A small Port Elizabeth-based ship building company is making good progress on its R100m contract to build the first of its kind ‘plough tug’ for Transnet National Ports Authority.
TNPA said the “bed leveller” has been designed and is being built by Tide Marine Shipyard, a Black, woman-owned family company, which in recent years relocated to Port Elizabeth from East London.
Transnet said the company has a broad-based B-BBBEE Level 1 status and won the contract through a competitive tender process.
TNPA's General Manager for Infrastructure and Port Planning, Hamilton Nxumalo, said the Tide Marine contract was a demonstration of Operation Phakisa in action.
He was speaking in the Port of Port Elizabeth on Friday during a keel laying ceremony that included the fixing of a commemorative Mandela gold coin on the keel to bring good luck in line with maritime tradition.
"As Transnet, it gives us great pride that we are able to promote Radical Economic Transformation, localisation and supplier development through such procurement programmes,” Nxumalo said.
“Catering for larger commercial vessels in our ports requires a world-class dredging and marine fleet - and South African shipbuilders continue to demonstrate their expertise in producing vessels that can compete with the global industry," he said.
The acquisition of the plough tug for Transnet's dredging services forms part of a two-billion rand fleet renewal programme.
And, according to TNPA's executive manager of Dredging Services, Carl Gabriel, the vessel is expected to be completed by the end of October.
"The plough tug is the latest acquisition in Dredging Services' R2 billion-plus fleet renewal programme, which has already seen the delivery of some of the continent's most powerful dredging vessels in recent years.”
“The plough tug is used as a bed leveller, smoothing out high spots created by marine traffic in the high-volume berth areas. This is a critical activity in keeping the ports' berths to their promulgated depths," Gabriel said.
Meanwhile, Tide Marine Shipyard's General Manager, Fabian Crocker, said the project, which will create up to 30 jobs, will go a long way towards revitalising Nelson Mandela Bay's boat building sector.
"All of the steel - around 200 tons - to be used in this project will be sourced from within South Africa. We will be creating up to 30 jobs in technical fields such as engineering, boiler-making and welding. We will also be upskilling local marine engineering students with on-site experience so that learnings from this project can continue to serve the industry even long after completion," he said.
"We are basically walking the talk of Operation Phakisa in the sense that Operation Phakisa is there to empower the smaller companies and to create more localisation on South Africa, specifically our focus being the Eastern Cape. So, I think without Operation Phakisa a small company like ourselves would never have been able to have access to a contract of this value," said Crocker.
(Photo and statement:Supplied)
