But despite the opportunities this presents for South Africa, the country is struggling to convert short-term gains into advantages that align with its long-term interests and international maritime goals.

Major shipping companies including Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and MSC do not expect stability to return to the Red Sea soon. In September and October 2024, they began announcing new routes around the Cape of Good Hope, starting in February 2025. These routes affect tourism, safety and salvage, search and rescue, customs and economic growth, even though many vessels will bypass South African ports.

Harbours such as Cape Town, Durban and Gqeberha have long served as critical nodes for global shipping, providing services such as vessel maintenance, crew changes and provisioning. They serve as gateways for neighbouring countries to access overseas markets and are a preferred route for vessels bypassing the Suez Canal, whether due to cost or other considerations.

South Africa is also fast becoming one of the most popular stops for international cruise tourism, especially as more ships bypass the Red Sea. This increases the number of cruise ships sailing around the country, and the type of services it needs to provide.

The surge in vessel traffic navigating close to South Africa’s coastline increases the likelihood of collisions, groundings and other accidents, with potentially severe human and environmental consequences.

Some cruise ships carry thousands of passengers, and in an emergency, a well-coordinated search and rescue capacity is vital. Environmental risks similarly require rapid salvage and spill response operations, considering that South Africa’s coastal waters include sensitive marine environments and Marine Protected Areas vulnerable to pollution.

The country’s notoriously rough sea conditions are partly linked to the escalation in accidents reported by the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA). These include groundings, sinkings and containers falling overboard. The issue is exacerbated by the surge in shipping on the Cape route as vessels avoid the Red Sea.

The overall escalation in container, cruise and cargo traffic comes at a time when South Africa aspires to improve its standing as a responsible maritime hub or International Maritime Centre. It has suffered some setbacks, notably its unsuccessful bid to be re-elected to the International Maritime Organisation Council, where it can shape shipping protocols.

SAMSA is mandated to ensure security for navigation along the country’s coastline. This includes conducting a vital risk assessment – by 31 March 2025 – of Aids to Navigation to evaluate maritime traffic volumes and associated risks.

If preparations for this assessment haven’t been initiated, now would be an excellent time to accurately evaluate South Africa’s readiness to address current challenges. Steps to mitigate capacity deficits and strengthen the country’s maritime safety framework should also be prioritised.

One way to achieve this is by expanding the Oceans and Coastal Information Management System. This will enhance South Africa’s ability to monitor vessel movements and respond to accidents, as well as observe illegal activities in its waters, which are likely to rise as shipping traffic increases.

South Africa’s ports are expected to serve as vital nodes in facilitating regional and international commerce as trade grows within the African Continental Free Trade Area. This means they also have tremendous significance and potential for other countries’ economic functioning and fortunes.

However, South African ports are considered among the most inefficient globally, and suffer from congestion, outdated infrastructure and cyber vulnerabilities. Funding the significant upgrades needed to cut turnaround times, handle higher volumes, and boost revenue and efficiency will be a challenge.

Attracting foreign and private investment through public-private partnerships is probably the best available way to modernise ports using technologies like automation and integrated logistics. However, legal disputes over concessions in Durban involving International Container Terminal Services and APM Terminals, highlight the challenges of securing such investments.

Ports in South Africa face increasing competition from emerging developments across Southern Africa and along the East and West African coastlines. Mozambique’s port expansion and transport infrastructure upgrades, and the strengthening of key transport corridors like Nacala, Tazara and Lobito, are alternatives that may detract from South Africa’s market share.

To remain competitive, South African ports must demonstrate superior efficiency and cost advantages to ensure they remain relevant. A current challenge is inadequate and costly bunkering (refuelling) facilities. The problem is worsened by the South African Revenue Service shutting down offshore bunkering opportunities over fuel customs to be paid without expediting a solution.

While traditional bunker fuels are unsustainable for global decarbonisation goals, South Africa is already positioning itself as a competitive green fuel hub, anticipating investments aligned with shipping’s shift towards cleaner energy.

Several bills on marine pollution, port governance, search and rescue, and shipping standards are currently progressing through Parliament. Delays could cause fragmented responses if a major oil spill occurs before these bills are enacted, making it vital to expedite these processes by early 2025.

Efforts are also underway to coordinate ocean and coastal maritime agencies, recognising the need for a whole-of-government approach in developing a comprehensive national maritime security strategy. But these also haven’t made much progress since they were announced in 2019.

