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Join us as we report through 2021

‘You learn with Africa Ports & Ships’ 

TODAY’S BULLETIN OF MARITIME NEWS

These news reports are updated on an ongoing basis. Check back regularly for the latest news as it develops – where necessary refresh your page at www.africaports.co.za

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FIRST VIEW:   ORANGE STREAM

EARLIER NEWS CAN BE FOUND AT NEWS CATEGORIES…….

The Sunday masthead shows the Port of Apapa (Lagos)
The Monday masthead shows the Port of East London

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FIRST VIEW:   ORANGE STREAM

Our First View comes from afar this week, Lyttelton on the South Island of New Zealand, where photographer and ship enthusiast Alan Calvert reports that after he worried whether the reefer vessel ORANGE STREAM (IMO 9795983), which had inconsiderately arrived in port in the hours of darkness, would actually sail at her scheduled departure time of 15h00, the Dutch vessel kindly made her move a few hours early!

“As if moving in daylight wasn’t enough, the clouds opened up and the sun came out just at the right time,” he reports happily.

“Orange Stream arrived in Lyttelton from Bangkok to load beef and lamb for the US and from there was to complete loading in Tauranga. The cargo would usually go by containers but extravagant freight rates and delays in container terminals adding huge costs to the shipper, it must have been well worthwhile to ship it on pallets.”

The 7,155-dwt Orange Stream was built in 2019 and has the Port of Willemstad as her port of register. Her owners are Orange Stream Shipping Company NV, of the Netherlands and managers are Seatrade Groningen BV, also of the Netherlands. The reefer is 115 metres in length and 18m wide with a 10.3m draught She has four holds with 12 refrigerated compartments and is geared with 8 derricks of 7m or 4 x 7m utilising the union purchase system in which the runner wires of both the derricks are coupled together to swivel to a union hook and work in conjunction with each other.

The ship also carries up to 52 reefer hi cube containers with 52 plugs.

One of a fleet of 38 company reefer ships, Orange Stream is also one of four sister vessels, the others being Orange Spirit (built 2018), Orange Sea (built 2019) and Orange Strait (built 2019). – trh

Pictures are by Alan Calvert

Added 18 July 2021

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Photographs of shipping and other maritime scenes involving any of the ports of South Africa or from the rest of the African continent, together with a short description, name of ship/s, ports etc are welome.

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Port Window: Durban Port Bulletin report

Moshe Motlohi, Transnet National Ports Authority General Manager reports:

This week has been a particularly devastating one for the whole of South Africa. With KZN being heavily impacted by the unrest, we as the Port of Durban are grateful that we have not incurred any damage to our port infrastructure. We would like to thank the law enforcement agencies and the SANDF for their swift mobilisation of personnel at critical areas around the port.

Cutler [Island View] is now operating at 20%, following a force majeure on petro-chemical operations by some terminal operators in the past week. This is to ensure the supply of fuel for the greater KZN and Gauteng region. We would like to extend appreciation to the owners of petrol stations in the city for opening their facilities to supply essential workers with fuel so as to ensure social and economic continuity.

The port has ensured non-interruption of operations during this week with the allocation of core marine and operational staff, however absenteeism is still a contributing factor to some delays in the port system, attributed by the unavailability of transport and blockages in most roads leading into the port.

We would like to assure our port users that we will continue to ensure that operations do not come to a complete stop.

In the next week [this] the focus will be on the recovery and rebuilding of our City. Essential cargo will be released to keep the welfare of our society and the economy running as per our mandate. We urge you to use your available resources sparingly since the country’s supply chain is under immense pressure. The next coming weeks will prove difficult for some, let us spare a thought and come together in cleaning up our various neighbourhoods and avoid stockpiling.

Stay safe and remember that the fight against Covid-19 is not over; register and get vaccinated, keep wearing your masks and maintain social distancing at all times.

Added 18 July 2021

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Port Window: Port of Durban Volume & Vessel Call Performance

CONTAINERS: This sector performed above budget with imports and exports this week. The main contributor was the export of empty containers which were above budget by 16%. Volumes, however during this week were materially impacted by the civil unrest as the majority of port users shut their doors or operated with minimal resources.

