Tug master making her mark in the dock
WHEN Pearl Makanya took maritime studies at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), she “never in a million years” thought that she would eventually be in control of the most powerful tug in Durban harbour.
But the 35-year-old motherof-two did just that last week when she became the first tug master of Transnet National Ports Authority’s new, powerful, world-class tug called Umbilo.
The 31-metre-long tug, one of the world’s largest and most efficient, has a powerful 70-ton bollard pull, enabling it to pull bigger ships entering South African waters. TNPA’s older tugs have a 32.5-40 ton pull.
Built by Southern African Shipyards at Durban’s Bay- head, the tug boasts German Voith Schneider propulsion, which makes it highly manoeuvrable and able to change direction and thrust almost instantaneously, while guiding vessels safely into port.
Makanya, who had already guided five big ships into the harbour by Friday, said the new tug felt like it had double the power of older tugs in the local fleet. “You can definitely feel the difference,” said Makanya, who has a crew of seven, two of them women.
After taking science studies at Ridge Park College on Durban’s Berea, which qualified her to do maritime studies at the Durban University of Technology, she got a cadetship to study for a marine tug master’s qualification with TNPA some 10 years ago. It was at a time when women were be- ginning to enter the maritime industry.
TNPA arranged for her to work as a candidate trainee marine officer with Unicorn Shipping, which operates big ships and she travelled to France, Italy and Spain learning the ropes on deck “the hard way”– painting and maintaining the safety equipment – and being treated like “one of the boys.”
“I was the only girl out of 15 other trainees and it was really tough work for a female. It was all preparation for when we became tug masters, enabling us to check if our crews had done a proper job.”
The second half of her yearlong overseas experience was spent on navigation, taking the tankers from one foreign port to another.
“That was quite exciting,” she said.
Back home, she prepared for her oral exams with the South African Maritime Safety Authority and duly qualified. Since then, she has worked as a tug master with TNPA, with some time spent on dredgers, as well as a barge master for another company, before returning to TNPA.
She has been the tug master on TNPA’s Umkhuze for the past two years, adding that there were now “quite a few” women tug masters in the local fleet.
The ambitious Makanya hopes to eventually become a marine pilot, flying a helicopter to ships at sea, being lowered onto their decks and navigating the ships into the port.
The Durban port will be getting a second new tug, which is still under construction in the shipyard.