Without a fleet, SA pays billions in maritime services

Yet, SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) CEO Tsietsi Mokhele told Parliament's transport portfolio committee that South Africa does not have a single own-flagged commercial vessel on its shipping register. Committee members were told that Brazil operated a fleet of 172 merchant vessels; Russia, 1891 vessels; India, 534 vessels; and that China had 2044 merchant ships. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa make up the BRICS group of countries.

"South Africa has no ships on its register, and pays R37bn a year [2007 figures] in maritime transport services to foreign owners and operators," Mokhele said, adding that it was the cost of moving 180 millions tons of freight into and out of the country at that time. In a document tabled at the briefing, Mokhele called for a policy framework to enable the establishment of both a coastal and a blue-water (high seas) merchant fleet. According to Fin24.com, about 98 percent of South Africa's total import and export trade, by volume, was currently carried by foreign ships. Up to 12,000 vessels visited the country's eight commercial ports each year. "We are almost 100 percent dependent on foreign shipping to get our goods to market," he said.

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