As the 4th African International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) conference drew to an end in Cape Town last week, it was agreed that the continent could improve bunkering services significantly. South Africa, in particular, has seen bunkering volumes decline at alarming rates in the past few years as ships increasingly bypass its ports to bunker elsewhere in the world. “We must remain mindful of the importance of the bunker trade as a real economic activity and its impact in this regard,” said Professor Trevor Jones of the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. The IBIA Africa exco member said: “It would be tragic to see the economic benefits of bunkering continue to be whittled away or diminished into the future.” Shipping analyst, consultant and expert, Brian Ingpen, agreed. He said there were opportunities to provide bunkering services to the world at the moment, particularly for the South African ports, based on their geographic location alone. High port costs have consistently been highlighted as one of the reasons for the decline in bunkering at South African ports. The country was also warned that, unless it acted immediately, it would miss the proverbial boat completely in light of fast-moving developments in both Namibia and Mozambique, where the value of bunkering services is improving and objectives are reached. Also, Port Louis in Mauritius is working hard to attract vessels for bunkering and is pulling out all the stops to give a value-added service.
