A Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) and 6SIGMA Shipyards contract will see three Norwegian vessels calling at the Princess Elizabeth Dry Dock at the Port of East London for servicing until the end of next month.
TNPA said in a statement that the port had been intentional about diversifying its customer base beyond TNPA marine craft and was now realising its strategic objective of servicing more external vessels at its dry dock. The local dry dock team has already recently completed ship repair work on two Norwegian vessels, Antarctic Sea and Antarctic Endurance, and expects the arrival of Saga Sea before the end of November.
“The Port of East London team has been hard at work to give 6SIGMA Shipyards a service to write back home about. What is most exciting, besides the revenue this partnership brings to the port, is the employment opportunity for the East London community,” said Port of East London manager, Sphiwe Mthembu.
The Norwegian vessel repair work has created 70 to 100 employment opportunities.
The Princess Elizabeth Dry Dock has a docking length of 200 metres with an emergency docking length of 210m, and is equipped with four electric cranes that have a combined capacity of 39 tonnes.