By addressing these gaps, South Africa can position itself as a responsible, influential maritime state, while enhancing its competitiveness as the gateway to sub-Saharan Africa and guardian of the Cape Route.

Written by Timothy Walker, Senior Researcher, Maritime, ISS Pretoria.

Republished with permission from ISS Africa. The original article can be found here.

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“The maritime space is very important for economic emancipation, but also for moving, generally, the economy of the country…emerging from this meeting with SAMSA, we are pleased and happy with the work that they are currently doing, even as there are areas that they must improve on, especially those relating to contracts management, and transformation,” Transport Committee chairperson Selelo David Selamolelo said during a scheduled oversight visit of and meeting with the entity’s management leadership on 12 October in Cape Town.

The meeting took place at SAMSA’s Cape Town based Centre for Sea Watch & Response (incorporating the Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre) and which in 2024 has had to deal with a significantly higher number of maritime incidents compared with recent years, involving both transnational cargo vessels traversing across South Africa’s three oceans along a 3 200 km coastline, as well as commercial fishing vessels; and from some of which incidents, in both categories, regrettably, life and property were lost at sea.

Regarding cargo vessels, incidents in the 2024 calendar year mostly involved ships losing containers at sea – with one eventually grounded on the west coast – all reportedly due to southern Africa’s adverse weather conditions this year. Among some of the cargo vessels’ incidents, in some instances, loss of crew members overboard were reported.

On the other hand, incidents related to commercial fishing vessels also involved no less than four of these, through either grounding (one in January in South Africa’s south east coast) or sinking (three in South Africa’s south west coast area over the last few months – with one resulting in a loss of 11 seafarers).

The spate of maritime incidents in South Africa’s oceans this year is increasingly becoming a concern even at highest government level. Five days prior to the Portfolio Committee on Transport’s oversight meeting with SAMSA management leadership, deputy Minister of Transport, Mkhuleko Hlengwa held a special meeting with SAMSA’s executive management, also in Cape Town.

This was for a briefing on among other issues, the progress being achieved in the salvage of the wreck of a general cargo ship, the MV Ultra Galaxy, that’s currently underway on South Africa’s west coast since its grounding in early July.

Selamolelo said the committee was not merely pleased and happy with SAMSA’s performance for the period under review, but also pledged the committee’s full support for the resourcing of the country’s maritime safety authority.

He said: “Coming out of this meeting is that we, as the Portfolio Committee on Transport, may have to find a way to give more support in terms of resources to SAMSA because they are doing a lot of work in terms of ensuring safety in our waters.”

South Africa is seeing a growing number of ships travelling around its coastline due to the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. This is placing further pressure on SAMSA to be able to respond to incidents, which are becoming more frequent as the volume of sea traffic increases.

The South African Search and Rescue (SASAR) organisation warned in its latest annual report that a lack of available assets, including South African Air Force (SAAF) aircraft for search and rescue (SAR) operations “is a huge challenge.”

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), which is hosted by the South Africa Maritime Safety Authority on behalf of the Department of Transport in Cape Town, was unable to effectively provide the required maritime SAR service as stipulated in accordance with its mandate. The annual report indicated it is due to the “unavailability of resources and assets from the SASAR Manual Signatories such as the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and having to rely on the availability of the Merchant Fleet vessels’ SAR operations.”

During the 2023/24 reporting period (April 2023 through March 2024), the MRCC responded to 138 SAR incidents, with 168 lives saved during the period. However, during the reporting period 20 lives were lost. The MRCC further assisted in connecting vessels to local Telemedical Services and coordinated the evacuation of 112 medevac (medical evacuation) operations for crew and passengers from vessels offshore to local hospitals.

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The report covers the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 and details both the administrative and operational activities of the organisation during the period under review.

South Africa’s maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) operations are carried out by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), which is hosted by the South Africa Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) on behalf of the Department of Transport (DoT).

The MRCC, based in Cape Town, is responsible for the coordination of available resources for searching, assisting, and, where needed, conducting rescue operations in, and outside of, its Search and Rescue Region (SRR). MRCC Cape Town maintains overall management of operations, and serves as the point of contact for Regional MRCC South Africa, inclusive of Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Comoros.

During the 2023/24 reporting period, the MRCC responded to 138 SAR incidents, with 168 lives saved during the period. However, during the reporting period 20 lives were lost. The MRCC further assisted in connecting vessels to local Telemedical Services and coordinated the evacuation of 112 medevac (medical evacuation) operations for crew and passengers from vessels offshore to local hospitals.

