Maritime Newsletter

Inside this issue

Cruise Tourism—is Durban Missing the Boat?..………………..2

R30m Repair Job Completed at Durban Dry Dock……..…………..3

Report Reveals Need to Train More KZN Tertiary Maritime Educators……………………………...4

Industry and Education Join Hands on Maritime Education……………………………...4

Maritime Qualifications on the Horizon…………………………………5

Transnet A Big Hit With Engineering Students….………..6

Italeni Back to Dredge In Durban……………………………….…6

New Head and Structure for Evergreen……………………………...6

Big Volume Shippers Losing Out On Lower Rates…………..…7

Port Statistics for February 2016……………………………………….8

Upcoming Events……………………………………9

The month of March has come and gone and as we usher in April

we can look back to a number of achievements of which we can

be proud. EThekwini Maritime Cluster programmes are

positioned to implement interventions with the ultimate goal of

improving the competitiveness of KwaZulu-Natal’s maritime

industry, with a special focus on Durban.

In order to achieve this enterprise and skills development are

critical. Subsequently, in March, we concluded a bidding process

to procure services of a business diagnostic assessment consultant

for the Accelerator Programme (EMC’s enterprise development

initiative aimed at fast tracking the assimilation of SMEs, which

are 5 years and older, into the maritime industry).

The appointed company, LESACUBE, was selected to conduct the

assessments with the programme’s participants. This process will

assist in the areas of financial management, operations and business leadership. The first rounds of

consultation begin in April.

The Annual Durban Maritime Summit Cruise conference was another resounding success for EMC, the

conference took place aboard the MSC Sinfonia from 4 to 6 March 2016.

The focus of this conference was on exploring how Durban can develop its cruise tourism sector. The

conference served to wake- up industry to the tremendous opportunities that are being missed in the

sector. Read more about this on page 2.

EMC will be working together with the relevant role-players through the Operation Phakisa platform to

address bottlenecks preventing growth of Durban’s cruise tourism sector.

Towards ensuring sound maritime education in higher education, EMC in partnership with PUM, visited

higher education institutions and compiled a report. The findings will be implemented towards

strengthening maritime education. PUM is a Netherlands-based organisation of senior experts (all

volunteers) who share hands-on business knowledge with organisations in developing countries towards

facilitating sustainable paths for growth. Read more about this on page 4

Our education and training efforts do not stop at higher education. We also ensure that our programmes

address the maritime studies curriculum at high school level. It is on this premise that we have planned a

workshop to capacitate educators from KZN schools offering maritime economics and nautical sciences.

EMC partnered with the Transnet Maritime School of Excellence, Department of Education, UKZN and

DUT to ensure the success of the workshop. Read more on this on page 4.

Ms. Thato Tsautse

Managing Director: EThekwini Maritime Cluster

1

March 2016 Issue 18

Message from the MD

Cruise Conference

Reveals Durban’s

Missed Opportunity

2

Cruise tourism – is Durban missing the boat? Durban cannot wait much longer for a cruise terminal if it

is to benefit from the exponential growth in cruise tourism,

delegates at the inaugural Durban Maritime Summit Cruise

Conference agreed last week.

Six insightful presentations from KZN tourism authorities,

Transnet and representatives from both local and national

government, drove home the message that even a small

portion of the $39,6 billion (R594 billion) international

cruise tourism pie would go a long way to meeting chal-

lenges such as growing tourism numbers, creating employ-

ment, skills and small enterprise development.

Shamina Krishnaswamy, KZN Senior Manager: New Busi-

ness Development for Transnet National Ports Authority confirmed that a third request for proposal for the new cruise terminal adjacent to

the Point Waterfront Development was imminent. “To date, approximately 124 000 passengers have passed through the current cruise termi-

nal for the calendar year 2015 which was just “the tip of the iceberg in an untapped market”.

Considerable upgrades were done to the current cruise terminal at N-Shed in to improve embarkation and disembarking procedures, passenger

movement and baggage handling. However, the size of the terminal is inadequate for a growing market.

Additional challenges include a conflict of cargo operations and cruise tourism in a congested and restricted area of the Port. From a global

perspective, she said that this was an “absolute necessity and not an option” if Durban wanted to wanted to have a place in the global frame-

work of the cruise industry.

Musa Mbhele, Acting Deputy City Manager, Economic Development and Planning, pointed out that the proposed cruise terminal would be an

integral part in the design and development of the new development plan for the Point waterfront precinct.

