The project to build a railway from the Moatize coal basin in the western Mozambican province of Tete to a new deep water port at Macuse, on the coast of Zambezia province, is in serious trouble, since it has been unable to secure funding, according to a report in Friday’s issue of the Maputo daily Noticias.
The problem is the collapse in the world market price of coal. Coal logistics projects no longer look as attractive as they did a couple of years ago.
Building a new port and a 500 kilometre new railway seemed an excellent option when it was predicted that Mozambican coal exports might reach 100 million tonnes a year, and that the existing Sena line, from Moatize to the port of Beira could not cope with more than 12 million tonnes a year.
Abdul Carimo, chairperson of the Zambezia Integrated Development Corridor (CODIZA), the company proposing the project, said that about four billion US dollars are needed. No-one will provide sums that large without cast-iron guarantees that the railway and port will be viable.
Speaking in the Zambezia provincial capital, Quelimane, Carimo suggested that one way out is to involve the Indian consortium, ICVL (International Coal Ventures Limited).
Last year ICVL purchased the Mozambican coal assets of the Anglo-Australian company Rio Tinto for the remarkably cheap price of US$50 million. The main asset is the Benga open cast coal mine in Moatize.
Exporting Benga coal to India is not dependent on international coal prices since ICVL was set up by the Indian government exclusively for the purpose of acquiring coal mines and other coal assets abroad to meet India’s own coal requirements.
Carimo said that ICVL currently imports more than 450 million tonnes of coal a year. India’s need for imported coal is expected to rise to 650 million tonnes a year. Much of this could come from Moatize, and would be more than enough to justify the new railway and port.
Carimo also wanted the government to authorise extension of the planned railway westward, to Chitima. There is good quality coal in Chitima, he said, and over 70 companies have coal exploration licences there – but nothing was yet being mined.
He was confident that, if the railway were to be extended to Chitima, and ICVL came on board, then the market and logistics problems for the Chitima coal would be solved. – AIM

A conventional buoy mooring (CBM) has been installed in Luanda Bay to cater for tankers with a draught of up to 19.3 metres.
The CBM was installed by Pumangol, the Angolan subsidiary of Singapore-based Puma Energy and will cater for a variety of small and medium to large tankers.
The CBM is anchored in position inside the bay near the Pumangol facilities at the fishing port, which is being expanded in order to increase the storage capacity to 276,000 cubic metres initially. The CBM is connected ashore by pipeline
The facility’s capacity may be extended further to 393,000 cubic metres, says a statement issued by Pumangol. The cost of the project is expected to be US$400 million.
Pumangol entered into a partnership with Sonangol in 2004 to invest, recover and liberalise the oil sales and distribution industry.
The company currently has four business areas, including Pumangol Retalho, which operates fuel pumps, Pumangol Industrial, which sells fuel to industries, Pumangol Bunkering, which supplies fuel to ships and Angobetumes, which stores and distributes bitumen.
Pumangol is a subsidiary of Puma Energy, whose main shareholder is the Trafigura Beheer BV group of the Netherlands, focusing its activity on refining, distribution and transport of refinery products to consumers. – macauhub

Up to 400 port employees at the Kenyan port of Mombasa face a worrying time after Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) revealed that they are suspected of having used false certificates to gain employment.
According to Standard media nearly 400 employees drawn from across all departments and from all ranks were issued with letters last week demanding proof of their identity and education.
They were told to answer the charges or face action against them by this Friday. One employee told the newspaper, “We have been given 72 hours to ‘show cause’ why action should not be taken against us over the fake documents.”
KPA managing director Gichiri Ndua confirmed that an order to scrutinise all employee certificates had been issued but said he was unaware that 400 employees had been singled out. “It is true we are scrutinising documents of all employees and will take appropriate action if anybody is found to have presented a fake certificate,” said Mr Ndua.
Simon Sang, secretary-general of the Dock Workers Union said he was aware of the allegations although the KPA had not issued the union with any official notification.
The investigation follows an incident two years ago when a senior port manager was found to have not sat for his ‘O’ level examination and had altered documents to show that he had a Masters degree from the UK.

Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies has announced the formation of a Ministerial task team – comprising representatives from the community, the business fraternity, labour and government – charged with addressing challenges in the oil and gas industry, specifically those related to the offshore oil rig industry in the Saldanha Bay industrial development zone, in the Western Cape.
The Minister told the Saldanha Bay business community and oil rig management firms during a visit to the Transnet National Ports Authority in the Port of Saldanha on Tuesday that the team would conduct a full four-week audit to identify service bottlenecks in the industry.
“These bottlenecks and challenges include, among others, [the] limited [number of] companies providing oil rig maintenance and repair, inadequate skills development, and [a limited] supply chain for locals.
“[These issues must be addressed] to ensure that the community benefits from the [offshore] oil [industry],” Davies said during his visit, which formed part of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI’s) ‘Taking the DTI to the Factories’ campaign to determine the impact of government’s economic growth stimulation measures.
The Minister was accompanied by representatives of the South African Bureau of Standards, the National Meteorology Institute of South Africa, the South African National Accreditation System and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications, all of whom met with the Saldanha Bay business community to identify local opportunities.
Davies added that government would not “allow only high-end companies” to benefit from servicing the oils rigs.
“Saldanha Bay has potential [to become] an employment hub, if we do things the right way. Paying attention to getting local businesses accredited to be able to service the oil rigs and becoming proper players [in the industry] is instrumental to growing the economy and creating employment.
“We need to give the local companies a fair opportunity to service the oil rigs by assisting them to meet the standards required,” he noted.
Transnet had earlier announced a R13-billion project to transform Saldanha Bay into the oil and gas hub of South Africa within four years.
Edited by: Chanel de Bruyn

Over 26 companies active in the logistics, support services, oil and gas contracting and drilling, marine and rig building, fabrication and repair and wells specialist industries have shown interest in relocating their businesses to the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (SBIDZ), while eight of these firms were already developing and finalising agreements with the zone operator, Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies has said.
Responding in writing to a Parliamentary question by Democratic Alliance MP Kobus Marais, Davies outlined that there were no minimum requirements under the IDZ programme – or the overarchingManufacturing Development Act – for companies or factories wishing to relocate to an IDZ licensed by the Department of Trade and Industry.
“The decision to accept an investor lies with the operating company, under the overall governance of its board of directors,” he commented.
Davies added that the Saldanha Bay IDZ Licencing Company had been awarded an operator permit to develop and manage the zone and was in the process of establishing itself as, or converting itself into, a separate Provincial Business Public Entity.
The SBIDZ, which was still in the early stages of development in terms of the required physical infrastructure, boasted the deepest natural port in the southern hemisphere and was a designated oil and gas, marine repairengineering and logistics services complex.
Edited by: Chanel de Bruyn

