The SA Agulhas is back in the Port of East London’s Princess Elizabeth dry dock for her lay-up maintenance plan.
The contract to undertake maintenance on the 40-year-old vessel was awarded to local ship repair company, East London Shipyard, and should take between four to six weeks to be completed.
“The dry dock is also undergoing refurbishment and the project is at an advanced stage,” said Leigh Carls, Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) ship repair manager for the Port of East London.
“R21m has been invested to date and 70% of the work has been completed thus far, including new switchgear and crane rails,” said Carls.
“Work commenced in 2015 with a phased approach being followed to enhance all critical components and allow for the dock to be functional throughout the upgrading process,” he added.
The SA Agulhas is the fifth commercial vessel that has made use of the dry dock over the past six months. The vessel, which is the South African Maritime Safety Authority’s (Samsa) dedicated training vessel, returned from a three-month trip to Antarctica at the end of February.
Sharon Sijako, recently appointed East London Port Manager, said attracting more ship repair business to the port was an essential element of the new aggressive strategy to expand the port for the benefit of the region.