AUTOMOTIVES: Imports finished off the week lower when compared to the previous week with a total of 2,369 units landed. Exports as well finished slightly lower due to the higher volumes handled in the previous reporting periods.

DRY BULK: Chrome exports bolstered volumes within the sector as a total of 102,427 tons was loaded for the week. Fertiliser imports also performed extremely well as just more than 82,000 tons was landed as we possibly note an early start to the incline on volume. Maize, rice and wheat all performed marginally well for the week.

BREAK BULK: We note an improvement on volume in the break bulk sector for the week with more than 57,000 tons of cargo throughput registered. Bagged rice performed well with just over 16,000 tons landed. Citrus exports came in at 8,037 tons for the week with steel performing extremely well at just over 24,000 tons handled.

LIQUID BULK: This sector came in under budget, the main contributor for the negative variance was SBM volumes which achieved 35% below budget. This was due to 2 vessels handled carrying refined cargo. Petroleum and chemicals achieved 41% and over 100% above budget respectively.

Added 18 July 2021

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PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH SURGING IN CAPE TOWN HARBOUR – JULY 2021

Article written by Dr Howard Waldron, former Senior Lecturer in the Department of Oceanography at the University of Cape Town, with editing & additional input from Jay Gates.
Pictures are by ‘Dockrat’ unless otherwise indicated – Shackleton’s Quest is courtesy of the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI), Cambridge, UK

 

Over this past Cape winter one thing that has been apparent to both the casual observer, and the many users of Cape Town harbour, has been the regular use of harbour tugs to hold vessels against the quay when working cargo, and especially when working containers. When asking Port Control for the reason, the response has always been ‘Due to Surging’.

The question about surging was recently asked in Africa Ports & Ships, and a basic response was forthcoming, but nothing that would satisfy the mariner with a keen interest, nor the observer with a serious wish to know. The problem with giving an explanation on hydrodynamics is to ensure that you get it pretty much right. The best, and the only, way to get it right is to ask a person who actually knows, because he actually teaches it at tertiary level.

Asking a teacher to put it down in such a way that even the layman will understand it, or in my world to make it ‘idiot proof’, is how you educate people on any subject.

For that I am indebted to a good friend of mine, Doctor Howard Waldron, former Senior Lecturer in the Department of Oceanography at the University of Cape Town, whom I asked to provide an explanation for the current surge problem. I first sailed with Howard way back in the early 1980s on the R.S. Africana when he was one of the Oceanographers onboard during a particular research cruise concerning the Benguela Current Ecology Programme.

This article is effectively entirely of Howard’s making and in his words, as I have done nothing but tinkered around the edges, reworked some of his words, and added an anecdote or two. It answers all questions perfectly. But first, a definition to get started;

Storm Surge: “a rising of the sea as a result of wind and atmospheric pressure changes associated with a storm.”

The classic storm surge is one that affects the River Thames, for which the Thames Barrier was built to help protect the City of London from any such surge. Holland also has examples of coastal surge barriers to protect inland areas.

In the case of Cape Town, the storm surge is caused by the coming together of several atmospheric variables that act to increase the level of the sea over, and above, the level of the predicted tide. This effect will be more impactful on the coast during high spring tides. It is worth checking the recent Cape Town tidal cycles, or tide tables, to see if they are coincident with the surge problems recently experienced in Cape Town harbour.

So let’s say we have a Spring high tide at the same time as a Low Pressure weather system is passing the Cape, something that is very common in the winter, and especially in the previous few weeks.

In a Low Pressure storm system, the air circulates clockwise (in the Southern Hemisphere) and so Cape Town experiences strong Northwesterly winds which blows the water onshore. This, in itself, increases the sea level above the predicted tide level.

