One of the ships entered in the Club has recently been involved in an unfortunate incident with one of the Port of Maputo's gantry cranes. Investigations have revealed that over the last year approximately nine incidents involving dock and crane damage have occurred. This seems high bearing in mind the numbers of ships which call at this port.

Articles in the local shipping press state :-

" According to several port users there have been far to many minor accidents over the past eight to ten months. Various sources have indicated that the fault could lie in a number of areas, or be a combination of difficulties including problems with the quality of the tug performance, problems with communication between tug and pilot, or problems with the quality of the service given by the pilots.

It is not possible to lay blame and no one really wants to. What is essential is that the problem is resolved before a serious accident occurs or the port gets branded internationally as an "unsafe port" which in the main would be an unfair stigma".

We would advise Members be alive to these apparent problems and notify ships' crews accordingly.

Source of information : External

For further information see K.S.Lumbers (Loss Prevention Dept)