Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has cautioned against overstating the commercial benefits of vessel diversions around the Cape of Good Hope, saying South Africa has seen only limited additional traffic despite ongoing disruptions in the Red Sea and Middle East.
“We have seen some business but we need to be realistic about the situation,” she said.
The minister was responding to a question from Freight News during an address to Exporters Western Cape in Cape Town about whether South Africa was doing enough to capitalise on increased vessel traffic around the Cape route.
Many of the vessels being rerouted around the Cape were already operating on significantly longer voyages than originally planned and would therefore have little reason to make additional port calls unless they required specific services, she said.
“South Africans love to get excited about things. But these are big ocean-going liners; they’re not tugboats. They don’t have to come here to refuel. They can move from Singapore to Rotterdam, whether it’s via Hormuz or via the Cape route, without refuelling.”
She added that many of the vessels passing South Africa’s coastline were modern ships that did not require repair services.
“All I am saying is that we must not overestimate what we can offer and what they will require from us.”
South Africa has seen only a modest increase in vessel calls linked to rerouting. “In a two-week period when we checked, there were perhaps seven additional vessels calling at our ports, three in Durban, two in Cape Town and the remainder in Eastern Cape ports,” Creecy said.
South Africa’s obligations under international maritime agreements meant that a significant part of its maritime response capacity was focused on assisting vessels in distress during severe weather events, she said.
“When the seas around our country become rough, we have a responsibility to assist vessels in distress. These vessels do not have bookings and can be very large. They often take up significant quay space and can impact scheduled port operations.”
Winter storms typically result in increased maritime incidents off the South African coast, particularly from July onwards, creating additional operational demands on ports at a time when some rerouted vessels were also calling at South African ports, she said.
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