Lines scrutinise new BEE amendments

The new BEE amendments are currently being closely investigated on behalf of the shipping lines by the SA Association of Ship Owners and Agents (Saasoa), according to CEO, Peter Besnard. Part of this investigation is to decide whether or not the new amendment could be seen as a backdoor entry into acquiring a share in ship ownership. This follows assent by President Jacob Zuma and the release in the government gazette of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Amendment Act No 46 of 2013. This means it is now enforced as law. A major part of the amendment is a big emphasis on “ownership”. In this case, it appears to apply to the line offices – many of them trading under their line names. But this element certainly doesn’t apply to any sort of ownership of the line’s f leets of ships, according to Fred Jacobs, chairman of Maersk Line SA and director of Saasoa. “Saasoa,” Jacobs told FTW, “is looking at this, and there is an issue with Section 14. “But we are purely agents for the lines and have no assets. We don’t own vessels.” This question of ship ownership has done the rounds amongst the shipping industry, certainly in Durban. FTW was told by one line executive, for example, that: “If there is any suggestion of this coming about, we will probably pull out of the SA trade.” Others grumbled about the possibility. A lot of the concern arose from minister of trade and industry, Rob Davies, pointing out that an interpretation clause in the amendment had been extended to include a trumping provision that stipulated that the BBBEE Amendment Act would trump any law that was in force prior to its commencement date. The problem was that, at the same time, Zuma was busy doing a hard-sell of Operation Phakisa, a prime part of which emphasised acquiring more ships registered under the SA f lag. He raised the issue that we currently have no registered ships, despite 300 million tons of cargo moving through SA ports each year, in addition to 1.2 million tons of liquid fuels moving along our coast, and the rapidly expanding offshore oil and gas activities requiring a supporting f leet of vessels. But Operation Phakisa included establishing a National Shipping Company in partnership with South Korea to use more SA ships to export minerals – a move that Zuma reckons will create 4 000 direct jobs. But shipping line executives who talked to FTW were adamant that these were not practical goals, and accused the SA government of living another impossible maritime dream. And the amended act and codes applied to the line agencies in this country being a sideways tactic to acquire shares in ship ownership have been equally firmly rejected.