Stephen Cloete: Senior Cruise Director for MSC Cruises said the cruise division of the global MSC shipping empire had grown exponentially

over the past few years. The Sinfonia, which calls Durban its home port during the busy local cruise season, carries 2 500 passengers at full

capacity. He said that this ship had operated at 100 percent capacity during this year’s cruise season – something that few hotels could claim to

do.

Due to growing demand, larger and more cruise ships were taking to the water. Cloete said that, this year alone, 27 mega cruise ships would

debut around the world. There are currently around 448 cruise ships globally. Another 12, each capable of carrying more than 6 000 guests,

were due in the next four years. These liners would dwarf the infamous Titanic, he said.

Cloete pointed out that, since 2008, cruising had outclassed any sort of land vacation. From 2000, cruise travel has outpaced general travel by

22 percent.

Whereas 17 million people around the world cruised six years ago, an estimated 24 million were expected to take vacations on cruise liners this

year.

He said that the global cruise market was developing and expanding at an alarming rate. “Durban needs to be part of it,” he stressed, warning

that the city might have already left it too late and would have to scramble to catch up.

People are running out of cruise destinations which opened the door to Durban. However, the summit recognised that Durban (and Africa as a

whole) did not even feature as a destination in cruise industry studies, grouped as “other” with other lesser known destinations.

The difference between Durban and other potential destinations – including those scoped out by MSC for investment – is that they have a

beautiful port in which to embark.

Cloete pointed out that passengers rated the embarkation and disembarkation as the most stressful and negative parts of their cruising experi-

ences. Passenger ratings scored the ship’s facilities at over 8 out of 10 but the port facilities at just 3.

Current challenges were the lack of facilities in port of Durban where passengers had no facilities to buy refreshments, no waiting areas and no

areas to say goodbye or greet friends and family, a lack of immigration officers which led to huge queues and transport problems as guests were

forced to take taxi’s that charged exorbitant fees.

Durban was missing out on revenue as the average passenger spends about $134 per day. “Tourists want to spend money but there is nowhere

to spend in the port of Durban. It is unbelievable that the city of Durban is wasting so much.”

Pictured here are some of the delegates that were in attendance the Durban

Maritime Summit Cruise Conference 2016

3

The same lack of facilities and lack of spending opportunities stopped the hundreds of crew on cruise liners from coming ashore and contributing posi-

tively to the local economy.

It was recognised that, by identifying these short comings, it was possible to address them and optimise the benefits of the cruise industry for Durban and

the whole of the region.

Tourism KwaZulu-Natal’s Vukile Khuzwayo noted that cruise tourism had grown by seven percent last year. However, of the 22,1 million cruise passen-

gers globally, the majority were going to the Caribbean and to Europe. Africa hosted less than 2 percent.

“Durban can’t make it alone”, he cautioned and said that the African continent needed to work together to fully benefit. South Africa, as the most strate-

gic player in the region, needed to play a leadership role.

Lerato Matlakala, Chief Director Social Responsibility and Implementation at the National Department of Tourism said that coastal and marine tourism,

which was included in government’s Operation Phakisa initiative to grow the ocean economy a year ago, offered significant opportunities.

She pointed out that, globally, 80 percent of all tourism earning came from coastal areas and that 12 out of the world’s 15 top destinations were countries

with coastlines.

She said the country’s coastal and marine assets were underutilised and that the country was seldom sold as a beach or coastal tourism destination. Tour-

ism opportunities within ports and, in particular, home port and port of call opportunities, needed to be enhanced.