On March 12th 2015, a group of WISTA ladies gathered at the beautiful AKD office in Rotterdam for the Annual General Meeting. After the official part the ladies were treated to a very interesting presentation on Connectivity and Thinking Out of the Box by Lena Göthberg. Lena is an entrepreneur with a focus on getting the shipping business digital. She spent 25 years in the shipping industry, mainly working with marine insurance. She has also been Secretary-General for the Institute of Shipping Analysis. Strategic input and business planning for the global shipping industry has been her every day job the last 4 years. Nowadays she’s aiming at bringing the shipping industry up to speed on the digital arena.Lena gave the WISTA-ladies a heads up of what is going on in the digital arena, to make them more aware and prepared, as there are a number of challenges to face in the shipping industry. Changing World
First of all, there is a new generation of ship owners on the wheel; they have a different background, are younger and hence have a different mind-set. For them corporate social responsibility plays a big role. Besides this we are moving from an industrial industry to a knowledge society. This society requires a number of skills like networking, focusing more on the human side and sharing knowledge. Women in general possess these skills and therefore match with this new knowledge society. After all; the more you share with others, the stronger you get.Most WISTA ladies are digital immigrants, who were born before the widespread adoption of digital technology. However we get surrounded by more and more digital natives, who have been interacting with technology from childhood. We live in this changing world; we go from printed newspapers to online news, we check in online and we listen to Spotify instead of buying cd’s. The world changes fast; look for example at Kodak and Nokia. These changes happen to the shipping industry as well.The previous generation planted the seeds and the digital arena can be considered the trees. We can harvest in the now. We have all changed our behaviour to the internet of things. We are giving away our tracks every day; think of the shopping card at the supermarket, or the travel card at the train station. It is big data that can be analysed and used for certain purposes, and the internet connects it. We should be aware of this and adapt to the changing environment. Connecting Sea & Shore
There is a wonderful example in the maritime industry that demonstrates the internet of things. Ericson and Maersk Lines took communication at sea to another level when they installed mobile broadband and satellites to create a network over the seas. This is truly global communication.Due to the connectivity at sea we can monitor vessels from the shore. We have machine-2-machine (M2M), where sensors are talking to each other. The global network can help us reduce the impact of our activities on the environment. Take the new Triple-E container ships of Maersk, which are made possible by an efficient and effective network and by innovation. The Mona Lisa 2.0 project is also a beautiful example of creating a smarter maritime world by connecting sea and shore. This EU program is connecting links and reducing administration. It is creating a maritime transport chain, where all maritime companies are connected and cargo can move faster and cleverer. It can also create safety and security at sea, by creating safer and smarter routes. And it can help owners to save fuel and maintenance costs. The ´unmanned ships´ of Rolls Royce and the ‘Revolt unmanned zero emission’ short sea ship for the future of DNV-GL are also perfect examples of connecting sea and shore.Connectivity can also help with remote health care. We could monitor the physical condition of the crew by Google watches. Or think of what a chip in your hand could do; opening doors automatically or checking in. These developments will make certain jobs disappear, but is will also create new jobs. It makes us need to recruit in another way.The maritime industry is a very interesting industry, with lots of new ideas and innovations going on. We need to share this with the rest of the world. We also need to put connectivity at the top of our mind when writing our business plans.
WISTA : Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association is a dynamic and international networking organization of women at management level positions in the maritime industry. WISTA currently has national associations in 35 countries, with over 2100 members. WISTA is a dynamic and international networking organization of women at management level positions in the maritime industry.WISTA the Netherlands was established in 2000 and currently has 140 members.WISTA wants to inspire, energize, motivate, and educate women in themaritime industry, to increase their competence and empower them in their careers. WISTA also wants to be a diverse network where all maritime disciplines and age categories are represented.

Work on the new port just to the north of Walvis Bay is set to begin during April, according to the Chinese construction company, China Harbour and Engineering Company (CHEC), which last week began cutting a road to the site, reports the Namibian newspaper Informanté
The new port is being referred to as the SADC Gateway Port.
The same construction company is building a new container terminal at the old Walvis Bay port, on an infill area in the present harbour.
Phase 1 of the Gateway Port involves dredging a 180m wide, 16.5m deep entrance channel and turning basin plus two tanker berths.
The idea is that the first phase of the Gateway Port will replace the existing tanker berths at Walvis Bay, which date back to 1959 and have needed structural rehabilitation work to be carried out.
Included in Phase 1 is the construction of an access roadway from the B2 coastal road westward to the sea, as well as an accommodation facility for the estimated 3,000 workers that will be required.
The new tanker berths will be connected by a pipeline to a new tank farm in the Walvis Bay oil depot area.
Funding for Phase 1 is coming from Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, as part of its mandate to secure and protect Namibia’s strategic fuel reserves.
The construction period is expected to be 27 months, suggesting that this part of the new port could be in use by August 2017.– Informante