Superimposed on this is the effect of the low air pressure on sea level height. High pressure systems depress sea level, and Low Pressure systems increase the sea level. Just imagine the High Pressure pressing down onto the sea and the Low Pressure kind of sucking it up. The sea level is increased by 1cm per HPa. So if air pressure goes from 1010 HPa to 980 HPa the sea level will be 30cm higher.

So you have a Spring high tide, strong onshore winds and a higher sea level due to the low pressure.

The problems in Cape Town harbour are exacerbated by something called a Seiche. This is a standing wave occurring in a semi-enclosed basin. The classic analogy is sloshing water in a bath tub. You set up a wave in the bath, or in a swimming pool, and the wave resonates with the bath or pool dimensions and you get water sloshing all over the place – A resonance effect.

So you’re in the harbour, the sea level is much higher than the predicted tide and the strong onshore winds have blown the water against one side of the semi-enclosed basin, which is called “set-up.” The water in the harbour is actually sloped up against one end or side. The forcing mechanism, i.e. the wind, eases or stops and the water at the high end sloshes back across the harbour due to gravity. This sets up a standing wave, or Seiche, which can last from hours, and sometimes even for days.

Such a scenario sometimes makes it very difficult for the harbour pilot to bring vessels alongside, and it makes it very difficult for cargo operations to take place as the ship is constantly moving up and down the quay on its mooring ropes, i.e. Surge, or sometimes known as Range Action. To make some matters worse, if the design of your quayside is such that it is built on open piles, or columns, rather than a filled in quayside wall, then there is the ability for the water mass to pass between the vessel and the quayside (or underneath the quayside), and provide a third force that tries to push and pull the vessel, on and off the quay.

Hence the need for one, two or sometimes even three harbour tugs to hold the vessel against the quayside, something that observers have been noticing quite frequently in recent weeks in Cape Town harbour.

This problem is not new to Cape Town as the V&A stared experiencing the problem almost as soon as it was completed in the late 1800s. Harbour Engineers tried various methods to try and overcome what was then a little understood phenomenon. Rumour has it that the alcoves that are very visible in the V&A dockside walls were originally designed and installed to try and dissipate the surge. Photographs from early in the 20th century clearly show their lower inward sloping walls and curved design. They have now all been filled in, but it would be interesting to know if this was indeed the reason for the alcoves, and if they worked.

In the second world war, the surge problems experienced in the Duncan Dock were so severe, in that they interfered with the essential working of cargo needed for the war effort, that the SAR&H conducted a scientific study over three years to try and understand and mitigate the problem. A further scientific paper was produced in the mid 1950s by an Oceanographer from the Texas A&M University in the USA to try and explain the causes of surge in Cape Town harbour.
Also see, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/seiche.html

Added 18 July 2021

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Meteorology: Reported extremes – New rapid response team will provide guidance

It was announced from Geneva on 1 July that the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has recognised a new record high temperature for the Antarctic continent of 18.3° Celsius on 6 February 2020 at the Esperanza station (Argentina).

However, it rejected an even higher temperature, of 20.75°C, which was reported on 9 February 2020 at an automated permafrost monitoring station (Brazil) on Seymour Island.

It is understood that the record for the Antarctic region (continental, including mainland and surrounding islands] was 17.5°C (63.5°F) recorded on 24 March 2015 at Esperanza Research Station. The record for the Antarctic region (all ice/land south of 60 degrees latitude) is 19.8C, taken on Signy Island in January 1982.

On this WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas commented: “Verification of this maximum temperature record is important because it helps us to build up a picture of the weather and climate in one of Earth’s final frontiers.

“Even more so than the Arctic, the Antarctic, is poorly covered in terms of continuous and sustained weather and climate observations and forecasts, even though both play an important role in driving climate and ocean patterns and in sea level rise.”

He added: “The Antarctic Peninsula (the northwest tip near to South America) is among the fastest warming regions of the planet, almost 3°C over the last 50 years. This new temperature record is therefore consistent with the climate change we are observing. WMO is working in partnership with the Antarctic Treaty System to help conserve this pristine continent.”

