Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele will lead a South African delegation to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Council meeting being held in London from 27 June to 1 July.
South Africa was elected vice-chair of the Council of the IMO with the United States of America elected as chair on 3 December 2009, at the 103rd session of the IMO Council held in London. Minister Ndebele led the bid for the IMO Council.
“We are now proudly among the 40 leading maritime nations of the world,” Ndebele said. “We are using our place in the IMO Council to develop our maritime sector, create jobs and grow our economy.
“African people along coastal areas of our country have absolutely no relationship with the sea, no relationship at all. The only time the majority has anything to do with the sea is during the festive season. Even a cursory glance at this fleeting relationship shows that it is a touch and go one at best involving thousands who clearly cannot even demonstrate basic swimming skills in that sea. It is a very embarrassing thing to see. We must attract all our people into this international industry which offers opportunities for travel, training and work in any part of the world,” said Ndebele.
South Africa is located on a long coast line of just under 3 000 kilometres. South Africa has jurisdiction over about 1-million square kilometres of economic exclusive zone (EEZ), and a search and rescue responsibility spanning over a 27-million square kilometres zone, covering a vast sea room up to the polar continent of the Antarctic, including a part of the Southern Ocean.
A major part of world trade depends on South Africa’s coastal waters. The country is situated on a major sea route which currently facilitates the safe and secure movement of about 500 million tons of crude petrochemical sea trade. This represents over 30% of the world’s petrochemical production, on board over 5 000 tanker voyages of very large crude carriers per annum.
The country’s ports handle over 430 metric tons of varied cargo types, carried on over 9 000 ship calls each year. In addition, thousands of merchant ships, fishing and commercial vessels and hundreds of special platforms transited or visit our ports every year.
South Africa’s Centre for Sea Watch and Response, which houses the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre and the Standby Salvage Tug programme,responds to over 40 marine incidents a month, with the standby tug assisting hundreds of transiting ships in distress annually, some incidents occurring far out in the polar Antarctic region.
South Africa currently manages the western Indian Ocean Marine Highway project on behalf of the 13 countries of the western Indian Ocean. To South Africa’s credit in the world, the project obtained an unqualified audit opinion from the World Bank auditors.
Enquiries:
Logan Maistry
Cell: 083 6444 050
