Training, incentives to attract maritime professionals: Ndebele

Speaking at the Seafarers' Merit Awards in Cape Town on Saturday, 22 October 2011, Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has called on the government and industry to address a severe shortage of skilled maritime professionals. "Some of our highly skilled marine personnel are reaching retirement age, resulting in an increasing dependence on expensive expatriate labour," Ndebele said. Read more >>

Dusky kob should be seen as white rhino of the sea

The dusky kob should be elevated to the same status as the white rhino and controls on catching the fish should be implemented according to fish scientist Dr Paul Cowley of the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity. Read more >>

Coelacanth documentary film at East London

A documentary about the coelacanth is using the East London museum and scuba diving sites off Tanzania and Sodwana Bay in KwaZulu-Natal and will feature a re-enactment of the discovery of the world's first coelacanth and its identification at the JBL Smith Institute of Ichthyology. Read more >>

Mozambique seeks US$300-million for port

Mozambique is to ask the Japanese government to provide up to US$300-million so that it can carry out repairs to the cyclone-damaged Nacala export port. Read more >>

Seafood packaging goes green

South African seafood producers will soon be able to ship their products in a more eco-friendly and effective way when UK Group Tri-Pack and SA-based Ampaglas Plastics Group launch their innovative fish boxes at the Pro-Pak exhibition at the CTICC in Cape Town from 25-27 October 2011. Read more >>

Piracy attacks at all-time high

So far this year there have been 352 attacks on ships throughout the world according to the International Maritime Bureau, which has hailed the international anti-piracy measures being implemented by navies and commercial shipping lines. Read more >>

Mixed reaction to Zuma's Padayachie move

[Duncan McLeod & Craig Wilson] President Jacob Zuma's decision to redeploy communications minister Roy Padayachie and his deputy, Obed Bapela, has drawn mixed reaction from the information and communications technology industry, with one analyst saying he was "stunned" by the move and that it would delay several important projects, including the migration to digital terrestrial television. Read more >>

SABC makes or breaks communications ministers

[Chris Moerdyk: @chrismoerdyk] When the new communications minister was shifted out of her role as deputy minister of the department last year and into the presidency, I wondered if she breathed a huge sigh of relief. And I wonder now whether she is really as happy as she seems about going back, in spite of being promoted to full minister? Read more >>

Wal-Mart hearings focus on efficiencies, labour

[Paul Vecchiatto] The Competition Appeals court hearings into the Wal-Mart/Massmart merger turned mainly around labour and economic efficiency issues that the giant US retailer could bring into the local market. Read more >>

"Skeem" gets top award for Greene

Cape Town movie director Tim Greene has scooped the Audience Choice award for "Skeem" at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, according to Channel24 and Sowetan Live. "Skeem" is a comedy adventure story about a group of small-time crooks and greedy holiday-makers who scheme to get their hands of a box of cash at a run-down resort. Read more >>