Two new container berths were officially opened at the Eastern Cape port of Ngqura earlier this month (Monday 9 March). This brings to four the container berths now in service at the port, in which Transnet has so far invested no less than R14 billion. The port is also open to deep-water ships with draughts of up to 14.5 metres, having water dredged to a depth of -16 metres alongside the four berths. This means that fully loaded ships with up to 10,000 TEU on board are able to call at the port.
The new section opened last week increases the capacity of Ngqura from 850,000 TEU to 1.5 million TEU, making this the second biggest container terminal, in terms of capacity, after Durban. In the 2014 calendar year Ngqura handled a total of 705,377 TEU, indicating that the container terminal was close to capacity.
The opening of the two berths was performed before a gathering of selected guests including the heads of a number of port stakeholders, including shipping line executives. The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms Lynne Brown, to whose department Transnet reports, described the investment as significant.
“It strengthens the terminal’s capability to handle larger container vessels, improve efficiencies, vessel turnaround times and customer satisfaction. It also ticks various crucial boxes in our government’s developmental agenda while boosting the Eastern Cape’s role in the broader economy,” said the minister.
She said she was pleased that the port has contributed towards job-creation in the area of the Eastern Cape. “To date, more than 825 permanent jobs have been created since the operationalisation of the Port in October 2009. The creation of decent jobs remains a high priority of Government.
“The port has also contributed towards the transformation of the economy. To date, the port’s procurement spend is recorded at R900 million of which R740 million is Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment spend. The transformation of the economy remains a priority area. We cannot undermine our investment towards building and developing our black suppliers. The creation of strong black industrialists shall remain top of the agenda of our government.”
Transnet has received praise from several quarters for its role as an efficient state-owned enterprise and for its investment in infrastructure. Compared with some other state-owned enterprises such as SAA and Eskom, Transnet has an impressive record with major infrastructural programmes aimed at creating capacity ahead of demand instead of trying to catch up afterwards.
What is noteworthy about this is that while other state-owned enterprises are appealing for bailouts or other assistance from government, or asking for drastic increases in tariffs, Transnet set about funding its build programme on the strength of its own balance sheet, which it has successfully achieved without government guarantees since 2005.
The minister said it was a significant milestone that Transnet has achieved in its drive to develop the Port of Ngqura into a transhipment hub in the Southern Hemisphere. “This achievement will certainly increase the chances of South Africa to improve its competitiveness, especially in relation to other ports in the continent which are in direct competition with South Africa for the movement of freight in the global markets. It will also contribute greatly to the integration of our country with the rest of the region and continent,” she said.
Brown pointed out that the port has also benefitted from being an Industrial Development Zone. “Its designation as a special economic zone has supported a broader-based industrialisation growth path in South Africa, while helping the country achieve the objectives as outlined in National Development Plan (NDP). It has supported a balanced regional industrial growth path by fostering the development of more competitive and productive regional economies. We have seen investments in the labour-intensive area in order to increase job creation, competitiveness, skills and technology transfer and exports of beneficiated products.”
In addition to the construction and opening of the two berths the terminal has been equipped with two additional ship-to-shore cranes, 18 rubber tyre gantry (RTG) cranes, 48 haulers and 48 bathtubs (special trucks and trailers designed for moving containers about the terminal).
Of the 70,000 containers handled at the terminal last year, Transnet says 80 percent of them were transhipment boxes, intended for other ports elsewhere and being transferred via Ngqura. Transnet Port Terminals, which is the terminal operator at the port, is focusing on promoting the port as a transhipment centre rather than as a destination port. A certain percentage of the transhipment cargo already being handled involves containers redirected from other ports and while this is not ‘new’ business for Transnet and South Africa, it helps relieve the pressure on the destination ports such as Durban and Cape Town.
Brian Molefe, chief executive of Transnet Limited said earlier that the new berths would help market Ngqura as a transhipment centre to ports in east and west Africa as well as in South America.
The port of Ngqura was originally designed to handle bulk commodities but has been stymied in that the adjacent Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) never succeeded in attracting an ‘anchor tenant’ until the idea of the container terminal was put forward. Various schemes of building smelters at the IDZ were explored but none came to fruition. Efforts meanwhile to relocate the manganese exports from the nearby Port Elizabeth harbour were stonewalled because of lease factors – those holding the leases to use the manganese terminal at Port Elizabeth were reluctant to give them up before their expiry dates unless the leases were ‘bought out’ by Transnet, which it in turn was reluctant to do.
When the Port Elizabeth manganese terminal is finally vacated in a couple of years’ time it will have to be cleaned up environmentally – after many years of having manganese stored on site this will be a costly exercise. Nevertheless, this will have to be performed and in the meantime Transnet is proceeding with plans for developing a new manganese berth and terminal at Ngqura which will considerably increase the capacity for exports.
The port will then presumably also be able to handle other ore commodities if required.
According to Molefe, Transnet is waiting for the licence to develop the terminal which will be supported by a rail link from the Eastern Cape railway network.
To handle the longer and heavier trains that Transnet sees being used to transport manganese and other ores to Ngqura, the railway inland to the Northern Cape will have to undergo considerable and costly upgrading. This will include strengthening the culverts and bridges for the heavier trains and lengthening the crossing loops which are mostly in railway stations along the way. Molefe said that Transnet will be investing R30.1 billion over the next seven years expanding the rail and port infrastructure in the Eastern Cape.
It’s also possible that ship repair may develop organically in the port. Already Ngqura has handled several oil rigs for repair and maintenance and one is currently moored within the port right now undergoing similar treatment. This involves specialist ship repair firms having to fly personnel in but it also invariably leads to the development of a local industry and skills as well.

