Still no answers over future of grounded bulker

The National Ports Authority failed to attend last week’s allimportant Samsa meeting over the future of the wrecked bulk carrier Seli 1, leaving many questions unanswered. Key among those is whether the old Turkish ship lying off Table Bay beach will be removed and if so, who will pay for the costly operation. Some thinking has it Transnet National Ports Authority should accept responsibility, given the calamity occurred on their ‘turf’ – a view seemingly not shared by the authority. The NPA said in a statement last week it was legally responsible for owning, managing and administrating ports to ensure efficient economic functioning. Furthermore, it said that the Seli 1 posed no threat to any of the above functions at this stage and that no permanent plan of action existed, although it was prepared to consider any official requests by Samsa in this regard. Samsa’s regional manager, Captain Dave Colly, says the NPA does not consider it is legally bound to have anything to do with the vessel. The original cargo owners have abandoned the coal, subsequently sold to an unidentified Johannesburg entrepreneur who has instructed it be removed. (The price of coal mid-year stood at around $52 a tonne FOB Richards Bay). A maze of mechanised equipment has been loaded onto the vessel in anticipation of unloading the 30 000-ton cargo but the NPA has yet to give its permission for use of the port to deliver the cargo to the shore, a task that could take three or four months.