Af rica holds the potential for growth despite the current slump in the oil and gas market.According to Jürgen Kuntz, senior manager chartering & projects, head of Africa chartering desk at SAL Heavy Lift, there are plenty of opportunities for increased shipments to and from the African continent and the company is working hard to add vessels to routes.“With our recent investment and acquisition of US-based Intermarine, which holds strong presence in the Americas, our next venture is to develop regular shipping services between Europe, Africa and the Americas,” he said. “On the offshore front SAL was recently engaged in the Egina project in Nigeria where we conducted a pipelay job together with our local partner Marine Platforms. We believe there are still good opportunities in shipments between South America and Africa. The connection between Asia and Africa remains busy. We are seeing more activity in this region as well.”Kuntz said the oil and gas market had hit a slump as prices and demand had fallen due to the outbreak of Covid-19 “Many projects will find it difficult to get final investment decisions (FID) in place. We are also going to see projects pushed aside to wait for stronger uptake,” he told Freight News. “We have already seen delays in project execution, particularly in Mozambique.”This affected shipping as it was difficult to create regular sailings when project volumes were uncertain. “Cargo volumes intended for the East Coast in particular faced a lot of uncertainty. Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on operations in and around ports. Quarantine measures have been put in place at most ports and this has, in many cases, complicated processes and caused delays.”Despite the challenges there was a lot to be positive about, said Kuntz. “We continue to see potential for growth in Africa, including along the east coast. In Mozambique there are some exciting developments, while Nigeria remains very active in the oil and gas space. Senegal and Mauritania currently have fewer activities but then North Africa is opening up with more projects and cargo opportunities.”
