Last year East London welcomed the widest and the biggest vessels in this city's history and in 2019, the record-breaking momentum continued with the successful docking of the longest vessel at the Port of EL on Thursday.
The Zen Hua 20:
The vessel required the assistance of three TNPA tugs, namely, Impunzi, Mthwalume and Mvezo as well as a pilot boat - Tristan Tern to ensure a successful docking.
Transnet National Ports Authority, Port of East London Port Manager, Sharon Sijako said safely docking the massive vessel required in-depth preparation. This included a site visit to observe the vessel's manoeuvring characteristics in preparation for its arrival at the Port of EL.
Sijako says their marine crew worked efficiently in planning and arranging the optimal conditions to ensure that the vessel entered and docked safely and incident-free.
Port of East London Pilot, Billy Rowe, who docked the vessel said that although the task was extremely daunting and challenging, he was proud to have contributed to this momentous occasion, which he referred to as making port history.
The vessel, Zen Hua 20, has been docking at the other South African ports to collect and relocate various cargo equipment and mobile cranes on behalf of Transnet Port Terminals.
