There has been encouraging response to a call for expressions of interest in developing a new ship repair facility at Cape Town, says port planner Billy Cilliers.
The facility, to be sited at the eastern end of the harbour, is expected to reaffirm the port’s position as the leading ship repair centre in Southern Africa.
Cilliers said that since a call for expressions of interest was advertised in the South African media in August, 23 sets of documentation had been collected by various parties.
This was a ”very healthy response”, he said. ”We’re very pleased.”
The advertisements would be repeated in international media this week.
The deadline for submissions was January 6, after which the National Ports Authority (NPA) would draw up a short-list of preferred bidders and initiate the second phase of the process.
At this point bidders would submit their actual proposals, including technical and engineering detail and economic analyses.
The successful bidder, who would have a concession to operate the facility for 20 years, could well be on site and starting to build by August next year.
Cilliers said the new facility would be sited in the Elliott basin, now part of the container terminal operational area, which the NPA was planning to extend eastward by landfill. The harbour could not meet the demands on it with its exisiting
infrastructure, he said. The West African oil industry was booming, and an increasing number of ships were being attracted to the Cape for repairs.
There was no room to expand existing facilities, and the fact that the Robinson drydocks and the Synchrolift facility were close to the Waterfront tourist hub and marina imposed operational restrictions.
”We have to be forward-thinking and we have to supply new capacity,” he said.
The NPA was seeking a facility that would be world class in terms of quality and environmental issues, and with a strong black economic empowerment component at all stages.
It would have to be able to grow and lead Cape Town as the ship repair hub of South Africa.
The cost of the facility would depend on the proposals, he said. It would definitely be millions, and possibly billions.
He said the port’s current repair facilities handled 400 to 420 vessels a year.
The new facility would not mean closing down the yards in the Waterfront area. However they would probably be downgraded to focus on smaller vessels and become more ”tourist friendly” in the longer term.
He also said the NPA was planning a ”multipurpose vessel facility”, a 300-metre berth on presently-unused frontage at the foot of the port control tower.
This would accommodate even the largest cruise liners, of which Cape Town was getting seven or eight a year. Visiting naval and research vessels would probably also go there. – Sapa