Ports and Ships
- news from the shipping and ports and harbours of sub-Saharan Africa

Ports and Ships provides news and in-depth reporting from the ports, harbours and shipping lines serving Southern and Sub-Saharan Africa including regularly updated shipping movements (schedules) and port,  rail and road transport developments.
 
In addition Ports & Ships offers analysis of the many issues affecting the maritime industry throughout the region, including East Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands. The latest developments in the ports are covered, while legal comment covering some pertinent issues is provided by experts in the field.

A comprehensive section is devoted to naval news as far as it concerns African nations.

Ports & Ships offers a free Newsletter bringing the daily news bulletins directly to your email each weekday morning. Sign on using the form on this page - see below in the Index section (right side of this page).

Maritime News Bulletin and Newsletter

The News section consists of a daily Newsletter published each weekday Mondays to Thursdays (except where public holidays intervene). The Newsletter is also available via email - simply complete the free registration form on this page to receive each bulletin in your mailbox.

Go to the latest news… click here.



PORTS & SHIPS CRUISE NEWS & VIEWS



We also publish a collection of news stories from the wonderful world of cruising. These may be found in our Cruise News and Views section (see menu bar at right of this page). 



Durban - Africa's leading port


The port of Durban is seldom out of the news for long, frequently concerning issues of productivity and privatisation. While government has turned away from concessioning the port terminals, it is sometimes overlooked that a number of Durban port terminals are already in the hands of private operators and have been so for many years.  

The upgrading and re-equipping of port infrastructure is well advanced, including the widening and deepening of the port entrance and channels to enable much larger later generation ships to use the port facilities. On the other hand proposals to extend  the harbour further remain on hold while further studies are made. Meanwhile congestion on the roads outside port terminals has become a major problem....

Looking ahead there are proposals to secure the existing site of the Durban International Airport as a future 'dig-out' port south of the city.
 
Regarding ship repair and ship building some remarkable developments have and are taking place at Durban, with a number of shipbuilding projects well underway and ship repair yards extremely busy. Plans to develop a new dry dock in the harbour are firmly back on the table - as a private venture this time so watch this space, and the threat posed to the ship repair industry with the Bayhead dig-out terminals appears to have abated - for now...

These are some of the issues facing Africa's principal port.

Ports & Ships continues to monitor these developments, as well as developments at other ports along the southern African coastline.



New port at Coega nears completion

Construction of the new port at Coega, or Port of Ngqura (pronounced Incoogha, with a click sound after the 'In') as it is officially known, is well advanced and the first ship is now expected to tie up alongside the new container terminal during 2009.
 
Adjacent to this an Industrial Development Zone is meanwhile adding value and economic backing for this mammoth project and is now beginning to take shape, although the much hyped aluminium smelter as an anchor tenant has still to be finalised, following the Eskom electricity setbacks.

This is another development that Ports & Ships will continue to closely track and report. Read about ongoing latest developments in our NEWS BULLETIN as they occur.

Remain informed about African maritime matters

This front page serves merely as an introduction to the rest of the site and does not change very much, whereas the remainder of the site is added to and updated on a daily basis.

Explore the rest of this extensive site by using the navigation keys on the menu bar (on the right hand side of this page). These areas are constantly updated with latest data, analysis, developments and news.

Each key takes you quickly to a different section of shipping and port information. Whether your interest lies with general maritime news, background to the news, or the important ship movements at the ports, the latest news and developments from the cruise industry, or naval matters, or any one of the other topics, feel free to visit and make use of the site as often as possible.

ENJOY PORTS & SHIPS

 

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