A number of interesting vessels have recently berthed at the Sturrock Dry Dock in the Port of Cape Town.

Mining vessel, mv Debmar Atlantic, owned by De Beers Marine Namibia (Pty) Ltd, recently underwent routine work at the dry dock, carried out by contracting firms.

Built in 1978, mv Debmar Atlantic features its own diamond processing plant on board. During the mining process, gravel, bearing diamonds, is airlifted from the seabed. The gravel and water are de-aerated before entering the processing plant. The material then goes through various stages and processes before the diamonds are recovered.

The Dock was also the site of recent repairs on the deepwater field development ship (FDS) SAIPEM FDS 2 owned by Saipem (Portugal) Comercio Maritimo (SPCM). SAIPEM FDS 2 was designed and built to assist in the construction of subsea infrastructure, connecting oil production platforms with refineries on shore.

Cape Town Port Manager, Sipho Nzuza, said: “The Port of Cape Town has been earmarked as one of the important hubs for the delivery of government’s Operation Phakisa initiatives aimed at supporting the growth of the local ship repair, shipbuilding and oil and gas sectors. We have seen increased ship repair activity and are gearing up for more frequent calls such as this one.”

TNPA intends to refurbish the Syncrolift facility in the Victoria & Albert Waterfront Precinct. The authority will also replace water circulating pumps at the Sturrock Dry Dock. Future work will include refurbishment of the Robinson Dry Dock and Sturrock Dry Dock and see the replacement of 10 cranes.

TNPA will spend a total of around R2bn over the next five years to refurbish existing repair facilities while investing an estimated R13 billion in creating new repair facilities at South African ports.