It was reported that a committee for WMO’s Weather and Climate Extremes Archive conducted an extensive review of the weather situation on the Antarctic peninsula at the time of the reported records. This determined that a large high-pressure system over the area created föhn conditions (downslope winds producing significant surface warming) and resulted in local warming at both Esperanza Station and Seymour Island. Past evaluations have demonstrated that such meteorological conditions are conducive for producing record temperature scenarios.

 

Close examination

The committee also examined the two observations’ instrumental setups. Examination of the data and metadata of the Esperanza station observation, operated by Argentina’s national meteorological service (Servicio Meteorológico Nacional, SMN) revealed no major concerns.

However, a detailed analysis of data and metadata of the Seymour Island permafrost monitoring station operated by a Brazilian polar science research team indicated that an improvised radiation shield led to a demonstrable thermal bias error for the temperature sensor.

At WMO the investigation committee emphasises the permafrost monitoring station was not badly designed for its purpose, but the project investigators were forced to improvise a non-optimal radiation shield after losing the original set. While this modification did not cause a problem with regard to the project’s specific goals involving recording permafrost variations, the thermal bias in air temperature created by the nonstandard radiation shield does invalidate the temperature observation with regard to being an official WMO weather observation.

Polar science and climate experts from Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States make up the WMO international evaluation committee.

Spanning 14 million km2 (roughly twice the size of Australia), the Antarctic is cold, windy and dry. Average annual temperature ranges from about −10°C on the Antarctic coast to −60°C at the highest parts of the interior. Its immense ice sheet is up to 4.8km thick and contains 90% of the world’s fresh water, enough to raise sea level by around 60 metres were it all to melt.

 

Reported by Paul Ridgway
London

 

 

Added 18 July 2021

 

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Cabo Delgado Update: 1000 Rwandan troops arrive to protect Mueda and the gas

Cabo Delgado war: Joseph Hanlon reports:

700 Rwanda soldiers and 300 police have been arriving in Cabo Delgado since 9 July. “Most – if not all – of the Rwandan troops will be based in Afungi, establishing a secure perimeter around the liquefied natural gas project there. Sources on the ground say that there is an ongoing offensive to clear the area around the gas projects, and that Rwandan troops will be charged with holding positions once they are cleared,” reported Cabo Legado on 13 July.

Rwandan Deputy Inspector General of Police Felix Namuhoranye said units would be deployed to both Afungi and Mueda. (Taarifa 9 July) A communique released by the Government of Rwanda on 9 July said “The Rwandan contingent will support efforts to restore Mozambican state authority by conducting combat and security operations, as well as stabilisation and security-sector reforms.”

Rwanda is third among countries contributing troops to UN peacekeeping operations and has been involved in 14 peacekeeping missions. Thus its army is much better trained and more experienced and disciplined that Mozambique’s own army.

Meanwhile it is widely reported that Zimbabwean forces are already in Cabo Delgado. Zitamar (15 July) reported that “an unofficial deployment of troops from Rwanda and also Zimbabwe in June have been helping the FDS recapture Palma and the surrounding areas from the insurgents. Once the insurgents have been removed, the expectation is that Rwandan forces (both military and police) will be put in place to protect the TotalEnergies site” – along with the Mozambican Joint Task Force. “It’s unclear if this protection will also extend to the local population in the town of Palma and the Quitunda resettlement village, now home to thousands of refugees from Palma,” notes Zitamar.

Cabo Delgado governor Valige Tauabo, speaking to refugees in Quitunda on 14 July, appealed to local people to cooperate with foreign forces being deployed in the province.

Comment: The Rwanda statement is interesting in two ways. The two tasks are protecting the gas and protecting Mueda, which is symbolically important as the Makonde capital and also has become the government military centre. But the insurgents were getting close to Mueda and many people in the town thought that, like Palma and Mocimboa da Praia, it could not be defended. Putting Rwandan, Zimbabwean, and perhaps SADC (see below) troops there is a clear signal Mueda is to be defended by foreign troops.

The other important point is that Rwanda says its forces will be “conducting combat operations.” They are not there just to train Mozambicans, but to fight and win the war.