The 35 metre long 900 ton outer caisson at the Port of Durban’s Prince Edward Graving Dock has now been commissioned after being refurbished at a cost of R30 million. This was the third and final phase of Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA) comprehensive repair programme on the structure which was deemed unsafe and in need of repair. Work involved structural repairs to the first of two steel lock gates that separate the dock into two compartments and seal off water from the harbour to enable repairs and maintenance work to be carried out on ships serviced at the facility. While the outer caisson was handed over to TNPA in December 2015, the commissioning period was longer than planned. “Although the contractors made up for time lost due to an overrun of private repairs on the AFRICA MERCY ship in August which delayed the start of the caisson repair project, there were further delays towards the end of the project. We thank all our customers for their patience,” said Durban Port Manag-er, Moshe Motlohi. He explained that the project was on schedule for handover to TNPA until the heavy rains late November and early December prevented the contractors from being able to apply the finishing touch – corrosion protection which is sensitive to weather conditions (wind, rain and humidity). Once the corrosion protection had been applied the dry dock was flooded to test the caisson and determine how much ballast was needed to keep it in position. The caisson was then docked at the end of the dry dock so concrete could be pumped into the structure, as soon as suppliers reopened after the festive season shutdown. Meanwhile the survey vessel WG MAGELLAN, which was booked in for repair, entered the dock in January. Leaks on the vessel delayed the planned exit of the WG MAGELLAN, causing a further delay to commissioning of the caisson. The concrete-filled caisson was then floated to position, tested and re-docked for minor adjustments before final commissioning. The outer caisson was put into its operational position on 4 March 2016 and connected to the driving system by 08 March 2016. Thereafter the two tugs and a barge were docked for repair by 10 March 2015.

The outer caisson repair project is the first of 11 large-scale projects at the dry dock which fall under TNPA’s programme to get the facility into peak condi-tion. This is in line with the the South African government’s Operation Phakisa initiative which aims to unlock the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans. Under Transnet’s Market Demand Strategy, TNPA will invest a total of around R2bn spent over the next five years to refurbish existing repair facilities, together with an estimated R13 to 15bn to create new repair facilities at the South African ports. Part of the plan for the Prince Edward Graving Dock includes assessing the inner caisson with a view to its refurbishment, as well as an ongoing caisson maintenance programme to ensure that TNPA gets maximum return on its investment. This would include a concrete refurbishment programme and replacement of cranes and other equipment. Motlohi said: “Congratulations to the TNPA engineering team, contractors Channel Construction, managing contractors Sebata Group and technical advisors Naval Africa - KwaZulu-Natal’s only naval architecture firm - for meeting the challenge of delivering this project and overcoming the numerous hurdles faced along the way. He thanked a committed Transnet team for spearheading the caisson repair project under Senior Engineer Nandi Mtsokoba, who is leading a team of predominantly female engineers to deliver a world class Durban dry dock facility by the end of 2019, in line with Operation Phakisa. Mtsokoba is the only female in Transnet nationwide who possesses the coveted Government Certificate of Competency (GCC) and is one of only two engineers in the Port of Durban to have this highest academic qualification in engineering.

R30m Repair Job Completed at Durban Dry Dock

4

Report Reveals Need to Train More KZN Tertiary Maritime Educators There is a need to train more maritime educators for KwaZulu-Natal tertiary institutions says

Netherlands senior expert in his report commissioned by EThekwini Maritime Cluster.

Frank Van Wezel, senior curricula development specialist, from Netherlands sent by PUM has

come to the end of his fact finding mission which studied KZN tertiary institutions. PUM is an

organization of senior experts (all volunteers) who share hands-on business knowledge with

organisations in developing countries and emerging markets. This is done with the aim of

overcoming bottle necks, and facilitating sustainable paths for growth.

His mission was part of an EMC initiative to improve education and training for the maritime

industry, and to enable talented people to enter the industry. In his mission, Van Wezel visit-

ed institutions which include Mangosuthu University of Technology, University of Zululand

and the South African Maritime Safe Authority (SAMSA) on behalf of technical vocational

education and training (TVET) colleges.

SAMSA is an institution that plays a role in proposing new policies with regards continued learning from TVET colleges to universities. The mission

was to discover the current status quo and future plans with regards to maritime offerings in the visited institutions.

The findings include the need to develop maritime modular content, training of staff to teach maritime courses, development of materials in the

engineering curriculum, and an establishment of a business link between KZN tertiary institutions and Dutch institutions as a frame of reference.

Van Wezel emphasized the importance of having maritime training institutions for South Africa since the ocean economy has a huge potential to

contribute South Africa’s GDP. This is also evident in the South African Government’s Operation Phakisa initiative.

“There is a need to have enough maritime training courses to ensure enough people are trained to join the industry,” says Frank van Wezel.

He also expressed concern about the gap between South African secondary education and international standards and said that area needed im-

provement. However, in his report Van Wezel expressed his excitement about the enthusiasm and optimism of the South African youth when it

comes to the maritime curriculum development.

The findings were presented to EMC management. This will be followed by EMC, PUM and the visited institutions signing a memorandum of un-

derstanding to address the findings of his mission.

