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South African Government News

19 May 2023

South Africa Grants Turkey's Karpowership Deal to Ease Power Crisis

©IzzetNoyan/AdobeStock

South Africa has granted Turkey's Karpowership access to the three ports of Ngqura, Durban and Saldanha Bay for a period of 20 years, the transport ministry said on Thursday, as it tries to find solutions to the country's power crisis.Karpowership aims to generate power on its floating gas ships and distribute it through South Africa's electricity grid. The plan received a boost from President Cyril Ramaphosa last week after he told lawmakers the ships would help ease the prolonged…

02 Nov 2022

World Maritime University Celebrates 2022 Graduation

WMU Graduating Class of 2022. Fotograf Leo/WMU

On October 31, 2022, global maritime leaders of tomorrow graduated from the World Maritime University (WMU). The Class of 2022 has received the education required to contribute to maritime and ocean matters in their home countries and more broadly to the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Overall, the graduating class includes 276 graduates from 70 countries, and sets a record of 94 women graduates.WMU President Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia…

08 Apr 2022

The Ship that Found Antarctica’s Endurance Wreck is Vital for Climate Science

(Photo: Saunders Carmichael-Brown / Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust)

It was 1914 when the English explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton set sail on his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition aboard a ship called Endurance. It was an ill-fated journey: the ship got trapped in the ice and eventually crushed by pack ice in 1915. It sank to the bottom of Antarctica’s Weddell Sea. (Shackleton and his entire crew survived the ordeal by escaping in smaller boats.)It was difficult to believe that the Endurance might ever be found. The icy Weddell Sea is inhospitable and the wreck lay in more than 3000 metres of water.

09 Sep 2020

Damen Lays Keel for South African Patrol Boat

(Photo: Damen)

On August 28, Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) held a keel-laying for the second of three Multi-Mission Inshore Patrol Vessels (MMIPV) that it is building for the South African Navy’s Project BIRO.The South African Navy’s Project BIRO aims to develop maritime security, ensuring the country’s capabilities to respond effectively, rapidly, and cost-efficiently to maritime threats such as piracy and illegal fishing.The MMIPVs draw on proven technology from Damen’s standardized range of patrol boats…

04 Jun 2019

Durban-built Survey Craft Boosts Transnet Dredging Fleet

Photo: TNPA

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has taken delivery of a new survey craft as the latest acquisition in its Dredging Services division’s ongoing fleet replacement program in excess of $28 million. The vessel, valued at approximately $220,000 was built by a local company in Durban.Carl Gabriel, Executive Manager for TNPA’s Dredging Services division, said the new vessel is replacing the South African port landlord’s existing Survey Craft, Swift, which is 32 years old and…

26 Feb 2018

Damen to Deliver Three Patrol Vessels for South Africa

Stan Patrol 6211 (Image: Damen)

Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) said it has received an order from Armscor – the acquisition agency for the South African Department of Defense – for three Inshore Patrol Vessels (IPV), 62 x 11 meters. The new vessels – the first of a Damen Sea Axe design to operate in South Africa – will form part of the South African Navy’s Project Biro. The project aims to develop South Africa’s maritime security, ensuring that the country has the capability to respond effectively, rapidly and cost-efficiently to maritime threats such as illegal trafficking and fishing.

20 Oct 2016

Durban Women Scoop Maritime Awards

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.

02 Sep 2016

Africa’s First Dredging Simulator Unveiled

Photo courtesy of TNPA

Africa’s first ever dredging simulator was launched in the port city of Durban, South Africa – another positive spin-off of ongoing collaboration between Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), the Transnet Maritime School of Excellence (MSoE), Netherlands based Royal IHC and its world-renowned Training Institute. The high-tech simulator – based at the MSoE’s Langeberg Road premises – will aid in building dredging capability in South Africa. Dredging is specialized underwater excavation that helps to keep ports and harbours safe and navigable and is a critical aspect of port development.