The recent report, however, notes a “lethargic or lacklustre response” on the part of countries in the region when it comes to SAR operations. It attributes this to several factors including the diversity in national priorities, constitutional requirements, a particular lack of political will due to the humanitarian nature of the services, and budgetary constraints.

“It must be mentioned that this challenge is not confined to our immediate neighbouring countries but is currently a continental challenge,” notes the report, adding that this was the very reason behind the adoption of the Lome Declaration, which aims to address this deficiency.

South Africa has made major strides in finalising SAR agreements, as out of the 14 countries identified for this purpose, 10 agreements are already in place. There are, however, some agreements which require review given their age, and to align them with the template adopted by the Lome Declaration.

Among the issues identified in the report, the lack of funding and aircraft were identified as a significant risk hindering the aeronautical and maritime sector’s ability to effectively respond to SAR incident/accidents.

The availability of South African Air Force (SAAF) aircraft for SAR operations “is a huge challenge, with limited to no availability,” notes the report. The Department of Health provincial Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) does not have contracts in place in some provinces, resulting in HEMS having no aircraft available for deployment. Further delays are due to the vast distances required to deploy.

MRCC Cape Town was unable to effectively provide the required maritime SAR service as stipulated in accordance with its mandate. The report indicated it is due to the “unavailability of resources and assets from the SASAR Manual Signatories such as the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and having to rely on the availability of the Merchant Fleet vessels SAR operations.”

“MRCC Cape Town is severely restricted by the lack of Maritime SAR capable resources and the required support from the SASAR manual signatory agencies. It is also restricted in its access to relevant technology which could enhance its response to SAR incidents.”

The report lists recommendations which could mitigate these concerns, such as the establishment of Service Level Agreements with vessels that can assist in the delivery SAR raft, recover survivors from sea or rescue craft, and deliver medical evacuation support for life threating conditions at ranges exceeding 50 nautical miles.

Additionally, the report calls on SAMSA to ringfence the MRCC financial requirements for it to be claimed from SASAR, and MRCC Cape Town should be allowed to procure Maritime SAR related technologies in consultation with the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre.

MRCC Cape Town must further be allowed to identify able and capable SAR resources, air or surface, and utilise these resources without restriction as prescribed in the South African Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue Act, 2002.

A major concern discussed in the report is the status of air support from the SAAF, both in regard to training and operations, which have continued to decline over the year due to lack of serviceable air frames.

“There were significant periods when no serviceable aircraft were available at the various squadrons to support SAR operations. As a result, no joint mountain rescue operations were conducted with SAAF and insufficient training occurred to maintain currency.”

Levers Mabaso, Chief Director of SASAR, expressed his concern in the report around the “hugely underfunded South African Search and Rescue Organisation, as well as SAR operations which poses significant risk to the safety of aviators and mariners plying their trade in the South African territorial waters/land.”

SASAR’s activities are funded from public funds and its budget forms part of Vote 35 of the Department of Transport. Other funding sources come in the form of sponsorships from the aviation and maritime industry for specific projects or purposes. No sponsorships or donations were received during the year under review.

The annual budget during the year under review was R66 389 000. The budget covered the compensation of employees, transfer payments, machinery and equipment, search and rescue projects, and meetings. However, total expenditure was R66 629 000, leading to a deficit of R240 000.

SASAR and its SAR operations remain grossly underfunded, which the organisation believes poses significant risk to the safety of aviators and mariners plying their trade in South African territorial waters.

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Hawks spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Simphiwe Mhlongo said the vessel was importing iron to South Africa but was also carrying drugs.

“Hawks members from Richards Bay Serious Organised Crime Investigation working together with external stakeholders, King Cetshwayo District Task Team, Richards Bay ORS, Local Criminal Record Centre, South African Revenue Services Customs, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Transnet Port Terminal Security and private security company seized blocks of cocaine at Richards Bay Port of Entry.”

“A search was conducted upon arrival of the vessel and during the search blocks of cocaine to the street value of R15 million were found.”

Mhlongo said a preliminary investigation was conducted and “certain evidence” was collected.

“No arrest has been made at this stage operation continues.”

The KwaZulu-Natal Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Provincial Head, Major General (Dr) Lesetja Senona welcomed the seizure of the drugs.

“The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) would like to thank all role players who participated in this operation especially the external stakeholders who ensured that these drugs did not land in the streets of this country, we will continue to work together with other internal stakeholders to track and trace the perpetrators involved in this drug trafficking”, he said.    

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