EThekwini Maritime Cluster (EMC) in partnership with Transnet’s Maritime School of Excellence (MSoE), University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Durban University of Technology (DUT) and the KZN Department of Education (DoE) have embarked on a mission to ensure the development of the maritime studies curriculum in school. The first phase of this initiative focused on educator capacitation is a 3-day workshop that is taking place at the MSoE Bayhead Campus for 30 teachers from today to 6 April 2016. The workshop is an initiative aimed at capacitating educators from schools that are offering maritime economics and nautical sciences as subjects in Kwa-Zulu-Natal. EMC, through its Skills Development and Training Programme, is collaborating with MSoE, DoE, UKZN and DUT to make this workshop possible. Last year EMC, the Department of Education and maritime teachers met to discuss their needs. It emerged that there is no formal training for teachers wanting to teach maritime studies. Most of these teachers are teaching themselves the curriculum and then explaining to their classes. Thato Tsautse EMC Managing Director said, “Based on this input we approached the maritime industry and tertiary institutions to assist these teachers in developing their knowledge of the subject that they are teaching.” “One of the objectives of our Skills Development and Training Programme is to improve education and training for the maritime industry, as well as to enable talented people to enter the industry. Hence, it is important to facilitate the strengthening of the maritime curriculum at high schools through collaborating with institutions of higher learning, the Department of Education and industry towards developing the city as a centre of excellence in mari-time education and training,” she said. “This initiative is in support of the Department of Education’s objective to build the capacity of teachers’ competence to teach maritime subjects. The intention is to expose the teachers to both nautical science and maritime economics activities. The MSoE aims to align the programme with curriculum specifications in order to maintain relevance and immediate usability of the newly gained knowledge by the teachers,” said Herschel Maasdorp Head of the Maritime School of Excellence. This practically orientated workshop will see the educators being taken through crucial information about the port and its operations. Topics will include an Introduction to International Trade, Terminal Operations, Vessels at Sea and Port Operations. The educators will also get time to visit facilities of the diverse Port of Durban. Port sites to be visited will include Port Control, Durban Container Termi-nal, which will include a safety induction, and a visit to the breakbulk terminal.

Following this introductory training the Durban University of Technology and the University of KwaZulu-Natal will train these teachers in how to teach the theoretical aspect of the curriculum. This theoretical aspect will be conducted in two legs one in June and the other in September this year.

Industry and Education Join Hands on Maritime Education

The number of schools and colleges in the greater Durban area are proliferating – not always on a scheduled programme and this must raise questions

as to adequate training for the educators who find themselves having to teach subjects in maritime theory, maritime economics or maritime

The advent of the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) and the Transport Education Training Authority (TETA) from around 2000 helped

bring a degree of control and more importantly, direction in the provision of specialist training and education.

Prior to SETA/TETA private schools and maritime colleges were forced to write their own teaching manuals trusting that they would be approved but

order has gradually come to what is now a strong growth activity for Durban.

In the meantime several institutions have long been providing specialist training and education, institutions such as Durban University of Technology

(DUT), the Grindrod Shipping Training Academy and Transnet’s School of Excellence.

One of the approval authorities is SAMSA (South African Maritime Safety Authority) which has an interest in the development of curricula for some

maritime qualifications.

When Edward Pines had completed his time lecturing in the Department of Maritime Studies at DUT, SAMSA made sure that someone with his skills

and experience in education would remain available in the wider interests of the maritime industry.

Pines may be remembered as the person who put into motion the maritime studies at Durban’s first school to include the topic as a subject. A number

of scholars from New Forest High School have gone on to achieve success in the maritime industry, both at sea and on land.

As a result SAMSA took Edward Pines on board at SAMSA’s Centre for Maritime Excellence to manage a project involved with the development of cur-

riculum for selected marine qualifications. Once these qualifications are registered on the National Qualification Framework, it is hoped that some

could become available at selected TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training) colleges.

Five of these qualifications have been developed and presented to the Qualification Council for Trades and Occupations. In November 2014 a ‘Scoping

Workshop’ was held followed by Occupational Profiling and once profiles had been written they were sent out for public verification.

After consolidating the inputs arising from the public verification process, and the final profiles had been approved, the real work, according to Pines,

was able to begin.

