‘One big ship a week is going elsewhere’

AMID FEARS that the infrastructure bottleneck in Cape Town could retard future growth, a leading repairer said Sturrock was constantly filled with smaller vessels which should ideally have been handled by a ship lift, resulting in at least one big ship a week going elsewhere for repairs. A major indictment is that schedules are often not adhered to resulting in other vessels being delayed. As harbour master Captain Eddie Bremner points out, one initial fault often leads to more being diagnosed. One suggestion is that oil industry work be moved to Saldanha, but Bremner says this is not feasible - short of supplying new quayside infrastructure - as the present quays are fully utilised by iron ore and steel operations and vessels like rigs require quays for repairs. Port manager Sanjay Govan told FTW: “We as the National Ports Authority are not making money from ship repairs. “The tariffs were very obscure and part one of the reform process was to try and start making cargo handing and marine operations equitable in terms of what should be charged before starting to look at ship repairs, with the formation of a ship repair committee and the appointment of a national ship repair manager. “We need to act fast because of growing interest by the internationals in investing in West Africa, so if we snooze we lose.” Govan said in the long term ship repair would not be a business for the NPA - really a regulator of ports - to be involved in. “That is the current view but it could change and it will ultimately be up to Government with our assistance to decide whether that is the best option. “We are in the business of facilitating trade so our obligation is to the economy of the country. Ship repair is one of those industries key to the Western Cape economy so we don’t want to chase ships away.” l The importance of ship repair to Cape Town is underscored by the fact that it contributes around 35% of port revenue compared to the container industry’s input of some 51%.