Tau Morwe News

South African port authority, Transnet National Ports Authority, has appointed Richard Vallihu as its new Chief Executive, following the retirement of Tau Morwe. Richard Vallihu took up the reins as Chief Executive of South African port authority, Transnet National Ports Authority, on April 1, 2015. He succeeds Tau Morwe, who led the company for a number of years before opting for retirement in March 2015. Vallihu is no stranger to Transnet SOC Ltd, the custodian of South Africa’s freight and logistics sector.

The South African company Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has named its 750m3 grab hopper dredger, Italeni, during a special ceremony hosted by the shipbuilder IHC Merwede. The ceremony was performed on June 18 by TNPA’s Supply Chain General Manager, Ncumisa Nkanunu, in the shipyard of IHC Merwede’s partner, MTG Dolphin, in Varna, Bulgaria. The contract for the design, construction and delivery of the grab hopper dredger was signed between TNPA and IHC Global Production, part of IHC Merwede, on January 29, 2013.

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) recently awarded Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) preferred bidder status to build a pilot boat and a tug boat for the Port of Saldanha in the Western Cape. The vessels, customized for the South African market, includes a state of the art ship-handling Stan Tug 2006 and a Pilot Cutter 2706. The Port of Saldanha - South Africa's largest natural port with the deepest water – is one of the world's larger iron ore ports, having handled a total of 58.263 million tons of cargo, of which the major share was iron ore for export. With the terminal operating at its maximum, the port is continuing the expansion of its operations to meet the capacity needs ahead of demand.

The 9,178 TEU MSC Chicago has become the latest vessel to take advantage of the newly deepened and widened port entrance channel in the Port of Durban, one of Africa’s busiest and largest multi-service ports. The ship is now also the biggest to date to sail into South African waters. Last week the vessel arrived on its maiden voyage to the country en route from Europe and stopped at the Ports of Cape Town, Ngqura and finally Durban. The Port of Durban’s  harbour widening and deepening project was completed in March 2010 and saw the channel depth increased from 12…