06 May 2016

Two New Tugs Built for TNPA

TNPA’s new tugs, Qunu and Cormorant, were launched and named at the Southern African Shipyards in Durban Linda Mabaso, Chair of Transnet SOC Limited, named the vessels, flanked by Trishna Misra, Chief Financial Officer of Southern African Shipyards. (Photo by Philip Wilson – Logico Creative Solutions)

The South African government’s Operation Phakisa: Oceans Economy initiative has yielded more results with the ceremonial launch of two more tugboats built for Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA). The two tugs – named Qunu and Cormorant – form part of TNPA’s R1.4 billion contract awarded to Durban ship builder, Southern African Shipyards. It is the largest single contract TNPA has ever given to a South African company for the building of harbor craft and will see a total of nine new tugs built for the South African port landlord over three and a half years.

24 Mar 2016

Repair Job Completed at Durban Dry Dock

Photo: Transnet National Ports Authority

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.

30 Oct 2015

New Damen Shoalbuster Named

The naming ceremony for the first of the two Damen Shoalbusters 3009 being built for marine solutions specialist SMIT Amandla Marine at Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT), was held on Thursday, 29 October 2015. Mrs Jenny Coltman, Spouse of the Chairman of De Beers Group Services, named the vessel Aukwatowa. The Shoalbuster series of multi-purpose, shallow draught workboats are designed for inland and coastal waters. The 30 metre 3009S has a bollard pull of 24.5 tonnes and is fitted with a crane with a lifting capacity of up to 1.7 tonnes, making it suitable for towage, buoy-laying, pushing and all-round support duties. These new vessels will carry out supply and support work for the De Beers Group’s offshore diamond mining activities out of Port Nolloth in the Northern Cape.

29 Oct 2015

Statoil to Explore Offshore S. Africa

Statoil has completed a farm-in transaction with ExxonMobil Exploration and Production South Africa Limited (ExxonMobil), acquiring a 35 percent interest in the ER 12/3/154 Tugela South Exploration Right. The remaining interests are held by the operator ExxonMobil (40%) and co-venturer Impact Africa Limited (Impact Africa) (25%). “This opportunity is in line with Statoil’s exploration strategy of access at scale. It represents access into a frontier basin where we believe we see indications of an active petroleum system and which has impact potential,” says Nick Maden, senior vice president for Statoil's exploration activities in the Western Hemisphere. “The position strengthens and increases the optionality in Statoil’s long-term international portfolio.

31 Aug 2015

Private Ship Repair Moves Dry Dock Timelines

Due to a delay on a private ship repair at the Durban Dry Dock, TNPA has adjusted the project schedule for repairs on the facility’s 35 metre long, 900 ton outer caisson by 18 days.

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.

22 Jul 2015

Durban’s 90-year-old Dry Dock Set for Repair

The 35-meter-long, 900 ton outer caisson at the Prince Edward Graving dock in Durban will be undergo a $2.4 million refurbishment project over the next four months. (Photo: Transnet National Ports Authority)

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…

16 Mar 2015

Shell Pulls Back from South African Shale

Royal Dutch Shell is pulling back from its shale projects in South Africa due to lower energy prices although it is still seeking an exploration license for the onshore Karoo Basin, its country manager said on Monday. A more than halving of crude oil prices since June last year has put high cost projects such as shale gas exploration in jeopardy around the globe, Shell South Africa Chairman Bonang Mohale told Johannesburg station Talk Radio 702. "The reason to go to a low cost holding position ... is as a result of a difficult period for world (prices)," Mohale said. Shell's retreat is a blow to the South African government, which has been criticised by oil firms for delaying issuing exploration licenses…

26 May 2014

ITF Points Finger at Suspect Indonesian Crewing Agency

The International Transport Federation says it has reported a Taiwanese and an Indonesian crewing agent to Interpol for suspected human trafficking after 74 Indonesian fishers working on board seven Taiwanese vessels were abandoned in September, 2013 in Cape Town, South Africa. It is alleged that the agents withheld the fishers’ wages, in some cases for over a year; produced counterfeit documents relating to crew members’ employment; and charged the fishers [fees] before they boarded the vessel. ITF/IUF fisheries programme leader, Liz Blackshaw, said: “The fishing industry has a very serious human trafficking problem. Whenever we come across a suspected case like this one, we report it to Interpol. “In this case, it appears the men were captives on their vessels for months without wages.

