Erwin underscores Cape’s ship repair potential

RAY SMUTS AS THE historic Noon Gun sounded its solitary daily ‘boom’ last Thursday, scattering flocks of frenzied pigeons into the grey skies and most citizens almost unwittingly checking their wrist watches for accuracy, an increasingly familiar sight was playing itself off in the port of Cape Town - a giant oil rig under tow, awaiting attention of some sort. Only a short while earlier, public enterprises minister Alec Erwin expressed the conviction during a visit to the port that one would have to go a lot further to find a more competitive site for ship repair than the Mother City, adding that the stronger rand would not necessarily undermine growth of ship repair in Durban and Cape Town. It is for this reason that repair facilities will be extended in the two ports, Cape Town already having identified two preferred bidders for the facility at the Elliot Basin. It is anticipated the first Cape Town contract could be awarded during the course of the National Ports Authority’s current financial year and that the expanded repair yard could be up and running within two to three years.