Violence Disrupts Shipping at the Port of Durban
South Africa's Durban port has suffered major disruption after days of unrest, and operations have also been badly affected at the Richards Bay port and on a national freight rail line, logistics and freight companies said on Wednesday.The violence erupted last week in KwaZulu-Natal province, where Durban is located, after the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma but it has rapidly escalated in widespread looting and destruction in several other provinces.Durban has one of the busiest shipping terminals on the African continent…
Second of Nine New TNPA Tugs Sets Sail
The latest of Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA) nine new tugboats has set sail from the Durban premises of contractor, Southern African Shipyards, on Thursday, July 7, destined for its new home at the Port of Port Elizabeth. The tug was ceremonially launched as Qunu in May alongside a third tug, Cormorant. Qunu was named after the Eastern Cape home village of former President, the late Nelson Mandela and is due to arrive in Port Elizabeth on Friday, July 8. She is the second of two new tugs built for the port as part of this large-scale fleet replacement project.
African, Chinese Shipbuilders Form Partnership
Southern African Shipyards (SAS) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China Shipbuilding Trading Company (CSTC), a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, in a union between the largest shipyard in Southern Africa and the largest shipbuilding group in the world. Operation Phakisa was launched by President Jacob Zuma in 2014. One of its two key focus areas is to develop South Africa’s maritime economy in sectors such as marine transport and manufacturing and offshore oil and gas.
Repairs Halt Total's S.African Ops; Resumption not Prior 2016
S.Africa wants 30 wells drilled in next 10 years; Total woes a setback to S.Africa exploration drive. French energy major Total has halted oil exploration off the southern coast of Africa due to mechanical problems with a rig, meaning it will not be able to resume searching in the area before 2016, a company official said on Tuesday. The news is a huge setback to South Africa's plans to have 30 exploration wells drilled in the next 10 years as the continent's most advanced economy strives to reduce its heavy reliance on imported oil. "Offshore repair was not possible," Guy Maurice, the company's senior vice-president for exploration and production in Africa, told delegates at an Africa oil and gas conference organised by Global Pacific & Partners.
South Africa Wants to Resume Iran Oil Imports
South Africa wants to resume oil imports from Iran, once its biggest supplier, and hopes to resolve "sanction issues" that have blocked purchases within the next three months, its deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday. South Africa bought around 68,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) from Iran in May 2012, a month before it halted crude purchases as Western countries pressured Tehran over its nuclear programme. That was well down from peak purchases in 2011. Africa's second biggest crude consumer imports around 380,000 bpd, with Saudi Arabia overtaking Iran as its biggest supplier in 2012 when Western sanctions increased. Nigeria, Angola and Ghana also sell South Africa oil.
