Programme director
SAMSA CE Commander Tsietsi Mokhele
Smit Amandla CEO Mr Paul Maclons
Grinrod CE
Distinguished guests
Members of the Media
Ladies and gentlemen
Two weeks ago we marked the launch of our 2010 Transport Month campaign in KwaZulu-Natal on which Minister Ndebele stressed the importance of rail transport to drive and stimulate our much needed economic growth. He spoke of our plans to have high speed rail transport from Johannesburg to Durban and along the Moloto, Mpumalanga corridor so that we ease traffic congestion and the high numbers of road accidents on our roads.
The minister also highlighted the importance of interconnection of rail, road and aviation transport infrastructure networks with regard to efficiency in transportation of goods and services. He stressed the importance of integrated public transport networks and their spectacular and unforgotten role in the transportation of fans during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We achieved what we wanted to do because we planned and paid attention to the need and commitment of implementing our integrated transport plans.
Year of the Seafarer
Today as we celebrate the Year of the Seafarer, we take a close look at the developments of the broad maritime industry and make it part of our Transport Month calendar for this year. The International Maritime Organisation has decided to dedicate this year to Seafarers by choosing it as the theme for World Maritime Day, “2010 - Year of the Seafarer”.
Our intention is to pay tribute to Seafarers as they are part to the world’s 1,5 million people – men and women from all over the globe for their unique, and all too often over-looked, contribution they make to the wellbeing of all of us.
We will do so with deep appreciation, in recognition of the extraordinary service you render, those present, every day of your professional life. Most of that life is frequently under dangerous circumstances in delivering to the more than 6,5 billion people of the world the wheat that makes our daily bread, the gas and oil that warms our homes or moves our vehicles and the gifts we will share and enjoy with our families and friends most of our daily lives. The maritime industry contributes to our objectives to facilitate more than 90% of the world’s trade and to sustainable human, social and economic development.
As we enter the third week of our Transport Month campaign lets interrogate our maritime transport system which the International Maritime Organisation declared the 2010 the Year of the Seafarer. Being a specialised transport mode, maritime transport should be given the right attention and investment so that it makes a profound contribution to our country’s Gross Domestic Product. It would be of strategic importance for the country’s maritime industry to be at the forefront of the initiatives and interventions that are intended to give expression to this theme.
To maintain South Africa’s rich history of seafaring, the process of developing a strong maritime industry has been under way since 1998, when the Department of Transport established the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA). To add impetus to our maritime progress and developments initiatives SAMSA should continue to work hard and have its presence in international maritime affairs and persist to be a regular participant in regional and international organisations like the Indian Ocean Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, the International Maritime Organisation and the International Labour Organisation. As we champion and populate the importance of the maritime industry during Transport Month we need to focus our activities around:
- The importance of awareness about the importance of maritime transport to our lives, economic and social development
- The role of maritime in social, security and defence as well as ecological
- Highlight progress made in the transformation and advancement of our female seafarers
- Promotion of maritime transport jobs and careers
- Providing a platform to showcase the country’s maritime legacy, world class national skills; development infrastructure and programmes
- Profiling the dignity of the seafarer
- Providing a platform to showcase the country’s maritime legacy, world class national skills development infrastructure and programmes.
Ladies and gentlemen, I must say that the launch of the SAMSA Centre for Seafarers and Fishing today will also add impetus to our endeavor to make South Africa a fairly competitive country in the maritime industry. The launch of the centre comes at a time when South Africa and SAMSA need to stand up and be counted with regards to the value it assigns to the life of the Seafarer. It also follows back of successful launch of the SAMSA Centres of Sea Watch and Response as well as SAMSA Centre for Boating.
SAMSA Seafarer of the Year Awards
As we highlight the importance of Seafarers in maritime transport the awards ceremony is intended to be a moment to remember every Seafarer who would be present at the function. In addition every detail would be intended to awaken a sense of pride and dignity as we recognise the Seafarer work and contribution in the welfare of our country and economy.
The nomination of Seafarers was published on the rights-owners to the event, Maritime SA Magazine. Through working together with key players in the industry (Grindrod and Smit Amandla), in collaboration with the Maritime Southern Africa Magazine we seek to ensure that this, 2010 – the Year of the Seafarer, becomes the critical year that the role of the Seafarer is honoured and acknowledged.
In honouring our Seafarers the following have been planed as part of the activities:
- The departure of the SA Agulhas from the Seat Pier: Water Front at the Port of Cape Town on 11 October
- The arrival of the SA Agulhas at the Port of Durban
- The launch of the Centre for Seafarers and Fishing – 16 October at the ICC in Durban
The Department of Transport believes that the time is now for SAMSA to build up its institutional capacity, responding to the clarion call in the year of the Seafarer. The time is now to provide the necessary infrastructure for the advancement of the Seafarer scheme in South Africa.
