Ray Smuts
THE SOUTH African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) expects to meet its inspection target of 700 vessels for the period April 1, 2000 to the end of this month.
It's all about making South Africa's territorial waters safer for all its inhabitants - even those those who fly the skies or tread the earth - for marine disasters are indiscriminate.
It's also about endorsing an international programme to reduce the number of sub-standard ships which should ideally have been consigned to the scrap yard a long time ago.
Captain Bill Dernier, SAMSA's executive manager for operations in Cape Town, says vessels targeted for inspection are selected totally at random once in port, though there have been exceptions to the rule, a notable case being the seriously holed bulk carrier Treasure which sank off Melkbosstrand on the Cape West Coast last year.
There are no criteria for random inspections. We consult shipping movements on a day to day basis, and our own database to avoid duplication of vessels that have been here in the last six months.
In terms of the memorandum of understanding we do not target flag states, or flags of convenience, some of whose vessels are worse off than others, Honduras and Belize for example.
The port state control numbers for the period 1 April 2000 to 8 March 2001 read as follows.
Dernier says of the total number of ships inspected these past 11 months, 23 were detained until deficiencies had been rectified which included faulty fire fighting equipment, submerged load line due to overloading, over-manning and dangerous on-board conditions such as an exceptionally oily engine room.
He disclosed that SAMSA's board had called for a review of the whole Treasure saga. The giant fully-laden bulk carrier sank off Melkbosstrand while being towed further out to sea in a desperate measure to prevent large-scale pollution.
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