Transnet ‘sinks plan’ for ship repair hub

A multimillion-rand deal to build a supply base at Saldanha in the Western Cape hangs in the balance after Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) changed the conditions for the shipping firm wishing to build itËKJ‰ adriaan.debeer¦êw:œ·Â"´ÿÿÈž?Donwald PresslyA multi-million rand deal to build a supply base at Saldanha on the west coast of the Western Cape hangs in the balance after the Transnet National Ports Authority changed the conditions for the shipping company which wishes to build it.There are different estimates of how much Dutch headquartered Universal Africa Lines would be spending on the oil and gas shipping supply hub Ð which effectively is a harbour area at Saldanha devoted to loading, offloading and repair of equipment and ships used in the oil and gas industry Ð which would have served the shipping linesÕ interests up the African west and east coasts.While it is difficult to estimate the potential investment in the supply hub, Western Cape Finance MEC Alan Winde said he had some years ago got UAL group chief executive Roger Jungblut interested in investing in SA, but he had subsequently been barraged by red tape at Transnet. ÒThere is a real lack of commitment coming from Transnet,Ó he saidSome indication of the potential of the business of servicing the oil and gas industry was that 100 oil rigs pass by SA each year. Only three were serviced in SA last year, one in Saldanha which alone brought in R100 million into the area, said Winde. Jungblut had been driven away, he said.The executive director South African oil & Gas Alliance Warwick Blyth has written to the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) chief executive Tau Morwe expressing concern the Transnet appears have let the deal slip through South AfricaÕs hands.Blyth said to Morwe: ÒAs the primary organization dedicated to promoting the development of the upstream oil and gas services sector in South Africa we at the South African Oil & Gas Alliance are very distressed at the recent failure of Transnet NPA to conclude an agreement with UAL Shipping that would have allowed them to establish a facility that we believe would have acted as a catalyst for the development of a significant regional oil and gas supply complex in Saldanha Bay.ÓBlyth said the establishment of such a hub would be a key component of the national strategy around the oil and gas sector as set out in Trade and Industry Minister Rob DaviesÕ Industrial Policy Action Plan. Blyth said he did not want to say more about it because he did not want to place any possibility that the project could be resurrected in jeopardy.Blyth said a lease approval process had taken 15 months to get to the point where the TNPA was in a position to discuss its finalization. ÒThroughout most of it (UAL) had no meaningful communication from TNPA.ÓFinally approval came through late in 2011 but the terms of the lease had been substantially changed. Jungblut reported that among the changed conditions was that the TPNA were not prepared to repair a quay wall at the harbour. There were also prevarications about the removal of old warehouses in the area.As a consequence UAL sent a letter to the TNPA earlier this month declining the opportunity to go ahead with the project. It is now looking at other options to create a supply hub in other African countries including Mozambique, Namibia and Tanzania. ÒWe are using Walvis Bay as a hub for our services,Ó he said.Transnet National Ports Authority spokesperson Lunga Ngcobo said the matter was too complex to comment on immediately. Ngcobo promised to raise the matter with legal experts today (Monday).. Source