Piracy around the Malacca Straits is very much back in the news, with the United Nations saying the region has now surpassed West and East Africa to become the global hotspot for piracy. In particular, small product tankers have been targeted by robbers in the past three months. In the final week of June alone there were five reported incidents.

Piracy in Southeast Asia is nothing new. What is new, however, is the jump in numbers and the very specific targeting of certain types of ships. This spike in hijacking and cargo theft has been brought about by the black market demand for marine fuel oil in Southeast Asia, says Steve McKenzie.

The Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, MsLilianne Ploumen, and a Dutch Trade Delegation visited Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) on Tuesday, July 8th 2014. The goal was to get an impression of the way South African and Dutchcompanies and entrepreneurs are working together. In addition, the newly qualified pupils from DSCT’s in-house Apprentice Training Centre received their certificates from the minister. All qualified artisans, as they now are, are offered a job at Damen’s South African shipyard. Minister Ploumen and the other guests were welcomed by Damen Shipyards Cape Town staff, including board members Mr Sam Montsi, Mr Friso Visser and MrsSefaleMontsi-Zuma.The proceedings started with a tour of the DSCT yard which included a viewing of the ATD2909 which is currently under construction for the South African Navy, a look at the impressive FCS 5009 Patrol Vessel and a viewing of ‘Shed 6’ which is currently being constructed and is due to be completed in September 2014. The addition of Shed 6 to DSCT’s collection of production halls will add 1280m² of invaluable production floor space to DSCT’s production portfolio.

VIP guests and staff gathered in the boardroom for a certificate ceremony that honoured 20 apprentices from the Damen Shipyards Cape Town Apprenticeship Training Centre, who have recently completed and passed their welding or boiler making trade tests. DSCT’s Apprenticeship Training Centre is accredited by MerSETA(Manufacturing, Engineering and Related ServicesSector Education and Training Authority) for both the Welding and Boilermaking trades.The Apprenticeship Training Centre invigorates the DSCT yard with new generations of practitioners of up to 15 new apprentices each year. In total there are 39 employees who have benefited from the ApprenticeshipTraining Centre, some of which have been apprentices and some are yet to qualify. DSCT aims to be a learning organisation which attracts, trains and retains the best in the field. The company invites and encourages employees to improve their skills to get the maximum benefit from shared knowledge, competencies and talents. Training does not stop at artisan level and therefore the company offers its employees training in budgeting, safety, first aid, firefighting, scaffolding, crane driving and more. “We believe in constant self-improvement for a healthy and competitive company, and so various training courses are offered at all levels within the organisation”, says HR manager Heather Dukas. These initiatives benefit the company’s employees as individuals and the shipyard as a whole. Damen’s policy of building of vessels on stock also contributes to DSCT’s Apprenticeship programme in that a constant workflow is maintained, which translates to constant levels of local employment and shipyard productivity.

Mining company Kenmare Resources, which explores heavy sands deposits in Moma, northern Mozambique, produced 445,600 tons of ilmenite in the first half of 2014, the Irish company said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

According to the statement, which reported production for the second quarter of the year, ilmenite production in the first half of 2014 rose 47 percent against the same period of 2013.

In the same six-month period Kenmare also extracted 21,400 tons of zircon, or 12 percent more year on year and 2,800 tons of rutile, or 47 percent more.

In the first half of the year, mining exports rose to 399,000 tons, which was an increase of 36 percent on the same period of 2013, Kenmare Resources said. – macauhub

By: Irma Venter

Transport Minister Dipuo Peters said on Monday that she “would love to” present the National Transport Master Plan (Natmap) to Cabinet for approval by the end of March next year.

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Speaking to Engineering News Online on the sidelines of the Southern African Transport Conference, held in Pretoria, she said this was, however, dependent on internal process within the Department of Transport (DoT), as well as a planned consultation process.

“I am currently unable to give an indication on the timeline for public engagement, but there will be public engagement.”

Peters said the DoT would need to talk to industries such as the mining and agriculture sectors to determine their transport needs.

The long-delayed Natmap, which would guide South Africa’s transport infrastructure development to 2050, was initiated in 2007, before Peters’ appointment as Transport Minister in 2013.

The DoT in 2010 presented Parliament with an early version of Natmap, which included linking Johannesburg to Durban and Polokwane via rapid train networks, expanding the Port of Cape Town, and forming partnerships  with the private sector to help fund projects and lower the burden on taxpayers, all with an estimated budget requirement of R750-billion.

Cabinet had indicated that Natmap must represent South Africa’s transport needs, and not those of the DoT, Peters said on Monday, explaining the project’s delay.

Cabinet insisted that the DoT looked at all modes of transport and the infrastructure that supported these modes in drawing up the master plan. Natmap should also respond to transport-related growth points in the economy, such as tourism.

“Cabinet then took the decision to refer Natmap back to the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Committee (PICC),” said Peters.

“At this stage we are ready to present Natmap to the PICC and to get the process started.”

Peters also on Monday acknowledged that the DoT had not yet been able to create significant private sector participation in the transport sector, as was envisaged for the 2009 to 2014 period.

She said private sector involvement could act as a catalyst for growth, adding that government did not have sufficient funds to create all of the transport infrastructure and services the South African economy required.

Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter

 

By Lee Hyo-sik

The prosecution will bring criminal charges against a number of Coast Guard officials who allegedly neglected their duties when the Sewol ferry sank on April 16. At the time of the tragedy they were working at a maritime traffic control tower on Jindo Island. According to the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office, investigators are looking into allegations that Coast Guard officials at the vessel traffic service (VTS) center on Jindo Island did not follow procedures when dealing with distress calls from the Sewol. They also allegedly failed to monitor the status of the ferry when it sailed nearby, and tampered with duty logs and surveillance camera footage in an attempt to cover up their wrongdoings. “The investigators are analyzing the transcript of communications between the crew of the ferry Sewol and the Jindo VTS Center and surveillance camera footage to see whether Coast Guard officials performed their duties properly,” a prosecutor said. “We are trying to figure out why it took 18 minutes for the VTS center to respond to the distress calls from the Sewol. We would like to know what happened between 8:48 and 9:06 a.m. on April 16.” The prosecution plans to seek an arrest warrant for the officials if they are found to have erased the surveillance camera footage and tampered with duty logs. In April, investigators raided the Jindo VTS Center twice and summoned 10 officials for questioning. A total of 476 people were aboard the 6,825-ton vessel when it sank off the nation’s southwestern coast. Of that number, 172 were rescued with 11 still remaining missing. President Park Geun-hye has vowed to disband the Coast Guard and establish a comprehensive government investigation.

The Costa Concordia disaster, when the cruise liner capsized off Italy more than two years ago, will likely end up costing the ship’s owners just over 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion), a company executive told a German newspaper.

“So far, our costs are at 1 billion euros. But that does not include 100 million for the ship to be broken up for scrap and the cost of repairing damage to Giglio island,” Michael Thamm, chief executive of Costa Crociere – a unit of Carnival Corp and operator of the ship – told weekly Bild am Sonntag. The disaster dealt a blow to the image of Carnival, the world’s largest cruise operator, which in March forecast an annual profit below analysts’ estimates as it cut prices and spent more on advertising to attract customers. Luxury liner Costa Concordia hit rocks as it sailed close to the island of Giglio off Tuscany in January 2012, killing 32 people and setting off a chaotic evacuation of crew and passengers, some of whom jumped into the sea and swam ashore. The hulk of the 290-metre ship was righted and secured in a complex operation last September and, with the arrival of calm summer weather, is due to be towed to Genoa to be broken up for scrap in the coming days. “If everything goes well, we can complete this unprecedented salvage project this month,” Thamm told Bild am Sonntag in an interview published on Sunday, adding he expected recycling of the ship to take almost two years. Thamm said Costa Crociere managed to retain 95 percent of its customers following the ship’s sinking, thanks in part to “significant” discounts. Some 50 to 60 percent of Costa Concordia’s surviving passengers have since taken another cruise with the company

R2bn Saldanha Bay oil facility gets environmental go-ahead
The approval, which was granted by the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, followed the conclusion of eight specialist studies, which were undertaken by independent experts as part of the environmental-impact assessment (EIA).
The envisaged facility would have a total capacity of 13.2-million barrels, comprising twelve 1.1-million barrel in-ground concrete tanks, which were designed to ensure that, should an oil leak develop in one of the tanks, the oil would be collected in a separate layer underneath the tanks and relayed to a special collection point from where it would be pumped back into the tanks.
This layer would be continuously monitored.
“Although not required legally, OTMS decided to also conduct a marine oil pollution control study in addition to the EIA to ensure that any and all of its environmental risks are adequately understood and addressed,” the group said in a statement.
MOGS, which initiated the Saldanha Bay project in 2011, had completed the prefeasibility studies and design of the facility and was in the final stages of obtaining the required statutory approvals.
Engineering News Online reported in September that Saldanha Bay was regarded as the most suitable location for the global crude transshipment hub the JV envisaged, as it was close to strategic tanker routes between key oil-producing regions and major oil-consuming markets.
OTGC Holdings was an independent bulk liquid storage provider in South Africa, while MOGS was a South African company owned 100% by community-based investment company Royal Bafokeng Holdings.
Edited by: Tracy Hancock

GUEBEZA SAYS INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE IS AN INVESTMENT IN PEACE

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza declared in Brussels last week that investing in transport, communications and energy infrastructures is not just a business opportunity, but also a guarantee of peace, security and well-being, since today’s world is characterised by a growing interdependence between states and continents.
Speaking during the Fourth European Union-Africa summit, Guebuza cited the example of the growth in railways, roads, ports, airports, telecommunications and electricity grids in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
But despite the significant advances that African countries have been making, the gap between the need for social and economic infrastructures and what has been achieved is enormous. According to the African Development Bank (ADB), the continent only invests annually in infrastructures four per cent of its Gross Domestic Product, while an ideal figure would be around 14 percent.
Nonetheless, Guebuza believed that, rather than regarding this simply as a constraint, African countries have been able to transform the current deficit in infrastructures into an opportunity to attract direct private investment, to complement the efforts made by the public sector.
“The response has been positive, both from national and foreign private investors, when they identify and recognise the potential to do business with a sure return on their investments”, said Guebuza.
Africa has been organising itself to articulate its needs in a structured and collective manner, he added, citing the ADB’s Africa 50 Infrastructure Fund, the African Union’s Plan for Infrastructure Development (PIDA), the NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative, and SADC’s infrastructure master plan.
One aspect common to all these programmes, said Guebuza, is their cross-border nature. They thus promote regional and continental integration and economies of scale.
Guebuza added that the participation of the private sector in this area contributes to reducing public debt, which has traditionally been used to finance infrastructures. This private participation, he claimed, has strengthened the business fabric of the countries concerned and stimulated other sectors of the economy. – AIM