He explained that during the first six months of 2015 regular workshops were held to design the curriculum for the five selected qualifications, including

some part-qualifications. The group attending these workshops were constituted as a Community of Expert Practitioners who came from various levels

of the maritime industry including labour organisations and training service providers.

In June last year the final workshop signed off the development for the following Maritime National Occupational Certificate Project: Able Seafarer Deck

and Fishing; Able Seafarer Engine; Ship’s Officer (Fishing Deck Officer); Ship’s Master (Ship’s Master near Coastal <200GT; Ship’ Master <200GT; Ship’s

Mate <200GT; Ship’s Mate <500GT; Ship’s Master <500GT; Ship’s Mate near Coastal); Marine Engineer (Fishing Chief Engineer; Fishing Chief Engineer

<3000kW; Port Operations Chief Engineer; Port Operations Chief Engineer <1500kW; Fishing Second Engineer; Marine Motorman Higher Grade;

Marine Motorman Grade 1; Marine Motorman Grade 2)

“We are waiting for the final registration process to be completed,” says Pines. “Meanwhile, the Department for Higher Education and Training (DHET)

has asked us to prepare for the delivery of a ‘pilot project’ beginning January 2017 and to be delivered in two TVET colleges, one in KZN and the other in

the Western Cape.

“This pilot project will be evaluated after it has run for two years. It will deliver small numbers – two intakes of 15 trainees each year for low level entry

qualifications. Able Seafarer Deck and Fishing plus Able Seafarer Engine. Funding will be provided by both DHET at the TVET colleges and TETA for

the sea-time component.”

SAMSA hopes to overcome some of the challenges presented in such a project by creative applications such as partnerships between private accredited

service providers and the public colleges to facilitate the teaching and assessment involved with the required practical modules.

Pines says that SAMSA has also carried out a survey and inspection to check the possibility of establishing a network that would support the transmis-

sion of maritime specific subjects into a virtual classroom.

He explained that this was considered an answer to the shortage of maritime lecturers for subjects of specialisation such as Naval Architecture (Ship

Construction and Stability), Chartwork and Electronic Navigation Systems and Marine Engineering Knowledge plus Legal Knowledge, subjects that are

required for the higher level qualifications.

“For the moment this aspect of a network is on hold but we are presently attempting to find a funding source to make this element of the project to be

reconsidered.”

5

Maritime Qualifications on the Horizon Writes Terry Hutson

E ngineering students at South African tertiary institutions ranked Transnet as their most favoured future employer. This is according to a study by Universum which surveyed 65,000 students and professionals in South Africa in the 2016 survey.

Universum makes an independent selection of employers for each field of study and market. Stu-dents and professionals vote attractive employers on or off the list by either selecting them as ideal employers or not selecting them. The study highlighted Transnet's attractiveness as an employer. Transnet is one of South Africa's largest and now the most favoured employer of technical experts, which the company itself believes is thanks to its focus on training, wellness, and ensuring a culture of excellence and comprehensive talent management. "The survey confirms that South Africa's professionals are impressed by the company's massive and challenging portfolio of projects, especially infrastruc-ture investment," says Transnet in a statement. In another category, Transnet took 3rd place as the most attractive employer to work for ranked by students in the Business/Commerce category. Professionals' perceptions of Transnet in this category improved from 14th place in 2015 to 4th place in 2016, a remarkable movement in rankings. Amongst engineering professionals views on Transnet improved from 6th place in 2015 to 5th place in 2016. Transnet was ranked amongst industry giants such as KPMG, Deloitte, Sasol and Eskom. "We wish to take this opportunity to congratulate all our colleagues in their various capacities for their hard work in building Transnet's image as one of the most admired and loved employers. We are committed to improving our efforts to ensure that we continue to perform at this level," said Mr Siyabon-ga Gama, Transnet acting Group Chief Executive.

6

Italeni Back to Dredge In Durban

T he grab hopper dredger ITALENI arrived back in Durban on Friday, 4 March and has been deployed to service the Port of Durban until the leased dredger is mobilised.

According to Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) all Durban Container Terminal berths, except berths 203 and 204, are to depth. The dredging exercise will commence with the Durban Container Terminal followed by Island View berth 5, N berth and G berth. TNPA is leasing a dredger to work continuously in Durban harbour, thus freeing up the other departmental dredgers to visit and dredge other South African and regional ports as required. The leased dredger is itself a temporary measure and will be replaced by a new dredger still to be built which will be based permanently in Durban.

