THE BREAKING up of Safren was one of the biggest maritime disasters to hit South Africa and one which the principal shareholder, Old Mutual, or even the government, should never have allowed, said Ivan Clark of the Grindrod Unicorn Group.
He said that Safmarine had in effect been South Africa's national flag carrier, and added that while this meant his company now carried that privilege, which he acknowledged presented good opportunities for Grindrod Unicorn, he said it would have been better had the old Safmarine set up remained.
The demise of Safmarine was badly handled, but I'm grateful that the present Safmarine/AP Moller arrangement allows for their continued presence here and I hope it remains.
Clark expressed confidence in future prospects for the South African shipping industry, saying the infrastructure of the shipping industry was up to first world standards.
He was critical of moves to create new ports, saying that in his view there was no need for Coega. Let's rather improve those we have, including Maputo and Beira, instead of building new ports we don't need. According to Clark privatisation of the ports will come more quickly than most people realise because of pressure being exerted by the maritime industry, adding that he thought it could come about within the next two years.
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