expanded port is expected to double its container handling capacity to 2.3 million containers per year and generate up to 900 new jobs.

In the natural gas sector, the ROC aims to become a regional leader in gas monetization. The first phase of its Congo LNG project began in December 2023 with a floating LNG vessel. A second vessel, under construction in China, will boost capacity to 3 mtpa by the end of 2025. Additional projects, such as the Wing Wah Bango Kayo onshore development, are also underway to increase LNG exports.

The ROC’s oil sector targets an increase in production to 500,000 bpd within the next three to five years. Key projects include Perenco’s investment to boost output to 100,000 bpd by 2025 and Cogo’s $150 million investment in the Conkouati-Koui and Nanga III fields.

To support these ambitions, the ROC is implementing policies to encourage investment and development, including a Gas Master Plan and new Gas Code, as well as an upstream licensing round in early 2025. These measures aim to ensure the ROC is well-positioned to support and attract energy projects and investment across the value chain.

“With the addition of the new port platform, the Port of Pointe-Noire will be well-positioned to become a regional hub for energy trade and broader economic activities,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the AEC.

“The investment by AGL and the China Road and Bridge Corporation will significantly impact the local economy and community, creating numerous job opportunities and empowering women and young people through training and entrepreneurship support.”

Added 8 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

CFM reports sabotage on Beira-Machipanda railway

Africa Ports & Ships

Portos e Caminhos-de-Ferro de Moçambique (CFM) reported on Wednesday (4 December) that a section of rail had been removed along the railway between the port city of Beira and Machipanda, on the border with Zimbabwe.

Until the rail can be replaced this means the railway from Zimbabwe to the port remains closed.

This is just a further setback for the port which earlier received news of congestion surcharges being imposed by several of the major container shipping lines.

CFM called the removal of a section of track an act of sabotage, saying that this was “an action carried out by former workers from the Machipanda Line Rehabilitation Brigade (BRLM), who had been hired as part of the Machipanda Line Rehabilitation project.”

There was no explanation as to how they know who caused the damage to the Central Railway System. According to CFM the disgruntled former temporary workers believe they should be integrated into the permanent workforce. Alternately they believe they are entitle to compensation, said CFM.

Mozambique news agency reported that CFM was having meetings with the former workers on the basis that the workers might not have fully realised the scope of the contract.

The railway between Beira and the Zimbabwe border at Machipanda is 318 kilometres in length. When built in early colonial days it was to a gauge of 2ft, later widened to the Southern African standard of Cape gauge 3ft 6ins (1067mm).

Added 6 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Congestion surcharges levied at the Port of Beira

Africa Ports & Ships

Several container shipping lines have introduced congestion charges applicable at the Port of Beira.

Delays of up to 10 days outside the central Mozambican port have been reported in the past weeks. Shipping companies have begun to react with surcharges.

CMA CGM – 22 December 2024

French shipping line CMA CGM announced this week it was introducing congestion surcharges for containers at the Beira port, due to ongoing congestion , which it said has created challenging operational conditions.

The congestion surcharge will become effective as from 22 December 2024.

This will apply to shipments originating from the Far East, including China, Hong Kong and Macau SAR, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, all destined for Beira.

In addition, a congestion surcharge will come into affect on shipments to Beira from the Indian Subcontinent & Middle East Gulf, also applicable as from 22 December 2024.

In both instances the surcharge will be US$ 270 per TEU for all cargo types, “considering the present situation in Beira.”

MSC – 9 December 2024

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has announced a congestion surcharge to be implemented at the port of Beira in Mozambique, with effect 9 December 2024.

The latest surcharge comes due to ongoing congestion in the region which has created challenging operational conditions, said MSC.

This surcharge will apply to cargo shipped from the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent, including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, to Beira.

The surcharge will be set at US$ 500 per unit for both dry and reefer cargo, effective from 9 December 2024.

Added 6 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

First delivery of new straddles arrive for DCT2

Africa Ports & Ships

The first four of an order of 20 Kronecranes Noell diesel-electric straddle carriers arrived in Durban recently aboard the container ship MSC Carole for assembly and commissioning at Durban Container Terminal Pier 2 (DCT2).

The components for the four straddles arrived from Würzburg, Germany and are being assembled and commissioned onsite. The straddle carriers will then be handed over to operations to start their endurance testing towards the end of December 2024 and will be fully operational in mid-January 2025.