Transnet A Big Hit With Engineering Students

The TNPA departmental grab dredger Italeni. Picture is by Trevor Jones

A fter a period of uncertainty and family dispute, the Taiwanese Evergreen shipping group has begun consolidating and restruc-turing and has appointed Ko Lee-ching as its new chairman of the company.

This decision carries the support of the late Evergreen Group chairman Chang Yung-fa's eldest son Chang Kuo-hua and second son Chang Kuo-ming. The period of uncertainty followed the Evergreen Group's termination of the top management of the group, along with the chairman role after younger son Chang Kuo-wei summarily declared he was taking over as chairman of the group in February. As a result of the changes most senior executives of the group have moved to Evergreen International, which is now serving as the management headquarters of the group.

Ko has been in the Evergreen organisation since 1968 and has previously served as a vice chairman of the group. She was appointed by Chang Yung-fa as one of the executors of his will, which appointed Chang's youngest son Chang Kuo-wei as the chairman of the group. This development appears to leave Chang Kuo-wei out in the cold. He has declared that the matter is now beyond his control and that he will be pursuing his own business interests in future. In addition he has indicated that he will sell his entire stake in the Evergreen Group to his older brothers.

New Head and Structure for Evergreen

The TNPA departmental grab dredger Italeni. Picture is by Trevor Jones

7

Norwegian benchmarking and market intelligence platform for containerised ocean freight, Xeneta, has utilised its data of global shipping rates to make a startling, and counterintuitive, claim -- big volume shippers are not paying the best shipping rates. Although the report refers specifically to the east-west bulk trades affected by megaships and declining freight rates, the result of mid-sized ships being cascaded onto the North-South trades can be said to have similar results but on a differing scale. According to the Oslo-based company, over the course of the last 18 months, high-volume shippers are actually being locked in to unfavoura-ble long-term agreements, leaving others to take advantage of the advent of low fuel prices, megaship capacities and hyper efficient supply change management. "Volume no longer necessarily translates to savings," comments Patrik Berglund, Xeneta CEO. "In fact, in many cases, big volume shippers are paying far above the current Asia-Europe or Asia-US rates. "These businesses, which are often related to consumer goods, typically sign annual supply contracts with large vendors in order to keep mer-chandise in their stores, or to supply the giant EU and/or American retail chains. This provides them with supply chain stability, and predicta-bility, but it also locks them into agreements that are fixed, and don't always deliver value." To illustrate this, Berglund points towards the 2015 Far East Main Port -- North West Europe Main Port Rates in the Xeneta platform. Here, he notes, there are major differences between long and short term contracts. For a 40ft (20m) container shipped as part of a long-term contract the mean market low was US$1175 and the average US$1696. Short-term prices were markedly lower, with a mean market low of US$857 and an average of US$1355. There was an even greater disparity between mini-mum prices, with the long-term low at US$807 and an average of US$1535. Compare this to the same short-term rates of US$240 and US$571. "It's a startling difference," Berglund states. "One that suggests that the big volume shippers are essentially leaving money on the table with every container shipped." He also has a clear opinion of who is on hand to pocket it: "We have to look to who the companies are signing these agreements with. Some shipping lines are benefitting of course, but it seems the third party logistics (3PLs) firms are arguably becoming the real winners here. "It's become more common for shippers to cut their logistics staff, and overheads, and look to outsourcing. This has fuelled a boom in 3PLs and 4PLs. These firms, which typically work with smaller volume shippers, also sign long-term agreements with some big volume shippers and use those volumes to negotiate lower ocean freight rates. 3PLs are making their significant margins from short and long term agreements and carri-er kickbacks." Berglund concedes that business is business, but notes that all parties need to be aware of the reality of the rates and a disparity that, given the influences of factors such as fuel price, could be set to grow wider and wider. He adds that as rates began to drop in 2014, and oil prices col-lapsed in 2015, the result was a widening gap between short-term and long-term contract rates. "We make it our job to have a detailed global picture of containerised freight rates. Any business that ships large volumes of goods should be aware of this prior to engaging in negotiations. Knowledge translates to bargaining power, and if the shippers are going to get the rates that their volume of business deserves then they need to have access to the best market intelligence." Xeneta is a leading ocean freight price comparison and shipping market watch index transforming the shipping and logistics industry. Xeneta's shipping indexes comprises of over 11 million contracted rates and covers over 60,000 global trade routes enabling informed decisions with actionable intelligence optimising companies' logistics procurement. Xeneta is a privately held company and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.

