Sona disappointments for maritime industry
Difficulties plaguing the containership sector
AT GREAT expense to the taxpayer – “only” R2 million this year, while some schoolchildren still use dangerous and disgusting pit latrines – and with unnecessary bling at every turn, another Sona (State of the Nation Address) is over. Obstructing the work of Parliament, the red brigade showed youngsters how to behave extremely badly with impunity, and eventually, the president managed to say his piece. While he addressed several major issues positively, he referred only fleetingly to the maritime industry. Yet, after Eskom, this is the most important sector in terms of its role in moving vital commodities and in terms of its staggering earning potential of mega-billions and massive employment potential – if managed and promoted properly by experienced people. He said the government would try to resolve the congestion at Durban Container Terminal, a long-standing problem that is hampering free-flowing trade and causing increased shipping costs that are passed on to the consumer. The Government’s indifferent record in resolving other important issues does not bode well for Durban’s Bayhead Road, clogged by queues of container trucks. Then the president moved to other matters – a super city and, alarmingly, tacit encouragement for dagga merchants, euphemised through his use of the term “hemp”, instead of spelling out the stark and dark realities of the devastation this drug has caused in lives and families. Just ask school teachers who daily have to deal with spaced-out youngsters. Although economists opined positively on aspects of the president’s speech, many in the maritime sector were disappointed. They had hoped for presidential announcements of substantial measures to promote the industry – even an investigation into cabotage, or into new management systems for the ports. His minister of transport, dressed in Nigerian garb, did not cut the serious, urgent and imperious figure needed to promote shipping in the country, the sub-continent, or on the global stage. Two days before Sona, I had listened intently as a real maritime Colossus explained the difficulties plaguing the containership sector. Captain Nick Sloane – yet to be acknowledged by the South African government for his unparalleled achievements in global salvage operations – informed his audience at the Royal Cape Yacht Club that more than 200 mega-container ships, each carrying more than 16000 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit), are now at sea. While the largest containership currently in operation has a capacity of nearly 22 000 TEU, Asian drawing boards are producing plans for vessels with almost double that capacity. Apart from difficulties that such ships with massive windage will have manoeuvring in the wind, what happens if one of those ships goes bump in the night? The salvage of such large vessels and their masses of cargo – literally thousands of shippers’ cargo aboard one ship – will be extremely difficult, creating an insurance nightmare. Among the cargo on any of those ships are hazardous consignments, some fully declared by honest shippers, but some declared as benign by scoundrels wishing to circumvent hazardous goods surcharges and other add-ons. Since its contents are “benign”, a container with its misdeclared contents can be stowed anywhere on the ship. Or imagine, Sloane said, that a container carrying misdeclared hazardous cargo that should be kept at a stipulated temperature, is trans-shipped at an Arabian Gulf port in summer. While awaiting loading on a feeder ship, the steel container may stand in the sun at the terminal for days in temperatures well over 40ºC. Under such conditions, chemical contents can become unstable, and pose a serious fire threat to the ship. To have a chance of extinguishing it, a chemical fire needs to be tackled within minutes. On a large containership where the site of the fire could be 250m from the accommodation, even the most efficient crew could take time to muster, gather their gear, and to begin fire-fighting operations. Chemical fires are extremely dangerous, can spread quickly, and usually generate intense heat, explosions, as well as toxic fumes, forcing fire-fighting teams to withdraw, and the ship to be abandoned. Until salvage vessels arrive – which could take days – the ship will be left to burn, drift and possibly ground. Some mega-ships could have thousands of tons of bunkers aboard, adding to the environmental threat. Following several major fires aboard well-found containerships operated by very reputable companies, vigorous attempts to combat the shipment of misdeclared cargo have been largely unsuccessful, and the threat continues. Daily, the safety of containerships’ crews could be compromised by misdeclared cargo. Firebreaks of containers filled with fire-retardant material could be stowed thwart ships. New ships should be designed with firebreaks in mind. While the loss of earnings by having such firebreaks on a ship will cause some owners to dismiss the idea, the potential loss of the ship, cargo and the lives of crew members are at stake. The International Maritime Organisation must act to protect seafarers, ships and cargo owners from this scourge.