SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa and the Seychelles have agreed to pilot a toolkit for Sustainable Port Development in the West Indian Ocean which was developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), in collaboration with the United Nations Nairobi Convention Secretariat, the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa (PMAESA) and the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA).

SOUTH AFRICA: A local pole and line tuna fishery has become the first of its kind to achieve Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification after participating in a transition programme over the last four years.

SOUTH AFRICA: While industry stakeholders continue to bemoan the lack of movement to reinstate offshore bunkering operations, the South African Revenue Services (SARS) rather quietly released further amendments to the rules regulating the storage of imported bunker fuel in special customs and excise storage warehouses.

SEYCHELLES: Captain Jean-Paul Fanchette took up position as the new Harbour Master for the Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA) at the beginning of August and was presented with his epaulettes at a ceremony on 2 August.

OPINION PIECE: Andrew Pike, Senior Consultant, Bowmans South Africa discusses the implications of creating a single economic regulator for the transport sector as set out in the Economic Regulation of Transport Act of 2024  – highlighting concerns that have been raised that the consolidation of the various transport regulators would lead to overreaching and unnecessary regulation.  Delving into the National Ports Act, he notes some potential conflicts between the two pieces of legislation.

CAPE VERDE: Plans to establish a new shipping line by the end of 2026 were discussed at a meeting in Praia attended by a diverse group of maritime stakeholders.

SOUTH AFRICA: Mike Vonk will take over from Dr Cleeve Robertson as the new CEO of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) at the beginning of October.

“It is shocking that financial institutions that do business in Africa continue to practice financial apartheid by cutting off capital and financing to oil and gas companies operating in Africa because of climate concerns. These same institutions fund gas development in Europe, where natural gas is deemed green and a fossil fuel for Africans,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber (AEC).