What should be on transport minister’s 2020 to-do list
Revamping the structure of SA’s harbours will boost our maritime industry
STRICKEN with machinery problems, the Panamax bulker Hispania Graeca has been in port since early September last year. At Rio Grande, Argentina, in August, the 18-year-old Cypriot bulker had loaded a cargo of soya beans for China.
The geared, similar-sized bulker, Georg Oldendorff, arrived around Christmas time and a major cargo trans-shipment operation began. Completing the work last week, Georg
Oldendorff sailed last Thursday for China where, after plodding along at about 11 knots, she should arrive in three weeks.
Predating Hispania Graeca in port is the reefer vessel Star Prima that, when off the Cape on August 8 last year, reported a serious ingress of water. Helped by salvors, she made port and, after a long lay-up, she is undergoing repairs in the Sturrock Dry Dock.
According to residents whose homes overlook St Helena Bay or who enjoy long walks on its beaches, another long-standing visitor to the coast is the tanker Carabobo that has been anchored there for months. Although she sailed just after Christmas, she broke down and was towed back to St Helena Bay where the tug SA Amandla is standing by her.
Her predicament is similar to those of several other disabled vessels last year where ports would not allow them to enter, with the possibility that, should the weather have deteriorated, a vessel could ground.
This is particularly dangerous when a tug approaching a port shortens the towing line in preparation for handing over the disabled vessel to harbour tugs. If the tug is then instructed to turn seawards, enormous strain can be placed on the shortened towing line, which could part.
After being denied entry to the harbour and with serious machinery problems, Seli 1 was wrecked on Table View Beach in September 2009. Under similar circumstances, the derelict tanker Phoenix grounded north of Durban; after much effort and largely at taxpayers’ expense, she was refloated, a cost that could have been avoided.
This column has raised the issue several times, highlighting the need for a local equivalent of the British “Sosrep”.
During a maritime emergency, that official can make instant decisions concerning the casualty, overrule decisions made by other officials, order measures to safeguard life, the environment and shipping in general, and account for his decisions later.
Indeed, the minister of transport should focus on paving the way for the South African version of the Sosrep. However, he should note that the nature of the position, the huge responsibility it carries, and the possible consequences of his decisions require the official to be a seasoned salvage expert, not a loyal cadre seeking a job.
Recent statements by the minister attracted significant attention, including his repetition of the hackneyed and unworkable idea to establish a national shipping line. All know the plight of other national ventures! Rather, he should take steps to do the following:
● Appoint a permanent chief executive for the maritime safety authority, a vital organisation that has been without official leadership for years. (The current acting chief executive would be a popular choice.)
● Move quickly to enact legislation to attract shipowners to domicile in South Africa, a necessary step to grow the shipping industry. (Inter alia, this entails making the tax regime and ship registration regulations friendly towards shipowners.)
● Ensure that his Cabinet colleagues overseeing the relevant departments instruct immigration and customs officers to ameliorate procedures for the shipping community, rather than imposing complex regulations on ships’ crew members that would be unacceptable to the airline industry.
● Ensure his higher education Cabinet colleague jacks up tertiary maritime institutions, and separates their governance from the unhelpful restrictions imposed by university red tape. (Only then will they be able to comply with the strict requirements of the International Maritime Organisation and serve the maritime sector more appropriately.)
● Plan for the implementation of cabotage (that includes a percentage of South African crew members aboard ships) for the carriage of certain commodities and for designated trades.
● Prioritise plans for the construction of custom-built salvage tugs. (While still operating well, the current vessel is ageing.)
● Plan to separate the ports from the wider Transnet stable, while deregulating the port management structure and port operations so that ports can compete, take immediate advantage of niche opportunities as they arise, and offer specialised services, while tug and pilotage services can be privatised. (Thus profits from each port can be ploughed back into that port and not subsidise other sectors within Transnet. A restructured port system will maximise efficiency.)
● Plan immediately for the construction of a large dry dock, a real need, of which the minister would be aware if he is among the regular readers of this column.
The minister has a to-do-list, and readers will see whether any of its items are implemented – or whether this shipping scribe is dreaming.
Ingpen is the author of eight books on maritime matters.