The urgent order for another 20 straddle carriers for DCT2, valued at over R440 million, is part of Transnet’s Recovery Plan.

All 20 new straddle carriers will be in full operation at the end of May 2025.

The terminal is renewing its fleet as part of its recovery plan, having invested in haulers and reach stackers earlier in the year. Valued at over R440 million.

“This delivery marks a crucial investment in the future of DCT Pier 2 and a major step forward in enhancing our operational efficiency,” said Earle Peters, Managing Executive for Durban Terminals.

“The addition of these modern, diesel-electric straddle carriers will greatly improve container handling capabilities and foster recovery.”

Based on the system in use at DCT2, straddle carriers are a critical part of the terminal’s direct operations, supporting the loading and unloading of containers aboard vessels with enhanced precision and speed.

Added 5 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Promoting submarine cable protection – Resilience of undersea cables

Reported by Paul Ridgway 
Africa Ports & Ships
London

In early November it was reported that two undersea cables in the Baltic Sea had been cut in a suspected act of sabotage, possibly Russian or carried out on its behalf by China.

Investigators looking into the incident, which involved a cable between Finland and Germany, focused on a Chinese-registered bulk carrier, Yi Peng 3. Suspicions grew that she may have dragged her anchor to cause the damage.

Without doubt there is suspicion that Russia is involved in attacking critical infrastructure. Speculation points to such action as revenge for the West providing munitions to Ukraine.

Launch of international advisory body

It was announced from Geneva on 29 November that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Agency for Digital Technologies, and the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC), the leading industry organisation promoting submarine cable protection, have formed the International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience to strengthen vital telecommunication infrastructure.

Submarine telecommunication cables form the backbone of global communications, carrying most of the world’s Internet traffic and enabling critical services across the globe, including commerce, financial transactions, government activities, digital health and education.

The Advisory Body will address ways to improve cable resilience by promoting best practices for governments and industry players to ensure the timely deployment and repair of submarine cables, reduce the risks of damage, and enhance the continuity of communications over the cables.

In the words of ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin: “The Advisory Body will mobilise expertise from around the world to ensure this vital digital infrastructure remains resilient in the face of disasters, accidents, and other risks.

“Submarine cables carry over 99 per cent of international data exchanges, making their resilience a global imperative.”

Recognizing the vital role of subsea infrastructure

Damage to submarine cables is not uncommon, with an average of 150 to 200 faults occurring globally each year and requiring about three cable repairs per week, according to the ICPC.

The primary causes of damage include accidental human activity, such as fishing and anchoring, alongside natural hazards, abrasion and equipment failure.

ICPC Chair, Graham Evans, added: “The formation of this International Advisory Body with ITU marks another step toward safeguarding our global digital infrastructure.

“y working together, we can promote best practices, foster international collaboration, and create a consistent approach to protect the vital submarine cable networks that underpin global connectivity.”

Supporting digital resilience globally

The Advisory Body’s forty members include Ministers, Heads of Regulatory Authorities, industry executives, and senior experts on the operations of telecommunication cables.

Members come from all world regions, ensuring diversity and inclusion from countries ranging from small island states to major economies. The membership captures the perspectives of those whose livelihoods and digital futures depend on the operation of submarine telecommunication cables, as well as those who work to deploy, maintain and protect this vital infrastructure.

Nigerian joint chair

The Advisory Body is co-chaired by Minister Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Prof. Sandra Maximiano, Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Communications Authority of the Republic of Portugal (ANACOM).

Tijani said: “Submarine cables are essential to the functioning of our connected world, but they face risks that require coordinated, proactive action.

“Therefore, we are happy to host the inaugural Submarine Cable Resilience Summit to be held in Nigeria in early 2025.”

Added 5 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

News continues below

Russia and the west are entering the ‘grey zone’ of warfare – and the oceans are a key battleground

Africa Ports & Ships

Added 5 December 2024

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

GENERAL NEWS REPORTS

UPDATED THROUGH THE DAY

in partnership with – APO

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

• see full report for the month in the news section here

PORT	October 2024 million tonnes
Richards Bay	7.650
Durban	5.821
Saldanha Bay	3.321
Cape Town	1.105
Port Elizabeth	0.088
Ngqura	1.229
Mossel Bay	0.088
East London	0.141
Total all ports during October 2024	20.105 million tonnes

=================

Terry Hutson