South Africa lacks maritime security skills, systems, says official

Publisher  Korir, africanpress@getmail.no source:

Amidst the saga of the Chinese ship carrying weapons destined for Zimbabwe, the Chief Executive Officer of the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa), Tsietsi Mokhele, told parliament in Cape Town that South Africa lacks technological capacity to monitor foreign vessels in its waters.

The saga had spotlighted a severe skills shortage in the maritime industry. “Our capacity to track and monitor vessels at sea is non-existent,” Mokhele told the Transport portfolio committee of the National Assembly on Friday .

Reports from the International Transport Workers Federation said the Chinese ship, An Yue Jiang, has rounded the Cape of Good Hope and was this week south of Port Elizabeth, outside South African territorial waters.

The authorities were unable to say where An Yue Jinag was headed, or pinpoint its position after it had left Durban harbour two weeks ago.

The South African Air Force patrolled the eastern and western coasts in turn daily, but officers admitted that they could easily miss a ship on the ocean. The situation makes the waters around South Africa ideal for ships embarking on clandestine activities.

“South Africa lags when it comes to installing a Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) system, which it was required to do, in terms of international agreement, by 1st January next year,” Mokhele said.

LRIT is a satellite-based security system used for tracking the movement of large ships around the globe. In terms of agreement, South Africa is obliged to implement the system to monitor shipping passing within 1,500km of its coastline.

A well-placed source in the maritime industry, who declined to be named, said “affirmative action has also had a negative impact on South Africa’s harbours, with unsuitable candidates being selected for many of the training courses, resulting in a huge drop-out rate.”

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The Publisher Korir, is the Chief Editor – African Press International – API