Zuma News

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…

Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA) R1.4 billion tug building contract in Durban continues to create jobs and develop local marine capabilities, with the fifth of the authority’s nine new tugs launched this morning in Durban. The project is now 81% complete and still on track to deliver the ninth and final tug early in 2018, on time and within budget. Five tugs are under construction at any given time at the premises of contractor, Southern African Shipyards. Four are already delivered and at work in Port Elizabeth and Saldanha.

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.

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.

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 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.

Southern California residents lose millions of dollars each year avoiding littered, local beaches in favor of choosing cleaner beaches that are farther away and may cost more to reach, according to a new NOAA-funded Marine Debris Program economics study. Reducing marine debris even by 25 percent at beaches in and near California’s Orange County could save residents roughly $32 million during three months in the summer by not having to travel longer distances to other beaches.

The Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Ms Lilianne Ploumen, and a Dutch Trade Delegation visited Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) on Tuesday, July 8th 2014. The goal was to get an impression of the way South African and Dutch companies and entrepreneurs are working together. In addition, the newly qualified pupils from DSCT’s in-house Apprentice Training Centre received their certificates from the minister. All qualified artisans, as they now are, are offered a job at Damen’s South African shipyard. Minister Ploumen and the other guests were welcomed by Damen Shipyards Cape Town staff, including board members Mr Sam Montsi, Mr Friso Visser and Mrs Sefale Montsi-Zuma.

The Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Lilianne Ploumen, and a Dutch Trade Delegation visited Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) on Tuesday, July 8, 2014. The goal was to get an impression of the way South African and Dutch companies and entrepreneurs are working together. In addition, the newly qualified pupils from DSCT’s in-house Apprentice Training Center received their certificates from the minister. All qualified artisans, as they now are, are offered a job at Damen’s South African shipyard.

Durban's Wabona Group was among the winners in one of the nine award categories, during a Maritime Industry Awards function held on April 28, 2013 in Cape Town. The event, held to celebrate contributions to the South African Maritime Industry, was a culmination of a nationwide nomination process. Wabona Group was awarded a Maritime Newcomer accolade at the 2012/2013 Maritime Industry Awards, Organized by Colleen Jacka of Maritime Review Africa. The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA)…

Damen Shipyards Cape Town contracted for maintenance & repair of  Department of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries  (DAFF) fleet. Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT, part of Damen Shipyards Group) has been assigned by DAFF to get its fleet of Fisheries Research Vessels and Fisheries Protection & Surveillance Vessels operational as soon as possible. The scope of work includes repair works and ongoing maintenance. The DAFF Fleet currently consists of six vessels, including the 83m Offshore Patrol Vessel ‘Sarah Baartman’ and the 78m Research Vessel ‘Africana’.

The Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) in South Africa has ordered a Pilot Cutter 2706 and its fifth Stan Tug 2006 with Damen Shipyards Cape Town for operations in the expanding Port of Saldanha (South Africa). Both vessels have been specifically designed for the South African market. The Pilot Cutter 2706 will be delivered in May 2013 and the tug in March 2013. TNPA already operates four Damen Stan Tugs in South Africa. The STu 2006 is an enlarged design, based on the STu 1906.