ETHEKWINI MARITIME CLUSTER
Nina steelwork repair
A PROUD MARITIME TRADITION
The ship repair, ship building and boat building industries have a long and proud history in Durban, having added immeasurably to its value and appeal as Africa's leading port by providing ship owners and operators as well as the recreational and commercial boat fraternity with the knowledge and assurance that skills, expertise and availability are readily to hand.
All three industry sectors have made great strides and significant investments in the local economy and in their respective fields they remain in the forefront of technical knowhow and skills development equal to the very best available worldwide.
SHIP REPAIR
Today Durban boasts the largest and busiest ship repair facility on the South African coast and one of the most efficient in the Southern Hemisphere. With more than 4 500 ships calling at the port annually there is an ongoing need for some form of repair or maintenance and with ships trading at extremely high daily costs it is imperative to have on hand all the expertise and skills necessary to ensure the minimum delay. With a large 360m dry dock and three floating docks available in addition to adequate repair quayside facilities Durban is uniquely positioned to provide these essential services. A second privately owned dry dock at the Dormac Marine shipyard is on schedule for construction.
The firms of Elgin Brown & Hamer, Southern African Shipyards and Dormac Marine each have their own fully equipped repair quays including heavy cranes andmachine shops to handle almost any job. Elgin Brown & Hamer (EB&H) and Southern African Shipyards each operate their own floating docks while EB&H owns the only privately operated floating crane in South Africa. The port authority has another heavylift floating crane available for general hire.
An estimated R3 billion lies invested in the ship repair industry in Durban at present while annual revenue earned amounts to approximately R2 billion a year. Current shipbuilding contracts add a further R1 billion in turnover,making this a highly significant contributor to the region and country's GDP.
SHIP BUILDING
Ship building is very much part of South Africa's proud maritime tradition - two oceans, an immensely long coastline, skilled and dedicated workers and businesses, and a long-proven ability to design, build and operate excellent vessels of many types.
In more recent times a considerable number of ships have been built in Durban, ranging from moderate sized trawlers and bunker barges to salvage and harbour tugs, container ships and general cargo vessels, naval patrol vessels, sophisticated missile strike craft and navy replenishment supply ships. Durban also achieved international recognition as one of the largest suppliers of 'Mega' luxury motor yacht hulls built and supplied to a discerning
international market -motor yachts of up to 100 metres and more in length. Since then a number of large luxury motor yachts have
been built fully complete and fitted out in Durban.
The Durban ship building industry has shown that it can and does compete successfully with the best in the world in niches and areas of its choosing and is currently showing a strong resurgence, with orders for seven harbour tugs that are currently under construction at Southern African Shipyards. At the Dormac Marine shipyard a number of bunker barges have recently been completed or are in the process of construction and other barges are being double hulled in accordance with the latest MARPOL requirements.
BOAT BUILDING
In the boat building sector Durban has a number of sail boat manufacturers with brands such as Pacer, Leisure, Fast and Gwind having been developed as monohulls while the African Cat, Rayvin, Proud, Maxim, Sea Tribe, Parlay, Royal Cape Catamarans Majestic range plus the Wildcat and Jaguar catamaran brands originated here in Durban. Numerous smaller sail boats such as the Dab Chick and Hobie Cat have been manufactured in the area too.
Among the smaller power boat manufacturers include the well known Austral Marine and Mallard Boats companies while Twinspirit, manufacturers of the Cybercat and Twinspirit catamarans and Afri-Cat with their 420 and 380 models constitute the two leading power boat manufactures.
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