BEE shipping stirs up seas
26 July, 2004
A new black-owned shipping line is making waves in the largely foreign-dominated maritime industry. And Salcs – launched at the beginning of the year – is owned by former Robben Island inmates.
South Africa is amongst the world’s top 12 maritime trading nations, commanding 6% of the world's sea trade. According to the Business Day, almost half of the country’s exports and imports are by sea. Recently, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe predicted that container traffic through South African ports would double "and double again" by 2020 – a prediction which industry experts are suggesting could be more rapid than expected.
Yet much of the shipping industry is foreign-owned - including the former national carrier Safmarine, which was bought by Danish group AP Moller-Maersk in 1999.
According to the paper, Grindrod's tanker service is South African-owned, but the group’s coastal service, Unifeeder is also linked to AP
Moller-Maersk.
Now the South African Liner Container Services (Salcs) is making waves. Salcs – launched at the beginning of 2004 – operates a monthly service, docking at Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Felixstowe, Bremerhaven and Antwerp. The company aims to net $48-million (or 10%) a year of the lucrative South Africa-Europe liner business within 18 months, the paper says.
Salcs is jointly owned by Autshumatu Investments (40%), a group of former Robben Island inmates who also operate the ferry between Robben Island and Cape Town; Makana Investment (20%), also former Robben Islanders; and MRX 39 Investment Holdings (20%). The Stratford Family Trust and port supply company Vonden Investments each hold 10%, the paper says.
The group is expected to focus on the motor vehicle, mining and chemical industries.
Salcs says its black empowerment rating is a competitive advantage for users of its services – and can be reflected on their empowerment
scorecards.
The maritime industry was the first to adopt an empowerment strategy in the transport sector. According to the draft strategy, the sector aims to ensure at least 25.1% black ownership within five years. Foreign firms with local representation are expected to implement empowerment strategies.
Major shipping lanes pass along the South African coastline in the south Atlantic and Indian oceans, through its seven commercial ports which form by far the largest, best equipped and most efficient network on the African continent.
The National Ports Authority (NPA), a division of Transnet, is the largest port authority in greater southern Africa, controlling seven of the 16 biggest ports in this region. These are Richards Bay, Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth, Mossel Bay, Cape Town and Saldanha.
These ports are not only conduits for trade between South Africa and her partners in SACU and SADC, but also function as hubs for traffic emanating
from, and destined for, Europe, Asia, the Americas and the east and west coasts of Africa.
In 2002, South African ports handled an average of 13 000 vessels carrying 500 million tons of cargo annually, with major upgrades currently under way to increase handling capacity and absorb the rapid increase in commercial traffic.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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