The main aim is to enhance current emission reduction measures as recommended by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).<\/p>\n
Protection<\/strong><\/p>\n TNPA has for some time been talking of developing new guidelines on in-water cleaning to ensure none of the vessels calling at any of South Africa\u2019s eight ports along the country\u2019s 2954km long coastline introduces alien invasive and destructive aquatic organisms. The country\u2019s ports include Durban, Richards Bay, Cape Town, Ngqura, Mossel Bay, Saldanha Bay, Port Elizabeth and East London.<\/p>\n In fact, IMO says South Africa, among other African countries on the Atlantic coastline, have previously experienced the introduction of Carcinus maenas <\/em>(European shore crab), which is native to North-east Atlantic and Baltic Sea with ability to tolerate up to \u201cthree months of starvation but when able to feed, this species is a voracious predator, preying on molluscs and other crustaceans, including commercially important species.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cApart from impacting on native species through predation, this species disrupts existing community structures through competition (habitat and food) and behavioural activities (burrowing),\u201d IMO adds.<\/p>\n South Africa is one of the countries that previously banned all in-water cleaning apart from that which is done at offshore anchorages and in strict compliance with South African Maritime Association\u2019s rules and regulations.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, the re-introduction of in-water cleaning by TNPA, a company which announced a 6.4% increase in revenue in 2019 to US$693 million, is also likely to enrich the port\u2019s operator long-term green port system project that is aimed at mitigating effects of climate change from port operations. The enrichment could include tougher and easy to monitor and evaluate regulations not only on the application, maintenance and disposal of anti-fouling coatings but also ship hull cleaning.<\/p>\n Even as TNPA plans a review of the in-water cleaning policy, Durban port environmental manager Simphiwe Mazibuko has said in a previous media interview the port operator takes not of the fact that if the process \u201cis not managed correctly during removal of biofouling, it can result in the global spread of alien and invasive species posing serious risks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese risks could include destroying indigenous biodiversity, harming local fisheries and aquatic farming operations and introducing diseases to the local population,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n According to Mazibuko, the \u201cstrict environmental monitoring of all hull cleaning activities will ensure that deviations are picked up early and strict interventions are implemented, even if it means cancelling the permit of a noncompliant service providers.\u201d<\/p>\n Emissions<\/strong><\/p>\n But there is more reason why TNPA is looking into re-introducing guidelines for in-water cleaning, which is to control the amount of emissions on South Africa\u2019s shores.<\/p>\n IMO has identified fouled ship hulls to be a leading cause of carbon emissions because they tend to be slower requiring additional power to keep sailing hence consuming more fuel.<\/p>\n Increased fuel consumption by sea-bound vessels results in a surge in emission of greenhouse gases.<\/p>\n Even as South Africa mulls re-introduction of controlled in-water cleaning, TNPA and key government departments such as that of Transport and Environment, should be aware of the importance of adhering to an internationally accepted standard for in-water cleaning and treatment.<\/p>\n An internationally approved common standard would ensure effective management of biosecurity risks associated with in-water cleaning and treatment notwithstanding the fact that there does not seem to be a common approach to ship hull cleaning or biofouling in general among countries.<\/p>\n For example, a previous report by the Technical University of Denmark says: \u201cOverall, there is a lack of uniformity between different countries with regards to the regulatory framework around hull cleanings.\u201d<\/p>\n The report gives the example of South Africa where \u201cenvironmental rules forbid hull cleanings in ports, and allow the service to be carried only in off-port limit anchorages, provided that they comply with South African Maritime Association\u2019s rules and regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n Going forward, the challenge for South Africa would be how to woo more like-minded countries into bringing to fruition efforts to harmonize various countries\u2019 regulations on hull cleaning if the ultimate objective of achieving environmentally sound ports is to be achieved.<\/p>\n Furthermore, such harmonization would make it easier for South Africa and the rest of the world to enforce certain requirements such as the mandatory hull cleaning for all international vessels before they set sail to various ports of call across the globe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" South Africa\u2019s ports operator Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has hinted at the possibility of re-introducing in-water cleaning for all vessels calling at its eight ports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":968,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,72],"tags":[91],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-africa-greenport","tag-waste"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=967"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":969,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967\/revisions\/969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=967"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}