02 Dec 2013

75 Abused Fishermen Abandoned and Arrested

Maritime charity, the Apostleship of the Sea has called for a major change in the way seafarers and fishermen are treated by government authorities when they are the victims of unscrupulous owners. The recent case of 75 Indonesian fishermen illustrates what the Apostleship of the Sea says is a heavy-handed and ill thought out process. Local media have reported on the slave-like conditions endured by the 75 Indonesian fishermen stranded in Cape Town harbor for the last month. Many of the crew had not been paid for two years by the Taiwanese owners and were forced to continue to work…

27 Aug 2013

IBIA Sends Bunker Wake-up Call to South Africa

The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) has called on the South African government to realise the potential of the ship refuelling market in its ports and the impact this will have in supporting regeneration. Speaking at the recent African Ports Evolution conference in Cape Town, IBIA chief executive Peter Hall told delegates that whilst more than double the number of vessels move around the Cape of Good Hope than transit the Straits of Gibraltar, the South African bunkering market has declined whilst Gibraltar’s continues to grow. Last year around 600 ships a day moved around South Africa, whilst the volume of bunkers sold in Durban hit a twenty year low with 1.1m tonnes traded in 2012.

18 Dec 2012

Subsea South Africa ExxonMobile Exploration

Exxon Mobil Corporation affiliate ExxonMobil Exploration & Production South Africa Limited, soon to start search for oil & gas deposits. The Tugela South Exploration Right covers approximately 2.8 million acres offshore Durban on the east coast of South Africa with water depths extending from the coastline to approximately 6,500 feet. The future exploration rights cover an additional 16 million acres offshore with water depths extending from the coastline to approximately 9,800 feet. The ExxonMobil affiliate signed an agreement with Impact Africa Limited (Impact), a subsidiary of Impact Oil & Gas Limited, to acquire a 75 percent participating interest in the Tugela South Exploration Right and will become operator.

04 Apr 2012

STX Shipyard Delivers Polar Supply and Research Vessel

On Wednesday, April 4, 2012, the STX Finland Rauma Shipyard delivered a polar supply and research vessel to the South African government's Department of Environmental Affairs. Newbuilding 1369, S.A. Agulhas II is a multipurpose vessel which, among other tasks, operates as a supply, research and passenger vessel, as well as an icebreaker. Representatives from the client, the South African Government's Department of Environmental Affairs, as well as the Embassy of South-Africa in Finland, The South African Maritime Authority, classification society Det Norske Veritas and STX Finland and the press were there to witness the flag-changing ceremony. The ice-strengthened vessel is approximately 134 metres long and has accommodation for a crew of 45 and some 100 researchers or passengers.

24 Jun 2010

Iridium Expands with South African License

Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:IRDM) announced the establishment of Iridium South Africa, under which Iridium has licenses to operate, provide and sell mobile satellite services (MSS) in the country. The authorization was provided by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), the regulator for the South African communications and broadcasting services. This authorization enables Iridium partners the ability to better address the growing government and commercial enterprise market demand with Iridium products, services and applications in the country. The Iridium low-Earth orbiting (LEO) satellite constellation provides mobile voice and data communications over the entire planet, offering service where no other means of communication exists.

21 Feb 2006

Navy Patrol Corvette Launched

South Africa's first commissioned patrol corvette, first lady Zanele Mbeki, attended the official handover of the SAS Amatola , four years after christening and launching it in Germany. In a combined ceremony, the SAS Amatola was handed over from the European South Africa Corvette Consortium to the South African government and commissioned into the South African Navy. The Meko A-200 frigate, as the corvette is properly known, is one of four delivered as part of government's multibillion-rand arms package. The patrol corvettes would be complemented by two German-built submarines, the first of which was scheduled to arrive in April, strike craft and inshore patrol vessels as part of a comprehensive strategic defense capability.

21 Feb 2006

Navy Patrol Corvette Launched

South Africa's first commissioned patrol corvette, first lady Zanele Mbeki, attended the official handover of the SAS Amatola , four years after christening and launching it in Germany. In a combined ceremony, the SAS Amatola was handed over from the European South Africa Corvette Consortium to the South African government and commissioned into the South African Navy. The Meko A-200 frigate, as the corvette is properly known, is one of four delivered as part of government's multibillion-rand arms package. The patrol corvettes would be complemented by two German-built submarines, the first of which was scheduled to arrive in April, strike craft and inshore patrol vessels as part of a comprehensive strategic defense capability.