Walvis Bay offers new repair option

A ‘’NEW’ floating dock, acquired as a joint venture between Durban-based ship repair company Elgin Brown & Hamer and Namport, arrived in Walvis Bay last Tuesday where it will provide the first ship repair dock of its type along the southern west coast. The concrete-based floating dock is similar in size to Elgin’s successful Durban floating dock (Eldock), which is capable of lifting vessels 150m long and up to 8 500 tonnes. The dock is expected to provide employment for at least 100 people while helping develop a range of skills. It is also likely to impact on Cape Town’s overcrowded ship repair industry as it is now the closest facility for the West Coast oil industry and also for the local and visiting fishing industries. Interest has already been shown even from Saldanha fishing interests. The dock’s first customer is likely to be the container ship Umfolozi, which sank at her berth at the Walvis Bay container terminal in September last year after colliding with the dredger Ingwenya. Salvors have been busy refloating the vessel which now requires major hull repairs.