Five member states of the East African Community (EAC), Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania, issued an invitation to international investors to become involved in upgrading the EAC region’s infrastructure.
Referring to significant oil and gas discoveries in the region, investors attending an investor conference held in Dar es Salaam last week, were told of the opportunities that exist following the hydrocarbon discoveries.
“East Africa is a good bet for investors … this is about mutually beneficial and profitable investments for all stakeholders involved whether public or private,” said Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
The five countries mentioned are hoping to package joint infrastructure plans that will boost trade and hasten economic integration.
According to a 2015-2025 strategy document issued by the five, between US$68 billion and $100 billion is needed over the next 10 years to build roads, new ports, railways, oil pipelines and transmission lines.
Kenya together with Uganda and Rwanda has already embarked on the construction of a new standard gauge railway from the port of Mombasa which will connect the three countries. Tanzania is also issuing details regarding the upgrading of existing railways and new links to connect with Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and the eastern DRC.
This involves a 1,464-km long standard gauge railway from the port at Dar es Salaam and Rwanda. Tanzania also plans to build a new container port at Bagamoyo, north of Dar es Salaam.
Kenya has already announced plans of the new deepwater port near Lamu and a 1,700km standard gauge railway corridor from Mombasa to Rwanda via Uganda. According to Kigame the plans, although ambitious, are all economically sound.
Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete said the central corridor through Tanzania and the northern corridor from Mombasa complemented each other. “”It is my wish to see the northern and central corridors infrastructure to be one in the future,” he said. Kikwete is the current chairman of the EAC.
EAC secretary general Richard Sezibera said the central and northern corridor projects would be coordinated to achieve a common regional development goal. Kikwete revealed that the DRC and Zambia were interested in joining the central corridor projects. The TAZARA railway provides both countries with a rail link to the port at Dar es Salaam. TAZARA has been in existence since the mid-1970s but has been poorly maintained.
Tanzania was tackling the issue of non-tariff barriers to trade in the region and has issued instructions limiting the number of police and customs checkpoints along the road corridor.
President Uhuru Kenyatta meanwhile has told the Kenyan parliament that he was ready to break ground for the first three berths at the new Lamu port. The $446 million contract for this has been awarded to a consortium headed by China Communications Construction Company.
Kenyatta emphasised the government’s drive to reduce transit times for goods moving from the port at Mombasa to Kigali in Rwanda, which he said now takes just three days between the port and Kampala in Uganda or four days to Kigali, compared with the 18 to 20 days previously. Much of this has been achieved by eliminating a large number of police and customs roadblocks along the route.

State-owned freight transport group Transnet has announced that Richard Vallihu has been appointed CEO of Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) from April 1, following the retirement of Tau Morwe.
Vallihu, who has hitherto headed Transnet Engineering (TE), would be replaced by Thamsanqa Jiyane, who will also join the group executive committee from April 1.
Vallihu, who joined TE in 1995 and had been CEO since 2005, is credited with overseeing the development of the unit into a manufacturingenterprise.
Jiyane, who is a teacher by qualification and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Operations and Supply Chain and a Master of BusinessLeadership, joined Transnet in 2001. He has worked as a procurement expert at three Transnet divisions, including Transnet Port Terminals, TNPA, and Transnet Freight Rail (TFR).
At TFR, Jiyane is credited with having spearheaded the multibillion-rand fleet renewal programme, which includes a strong focus on localisation, as well as supplier and enterprise development.