Moshe Motlohi News

The South African 2016/17 cruise season kicked off this morning with the arrival of the first international cruise liner, MSC SINFONIA, at the Port of Durban. Carrying a full capacity of 2600 European and South African passengers, the vessel arrived from Venice in Italy and was greeted by the traditional welcome including a tug water spraying drill, as well as marimba bands and traditional dancers. The ship also received a warm Durban welcome from senior officials including KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Sihle Zikalala, Her Worship the Mayor of eThekwini, Councillor Zandile Gumede, representatives of the maritime and tourism industries and Transnet National Ports Authority’s leadership team.

Transnet National Port Authority women flew the flag high at the Women in Transport Awards which took place at the Durban ICC on 18 October 2016. The Women in Transport Awards is a collaborative platform co-located with the African Ports Evolution conference and exhibition, and is dedicated to recognising excellence within the rail and maritime industry in Africa. The prestigious awards ceremony was attended by a number of decision makers, business leaders and various stakeholders from the transport and maritime industry, with Deputy Minister of Transport Lydia Sindisiwe Chikunga delivering the keynote address. TNPA’s Sylvia Siyo, who is an acting Ship Repair Manager in the Port of Durban, walked away with the Best Head of Department in Transport award.

The 35-meter-long, 900-ton outer caisson at the Port of Durban’s Prince Edward Graving Dock has now been commissioned after being refurbished at a cost of R30 million. This was the third and final phase of Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA) comprehensive repair program on the structure which was deemed unsafe and in need of repair. Work involved structural repairs to the first of two steel lock gates that separate the dock into two compartments and seal off water from the harbor to enable repairs and maintenance work to be carried out on ships serviced at the facility.

South Africa’s ports are ramping up for a bumper cruise season with at least eight luxury cruise lines and over ten passenger vessels of varying sizes set to ferry international and domestic tourists across the country’s port cities. The South African cruise season kicked off officially in October with a number of smaller vessels already having called at South Africa’s ports. They are en route to and from travel hotspots in Africa, Europe, the Far East, the Mediterranean, South America and more. However the MSC SINFONIA – a cruise ship in the local cruise calendar – marked a highlight in the 2015/16 cruise calendar when she arrived in her homeport of Durban in the early hours of Thursday, November 19. This was her first South African call this season.

A delay in private repairs to the hospital ship Africa Mercy has caused a two-and-a-half week adjustment of timelines for Transnet National Ports Authority’s R30 million repair project at the Prince Edward Graving Dry Dock in Durban. The facility was due to be nonoperational for two months over August and September. However private ship repair company, Dormac Marine and Engineering, discovered additional work was required on the Africa Mercy’s shaft during a routine repair and survey exercise at the TNPA-owned dry dock.

The 90-yer-old Prince Edward Graving Dry Dock in Durban, which is owned and operated by Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), will be undergoing a R30 million ($2.4 million USD) repair project on its outer caisson over the next four months. This is the third and final phase of a repair program on the structure, which was deemed unsafe and in need of repair due to the dry dock’s age and general need for maintenance. Earlier this month, TNPA appointed Durban-based engineering…

Transnet Port Terminal reports that its R5.6 billion, five-year investment plan aimed at increasing the capacity of the Cape Town Container Terminal is progressing according to schedule. Under its reconfiguration program on the long quay, the container stacking yard is being converted from a straddle carrier operation to a rubber tired gantry (RTG) operation. Over the past six months, 16 RTGs have been phased into the terminal and a further 16 RTGs are earmarked to arrive in the second half of this year.