Durban shipbuilding boon

YESTERDAY the steel-cutting ceremony for the navy’s new hydrographic survey ship saw history in the making at the port of Durban.

Described as the most complex and technically advanced vessel to ever be built in South African maritime history, it will be 95m long with an estimated 12.24MW installed diesel electric power plant with a maximum speed of 18 knots, replacing the navy’s current Southern African Shipyards (SAS) Protea.

Cutting the first plate of steel is traditionally a symbolic ceremony in the shipbuilding industry and SAS chief executive, Prasheen Maharaj said: “We feel privileged and honoured to be entrusted with such a large, multi-year, complex project and it demonstrates a firm commitment to South Africa’s technological and industrial expertise.

“In addition to the hydrographic vessel, we will also be cutting steel for a liquefied natural gas barge for our client, DNG Energy. The execution of these two projects simultaneously is not only a historic milestone for the South African shipbuilding industry, but also represents one of the largest job creation projects to start in Durban this year,” he said.

The mega project will provide work for an estimated 500 people, including apprentices, artisans, technicians, engineering interns and engineers, while more than 3500 jobs will be created and maintained in the shipyard and within the supply chain.

SAS general manager for shipbuilding, Greg Delpaul, said: “The vessel will be used to scan the ocean floor, mapping large areas of the southern hemisphere ocean floor.”