The fishing vessel "Perana" started sinking in the vicinity of Struisbaai. The crew of 10 were saved and the vessel is under tow to the harbour

www.nsri.org.za/2...

As attempts to salvage a 50-metre fishing trawler which ran aground off Clifton in Cape Town continue, questions have been raised about how this could have happened, and whether the grounding was possibly deliberate. The Eihatsu Maru, a Japanese long line fishing vessel, ran aground in heavy fog at Clifton's First Beach 05:15 on Saturday morning. It was carrying 90 tons of diesel and 50 tons of fish. Most of the Taiwanese crew were evacuated. A salvage operation was put on hold due to heavy seas over the weekend, Sapa reported. On Monday, various officials met to assess the situation and are planning to pull the vessel off the sandbank on Tuesday. The cause of the grounding has not been established. The engine remains in working order, and the generators are still operating. More at www.news24.com/So...

The City of Cape Town is concerned about the impact of a Home Affairs ban on passenger ships docking at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. At least 13 cruise ships including the Silver Wind, National Geographic Explorer and Queen Mary are scheduled to visit Cape Town between January and May 2012, but a recent ruling by the Department of Home Affairs means that cruise liners will have to dock in Duncan Dock with immediate effect. More at www.businesslive....

Cargo handling operations resumed at the container terminal of the Cape Town dock where a trawler has been ablaze, Transnet National Ports Authority said on Sunday night. A fire which started on the fishing vessel Dongsan on Friday had closed the terminal on Sunday morning, but operations resumed at 19:00, said Coen Birkenstock. Dongsan, docked at Quay 501 in the Ben Schoeman dock, was being cooled by a tug boat. Chief Executive Karl Socikwa said three vessels could not load or offload on Sunday due to the potential threat of the burning trawler. www.news24.com/So...

Cape Town - Four Sri Lankan sailors have survived three days of rough seas without food or water thanks to a life raft that South African maritime authorities forced them to buy in Cape Town. The Cape Times newspaper reported on Wednesday that South African authorities had detained the 57.5-foot fishing trawler, the Deshan Lanka, and made the crew buy safety equipment. The ship was en route to Sierra Leone from Sri Lanka when it caught fire and sank on Sunday. The sailors launched the life raft the authorities had made them buy in East London. They had drifted at sea for three days without food or water when the National Sea Rescue Institute rescued the men 20km off-shore of Still Bay (Stilbaai) near Mossel Bay at about 14:00 on Tuesday. The NSRI told the Cape Times that the Deshan Lanka had been detained by the SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) in East London last month as it had no marine VHF Radio, life jackets, red distress flares or life raft.

Bunker shortages should be anticipated following the start of a strike affecting JBS (Joint Bunker Services) in Cape Town. Strikers downed tools yesterday morning from the 06h00 shift onwards as workers joined thousands of allied workers demanding higher pay. As of yesterday the bunker barge on duty in the port has not been able to uplift any further supplies until the strike is lifted.

Cape Town Terminal starts Dual Cycle operations - In order to further improve productivity and efficiency at its Cape Town Terminal, Transnet Port Terminals has implemented Dual Cycle operations, where containers are discharged and loaded simultaneously from a vessel using ship-to-shore cranes. - Source: Eyefortransport