The total number of deaths in the war in now 3,103 according to Cabo Legado (13 July).

Keeping Portugal, EU, US & South Africa at arms length

Other foreign troops are also on their way, but Mozambique is less enthusiastic and is keeping them somewhat distanced from the fighting.

The first SADC forces should be arriving this week, although there has been some confusion. The Status of Forces Document had not been signed. The Herald (Harare, 13 July) said SADC wanted a South African major-general to command the brigade, with a Botswana colonel as the deputy commander. Mozambique expressed a strong preference for a Zimbabwean commander, citing successful past cooperation with Zimbabwean forces and Zimbabwe having more experience of successful counter-insurgency operations. A small SADC team from Zimbabwe and Botswana is already in Mueda (Zitamar 5 July).

The prior deployment of Rwandan troops clearly put South Africa’s nose out of joint. South Africa’s Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula told the SABC on Saturday that it was “unfortunate” that Rwanda had deployed its troops into Mozambique before SADC.

But it will be hard for South Africa to be involved at all. Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula plans to increase from 5,000 to 25,000 the troops responding to the insurrection in South Africa. What started with riots sparked by the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma expanded to widespread looting and violence – the biggest since the end of apartheid. At least 72 [now 212] people have died and more than 1,700 have been arrested in South Africa’s worst unrest in years. (BBC 15 July)

Meanwhile Portugal has succeeded in getting more troops into Mozambique under a European Union umbrella. Portugal was president of the Council of the European Union until 30 June and used its position to press hard for a Portuguese military mission, to expand it small training programme already under way. On 12 July the European Council announced a two year mission to help Mozambique’s armed forces to build a “Quick Reaction Force” that aims to restore security to Cabo Delgado. The mission of around 120 people will arrive between September and October. It will provide military training including operational preparation, specialised training on counter-terrorism, and training and education on the protection of civilians and compliance with international humanitarian law and human rights law, the statement said.

The mission will be stationed at bases in Katembe, in Maputo, and in Chimoio, Manica province. Both are far away from the battle zone, underlining that the Portuguese will be kept at arms length.

In a further diplomatic balancing, the EU Training Mission in Mozambique (EUTM Mozambique) will be led by French Vice Admiral Herve Blejean, as commander, while Brigadier General Nuno Lemos Pires, of Portugal, will lead the mission on the ground as force commander.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke on 14 July with Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi. US Spokesperson Ned Price said the Secretary and President reaffirmed the strength and importance of US-Mozambique relations and “our joint commitment to countering ISIS”. source: “Mozambique News Reports and Clippings”

Added 18 July 2021

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WHARF TALK: tanker with a difference, & the hint lies in the name – POLAR UNICORN

Story by Jay Gates
Pictures by ‘Dockrat’

The regular arrival of a large LR1 tanker at a South African port, and especially Cape Town, is now becoming a normal occurrence with the ongoing closure of the Cape Town refinery, but it isn’t often that an LR1 tanker arrives at a South African port that has a fully enclosed bridge, and that hints at a design more suited for operations in northern, and more cooler climes.

On 9th July at 23h00 the LR1 Panamax tanker POLAR UNICORN (IMO 9334569) arrived at the Table Bay anchorage, as the second tanker in as many weeks to have arrived all the way from the Italian refinery at Sarroch on the island of Sicily. She remained at anchor for a full five days awaiting the longer tanker berth in the Duncan Dock, and she finally entered the port on 14th July at 12h00 to discharge her cargo of refined fuel products.

Built in 2008 by Onomichi Dockyard at Kobe in Japan, Polar Unicorn is 229 metres in length and has a deadweight of 73,956 tons. She is powered by a single Mitsui MAN-B&W 6S60MC-C 6 cylinder 2 stroke main engine producing 18,184 bhp (13,560 kW), driving a fixed pitch propeller to give a service speed of 15 knots.

Her auxiliary machinery consists of three Nishishiba generating sets producing 980 kW each, and she has one Osaka composite boiler and one MHI Nagasaki water tube boiler. She has 15 cargo tanks and provides a cargo carrying capacity of 86,475 m3.

