SOUTH AFRICA: The Robinson Dry Dock in the Port of Cape Town has welcomed its first vessel after a year-long decommissioning that was used to undertake the installation and upgrade of a new dewatering system.

According to an article written by Lene-Camilla Nordlie of Gard, despite an overall decrease in the number of stowaway incidents reported in Africa, the continent remains the hot spots for stowaway embarkations.

There is a high possibility that this year’s International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) election for a new Secretary General could result in a first for women as three of the seven candidates are female, but whether it will also be a first for Africa is hard to say. Nevertheless I am fairly confident in calling a two-horse race for the top position at the upcoming IMO election in July this year.

GABON: The DHIBM-3H production well has been successfully drilled, completed and handed over to production operations without incident. The well encountered good quality oil saturated reservoir sands in the regionally prolific Gamba formation.

SOUTH AFRICA: Members of the Forestry, Fisheries and Environment portfolio committee raised a number of questions that remain successfully answered by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) at a meeting held during the second half of March.

NIGERIA: The successful establishment of Nigeria’s Fisheries Monitoring Centre with stations in Abuja and Lagos was highlighted during a four-day, fisheries-focused interagency workshop in Lagos, Nigeria, last month.

SOUTH AFRICA: A new consortium is exploring the options to develop a maritime green corridor for the zero-emission shipping of iron ore between South Africa and Europe – in an initiative to take the first steps towards the region’s involvement in shipping’s carbonisation.

Climate activists are making more than noise about 3D seismic studies being used to delineate oil and gas reserves offshore Africa. They’ve proceeded with legal action that may force Shell Plc to pull the plug permanently on its search for hydrocarbons along South Africa’s Wild Coast, the country’s poorest province.