Big Volume Shippers Losing Out On Lower Rates

Port Statistics for February 2016

Durban Container Terminal scene. Picture by EMC

Cargo handled by tonnes during February 2016, including containers by weight (based on average of 13.5t per TEU)

PORT February 2016 million tonnes

Richards Bay 7.089

Durban 6.031

Saldanha Bay 6.147

Cape Town 1.893

Port Elizabeth 0.854

Ngqura 0.511

Mossel Bay 0.064

East London 0.322

Total all ports 23.257 million tonnes

PORT February 2016 vessels

gross tons

Durban 331 11,380,185

Cape Town

210 5,192,403

Richards Bay

155 5,630,173

Port Eliz-abeth

94 2,615,932

Saldanha Bay

52 3,195,322

Ngqura 38 2,456,472

East Lon-don

36 1,166,557

Mossel Bay

49 189,759

Total ship calls

965 31,826,803

Ship Calls for February 2016

- source TNPA, with adjustments made by Ports & Ships to include container tonnages

8

CONTAINERS (measured by TEUs) during February 2016

(TEUs include Deepsea, Coastal, Transship and empty containers all subject to

being invoiced by NPA

PORT February 2016 TEUs

Durban 213,084

Cape Town 101,319

Port Elizabeth 11,885

Ngqura 37,496

East London 6,987

Richards Bay 1,089

Total all ports 371,864 TEU

P ort statistics for the month of February 2016,

covering the eight commercial ports under

the administration of Transnet National

Ports Authority reveal that the total cargo

handled by all the ports during the past month

amounted to 22.911 million tons.

This compares with the previous month (January 2016)

when 23.257 million tons of cargo was handled,

reflecting a small decrease in volumes for the month.

By way of comparison, in the corresponding month of

the previous year (February 2015) the combined ports

handled a total of 25.649mt of cargo including 407,188

TEU (this year 371,864), which shows a disturbing drop

of 2.738mt for February year-on-year (-10.67 percent)

and continuing the decrease shown a month earlier in

January year-on-year. The container decrease year-on-

year amounted to a loss of 35,324 TEU or -8.67 percent

for the month.

Coal and iron ore exports through Richards Bay and

Saldanha respectively remain strong despite the low

world prices. However, the rate at which containers

and general cargo keeps falling must be a worrying

factor, reflecting as it does directly on South Africa's

lack of business recovery. This in turn may have an

effect on certain decisions, or timings, of planned de-

velopments in the ports' container and general cargo

capacity. On the other hand the alternative of delaying

some projects even further and waiting for business to

improve presents its own bank of problems and chal-

lenges.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Message About Upcoming Events

If you have any maritime

related news or events that

you would like published

on this newsletter or our

website please contact:

Sibonakaliso Msane

Tel: 031-3010950/9

cell: 0760724617 email:

sbo@maritimecluster.co.za

or

Terry Hutson

Tel: 031-4661683

cell: 0823315775

email: terry@ports.co.za

www.maritimecluster.co.za

The eThekwini Maritime

Cluster (EMC) is a non-profit

company that was launched in

2009. The EMC provides a

platform for collaborative

engagement between different

levels of government, state

owned enterprises and the

maritime community to

implement programs of

common interest that support

the growth and improve

performance and

competiveness of the maritime

industry.

1601 The Marine

22 Dorothy Nyembe Street

Durban

4001

www.maritimecluster.co.za

info@maritimecluster.co.za

031-3010950/9

9

Ethekwini Maritime Cluster

@emc_maritime

Newsletter compiled and produced by Sibonakaliso Msane

(EMC) and Terry Hutson

The Workshop on the B-BBE Codes for the Maritime Subsector| 20 April 2016| Durban

Chamber of Commerce | To RSVP email admin1@maritimecluster.co.za or

call 031-301 0950

________________________________________________________________________

160th Annual Dinner| 14 April 2016| Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention

Centre| To RSVP email admin1@maritimecluster.co.za or call 031-301 0950

________________________________________________________________________

Maritime India Summit| 14-16 April 2016| Bombay Convention and Exhibition Centre,

Goregaon, Mumbai, India| For more info visit http://www.maritimeinvest.in/register-

delegate