The Sharp end of the maritime industry
As we aim to sustain the industry, we should work with the maritime industry and become supportive of the international regulatory regime and who serve shipping from ashore and do understand the extreme pressures that Seafarers face and thus we approach our own tasks with a genuine sympathy for the work that you do. In addition we will seek to add impetus to the “Go to Sea” Campaign which was launched in November 2008 to attract new entrants to the shipping industry and in particular to encourage young people to follow in the shoes of successful Seafarers. That campaign was launched in association with the International Labour Organisation, the “Round Table” of the shipping industry organisations (International Chamber of Shipping, International Shipping Federation and the International Association of Dry Cargo Ship-owners and the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners.
Most importantly to the Seafarers present, I want to stress that the entire shipping community understands and cares for all of you. We will continue to improve responses to situations of distress as being shown by some of our efforts to ensure that you are fairly treated when ships on which you serve become involved in accidents are looked after and when you are abandoned in ports are not refused shore leave for security purposes’ are protected when your work takes you into piracy-infested areas; and are not left unaided when you are in distress at sea.
We note with pride that 1,5 million Seafarers serving the daily needs of more than 6,5 billion citizens of the world is not a joke. It is a fact that is often unnoticed or is taken for granted by most, but one that should be trumpeted loud and clear. For Seafarers, the whole world deserve your respect recognition and gratitude and during 2010 the whole world must take cognisance of your exceptional role and contribution to make the industry sustainable and witnessed by all in its dynamic role of economic and social contribution to the people.
Challenges facing South Africa’s Maritime Industry
One of the challenges facing the industry is transformation and maritime skills shortage. Even though we lack the necessary skills, the country certainly complies with international safety standards and does deliver quality services. The Department of Transport and SAMSA will embark on awareness campaign to achieve a significant increase in women and black participation in terms of adding to the value chain of skills development and stimulating economic growth.
In line with meeting these best practices, the organisation has already met with several institutions seeking assistance from SAMSA to facilitate and ensure their survival. In addition our skills mix is also inadequate and the Unicorn training for Seafarers, the Durban Technology University and Cape Peninsula University currently offer maritime education, but we don’t have the practical training to offer in the country. We find ourselves having to negotiate with incoming ships to offer the necessary practical training to our cadets. It is therefore imperative to note that South Africa offers a high level of Seafarers training and we are in line with world standards.
Maritime developments in SA
I must stress that although we have some challenges, with regards to some of our maritime industry developments, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre ( MRCC) based in Cape Town equally keeps up to international standards with training offered to National Ports Authority Port control staff, harbour masters and assistants. This also applies to all national maritime search and rescue role players in the industry, including the SA Navy, SA Air force and National Sea Rescue Institute as well as regional SAR organisations neighboring South Africa. MRCC is operational 24 hours seven days a week and coordinates maritime Search and Rescue operations as well as amongst others, maritime assistance services throughout the internationally agreed South African Search and Rescue Region.
SAMSA – operations
To keep in line with international standards, SAMSA conducts examinations for deck and engineer officers on issues of certificates of Competency and accredits local training and teaching establishments in terms of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch Keeping for Seafarers (STCW). The entity also maintains a database on Seafarers and their qualifications. To date 3584 (STCW and non-STCW – port operations) Seafarers are registered including qualifications.
In addition, a central ship register is kept at the Cape Town office. The largest component of the register is made up by fishing fleet, large container vessels, diamond mining vessels, tugs and dredgers – ship mortgages are also recorded in this register. To date 1 187 vessels appear on the ships register. Safety surveys are also annually conducted on all South African registered and licensed vessels and by request on foreign vessels.
SAMSA also carries out Port State control inspections of vessels calling on South African ports. This is conducted in accordance with standards adopted by the International Maritime Organisation. Added to this the entity also maintains a NAVAL Architecture department whose function is to check and approve vessel stability data to approve new constructions and modifications to existing vessels and to witness physical testing stability.
Amongst other important responsibilities I am confident that SAMSA should be able to over the following functions:
- Overseeing the provision of maritime distress and safety communication services to discharge South Africa’s responsibilities under the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System.
- Enforcing training standards and competency of Seafarers; managing the national capability to respond to marine pollution incidents and other maritime emergencies.
- Participating in the development and implementation of national and international maritime safety and marine environment protection standards.
- Enforcing technical and operational standards for all shipping operations in the country’s waters and for South African ships to promote responsible operations in terms of seaworthiness, safety and marine environment protection standards.
- Administering South Africa’s voluntary ship reporting system (SAFREP) for identifying and tracking ships at sea for safety purposes and to provide a ship’s database for responding to marine emergencies.
In conclusion ladies and gentlemen our country’s economy can only achieve and register a positive growth through the development of economic cluster infrastructure development projects. The Department of Transport, as the chair of the Government’s Infrastructure Development clusters is in favour of the development of sustainable infrastructure on roads, rail, energy, water, transport and mining so that our targets on job creation, poverty alleviation and economic development can be fast tracked and bear positive results.
Where do we want to be in the next six years with regard to progress? We need to implement our transport development plans in such a way that it becomes clearly conceivable that through transport the movement of goods, services and people would demonstrate that by planning together we can produce the necessary transport infrastructure and services that can through positive spin-offs, add value to New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) and Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) projects that are at the core of South Africa and Africa’s development and facilitate the broader social economic growth agenda.
I thank you.