Originally built as part of the fleet of the well-known Sanko Line, but since 2015 nominally owned by Polar Unicorn Shipping, Polar Unicorn is currently both operated and managed by Prime Tanker Management Corporation of Athens.

The use of the word ‘Polar’ in her name is quite appropriate, as back in August 2011 Polar Unicorn actually completed a voyage across the top of the world. She sailed from the Russian oil port of Vitino, destined for Map Ta Phut in Thailand. To save both time and money, she sailed to the Far East via the Arctic Northern Sea Route, accompanied and assisted the whole way by one of the Russian nuclear powered icebreakers. The requirement for a fully enclosed bridge becomes clear when you realise that she was an Arctic voyager.

Interestingly, the oil port of Vitino, which is located on the White Sea, near to Murmansk in the European Arctic region of Russia, can take vessels with a maximum length of 230 metres, a beam of 32 metres and a maximum draft of 10.9 metres. The nominal dimensions for Polar Unicorn are length 228.5 metres, beam 32.2 metres and a draft up to 12.5 metres. So she was a perfect maximum fit for the port. These maximum dimensions are not very different for any LR1 tanker that is looking to safely call in at Cape Town.

Added 18 July 2021

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Namibian shipping sector donates containers to country’s health system

The Namibian Ports Authority (Namport) in collaboration with shipping company Maersk and TransNamib, the country’s rail unit, recently donated six (6) 40 foot fitted-out refrigerated containers to the Ministry of Health and Social Services in that country.

This is in response to a need that came about as the country’s health system is being placed under immense pressure during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The containers will be placed at the following areas in Namibia and transported by TransNamib:

* Windhoek (2)
* Otjiwarongo (1)
* Rehoboth (1)
* Gobabis (1)
* Onandjokwe (1)

The trio hopes this gesture will in some way ease the current burden experienced by the Ministry. The containers comes with a tag price of N$ 1 million (R1 million).

Namport has contributed over N$ 1.5 million towards several initiatives over the past twelve months, donating over N$ 1.5 million towards medical facilities, equipment and protective gear to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

“As an entity, we realise that this enemy is not only the responsibility of government alone, but that we as a nation can only win this war if we all collectively join our efforts and resources in this fight against COVID-19,” said Namport in a statement.

“We continue to praise our brave health workers who, on a daily basis continue fighting in the front lines to save the lives of all Namibians. Namport remains committed to upholding its values of being committed, connected and caring.”

Added 18 July 2021

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Service levels slowly improving, says Transnet. Meanwhile one boxship ups anchor & leaves

16 July 2021, 17h00: Transnet Soc issued the following update on the situation regarding the ports of Durban and Richards Bay, and including the Natcor rail between the port of Durban and Gauteng.

 

Service levels in the ports of Durban and Richards Bay have improved slightly since the start of Thursday working shifts, as the country begins mop-up operations after protest action over the past few days.

Port and terminal operations are slowly beginning to normalise as the number of employees reporting for shifts starts to increase following restoration of public transport in parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

The Port of Richards Bay has managed to clear all shipping backlogs. Terminal operations at the Port of Durban continue to improve. Marine service operations to service vessels have been available throughout this period.

The Transnet Pipeline network remains operational.

However, fuel and food shortages, as well as remaining road closures in the Durban port vicinity, continue to constrain the rest of the supply chain, as trucks cannot get into and out of the port, resulting in backlogs. In Richards Bay, where trucks handle dry bulk commodities, truck movements are underway.

Although no security incidents have been reported in the last 24 hours, Transnet remains on high alert and additional security and protection of critical infrastructure remains in place.

On the rail side, work is underway to restart the suspended NATCOR line. However, this has been delayed by the need to clear remnants of the looting activities strewn along the railway.

Testing of the line is being undertaken to ensure it is safe. Transnet continues to monitor the situation and will resume rail services on this critical line as soon as it is safe to do so.

