Ship repair opened up to private enterprise

In February this year Transnet announced the long-awaited call for expressions of interest in private enterprise taking over the operation of Transnet ship repair facilities at all ports. The call for proposals issued on February 15 invited interested parties to submit requests for proposals to become the operator of eight existing ship repair facilities including the Prince Edward Dry Dock in Durban and the Durban Floating Dock. Other facilities include Cape Town’s Sturrock and Robinson dry docks, the Cape Town Synchrolift, the East London Princess Elizabeth Dry Dock, and two slipways at Port Elizabeth and Mossel Bay. As is usual with such opportunities, preference will be given to BBBEE compliant companies in terms of Transnet’s policy and the BBBEE Act. While the matter remains confidential, it is understood that a consortium of local ship repairers has expressed interest in the Durban dry dock and adjacent ship repair workshop. Although one of those local operators has since withdrawn and may go it alone, at least one foreign company is thought to have also staked an interest. While operators within the industry welcomed the move generally, there was an air of scepticism over whether it would ever reach fruition. One sceptic pointed to the muchhyped Richards Bay ship repair yard and dry dock that was supposed to be all but tied up and approved, yet several years down the line nothing has happened. After listening for years to ship repair operators calling for the privatisation of these facilities, it now seems odd that some of these are questioning why anyone would want to pay for a facility that requires considerable investment to upgrade when, they say, it was far preferable to simply hire that facility from Transnet for a short period.