Transnet continues to work on solutions to mitigate the current challenges, and to ensure that once all blockages in the supply chain have been cleared, we are able to deliver goods into and out of the country.

A 24-hour Nerve Centre hotline remains operational to monitor and respond to security-related incidents. Transnet continues to work closely with law enforcement agencies, including members of the South African Defence Force to safeguard the infrastructure.

Transnet’s operations in the rest of the country continue to operate normally.

Meanwhile, at least one ship, the container vessel LEONIDIO (IMO 9618587) has raised its anchor and sailed from the Durban outer anchorage without making the the scheduled call in Durban.

The 62,161-dwt Leonidio arrived from Port Elizabeth from where she sailed on Monday 12 July, going to the Durban anchorage on arrival as no container ship movements at the port were taking place due to the unrest in Durban and KZN.

Added 16 July 2021

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 Incremental improvement in Transnet operations following unrest

Transnet on Friday morning (16 July 2021) issued the following statement, which appears here unaltered with any editing.

 

Service levels in the ports of Durban and Richards Bay have improved slightly since the start of Thursday working shifts, as the country begins mop-up operations after protest action over the past few days.

Port and terminal operations are slowly beginning to normalise as the number of employees reporting for shifts starts to increase following restoration of public transport in parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

The Port of Richards Bay has managed to clear all shipping backlogs. Terminal operations at the Port of Durban continue to improve. Marine service operations to service vessels have been  available throughout this period.

The Transnet Pipeline network remains operational.

However, fuel and food shortages, as well as remaining road closures in the Durban port vicinity,  continue to constrain the rest of the supply chain, as trucks cannot get into and out of the port,  resulting in backlogs. In Richards Bay, where trucks handle dry bulk commodities, truck  movements are underway.

Although no security incidents have been reported in the last 24 hours, Transnet remains on high  alert and additional security and protection of critical infrastructure remains in place. On the rail  side, work is underway to restart the suspended NATCOR line. However, this has been delayed by the need to clear remnants of the looting activities strewn along the railway.

Testing of the line is being undertaken to ensure it is safe. Transnet continues to monitor the situation and will resume rail services on this critical line as soon as it is safe to do so.

Transnet continues to work on solutions to mitigate the current challenges, and to ensure that once all blockages in the supply chain have been cleared, we are able to deliver goods into and out of the country.

A 24-hour Nerve Centre hotline remains operational to monitor and respond to security-related incidents. Transnet continues to work closely with law enforcement agencies, including members of the South African Defence Force to safe guard the infrastructure.

Transnet’s operations in the rest of the country continue to operate normally.

Added 16 July 2021

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GENERAL NEWS REPORTS – UPDATED THROUGH THE DAY

in partnership with – APO

More News at https://africaports.co.za/category/News/

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THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“Light travels faster than sound. That’s why some people seem bright until they talk!” – Unknown

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EXPECTED SHIP ARRIVALS and SHIPS IN PORT

Port Louis – Indian Ocean gateway port

Ports & Ships publishes regularly updated SHIP MOVEMENT reports including ETAs for ports extending from West Africa to South Africa to East Africa and including Port Louis in Mauritius.

In the case of South Africa’s container ports of Durban, Ngqura, Ports Elizabeth and Cape Town links to container Stack Dates are also available.

You can access this information, including the list of ports covered, by  CLICKING HERE remember to use your BACKSPACE to return to this page.

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CRUISE NEWS AND NAVAL ACTIVITIES

QM2 in Cape Town. Picture by Ian Shiffman

We publish news about the cruise industry here in the general news section.

Naval News

Similarly you can read our regular Naval News reports and stories here in the general news section.

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TABLE BAY UNDERWAY SHIPPING SHIP PHOTOGRAPHERS Colour photographs and slides for sale of a variety of ships.Thousands of items listed featuring famous passenger liners of the past to cruise ships of today, freighters, container vessels, tankers, bulkers, naval and research vessels.P O BOX 809, CAPE TOWN, 8000, SOUTH AFRICA snai@worldonline.co.za http://home.worldonline.co.za/~snai