Bullish on high-growth East African markets as new terminal and Inland Services investments planned; Mombasa, Dar es Salaam are Targets

Mombasa, Kenya ‐ APM Terminals’ annual Africa-Middle East Region’s Leadership meeting was held in the Kenyan Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa to emphasize a new direction for expansion of the APM Terminals Global Port, Terminal and Inland Services Network: East Africa.

“There are great business and growth opportunities in East Africa and this is not new territory for APM Terminals” said Mr. Peder Sondergaard, CEO for the Africa-Middle East region, who noted that Logistics Container Centre Mombasa (LCCM), part of APM Terminals Inland Services, has been in operation since 1997.

He and other senior leaders including CEO Kim Fejfer recently visited Kenya and met with Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga and Minister of Trade Amos Kimunya for high level talks, and hosted meetings with local business and industry leaders in Mombasa and the Capitol of Nairobi.

APM Terminals, one of the largest port operators in Africa, currently operates nine ports in eight West African countries, as well as operations in both Morocco’s Tangier-Med port, and Egypt’s Suez Canal Container terminal and an extensive Inland Services network across the continent, but no port operations on the continent’s Indian Ocean coast.

Although the International Monetary Fund has projected a 5.5% economic growth rate for sub-Saharan Africa this year, and a 5.3% increase for 2013, obstacles to trade, particularly concerning cargo movements between neighboring countries, will prevent the full benefit of such economic progress from being felt across the African population.

The World Bank Report “De-Fragmenting Africa; Deepening Regional Trade Integration in Goods and Services” released in February, has estimated that “in sub-Saharan Africa it takes, on average, 38 days to import and 32 days to export goods across borders, whereas the number of days required is significantly lower in other regions” and that “the cost of trading across borders is the highest in the sub-Saharan Africa region, over twice as high compared to East Asia and OECD countries”.

Investment in modern cargo transportation infrastructure and services can help to alleviate these impediments, and foster higher rates of trade and economic development. APM Terminals’ Inland Services operations in East Africa span 12 countries currently including Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, as well as parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia.
Mombasa, the busiest port on the East African Coast, handled approximately 770,000 TEUs in 2011, up from 695,000 TEUs in 2010, and has enjoyed a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% during the preceding half decade. About half of this traffic is destined for neighboring land-locked countries such as Uganda, South Sudan and Rwanda.

APM Terminals is in talks with the Tanzanian Ministry of Transport and the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) to operate at the Port of Dar es Salaam, which handled 475,000 TEUs in 2011.

“We believe it would only benefit the port and the country to introduce a leading global port operator at Dar es Salaam, which would introduce healthy competition to the benefit of all port users” said APM Terminals’ Africa-Middle East Regional Vice President for Business Development, Hans-Ole Madsen.

Opportunities also exist beyond the Port of Dar es Salaam; Emmanuel Mallya, the Chairman of the Tanzania Shipping Association Chairman and a board member of the TPA told the Daily News of Tanzania “We need investors who will look at larger port expansion projects not necessarily at Dar es Salaam Port but also look elsewhere”, citing potential new port development project locations at Bagamoyo, Mbegani and Mwambani in the port city of Tanga, in the Tanga region of northern Tanzania, which borders Kenya.

“We are very interested in participating in and contributing to the high-growth potential of the Ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, and are eager for the opportunity to expand our Global Port and Terminal Network into East Africa” added Mr. Sondergaard.

Piracy, long canned as a problem confined to countries bordering Somalia, is spreading, and South Africa is worried. Sisulu told leaders from the Southern African Development Community that six million tons of oil are transported around South Africa’s western coastline every month, making it a prime target for pirates.

The highest ever number of pirate attacks, 266, occurred in the first six months of 2011, up 70 attacks from the same period last year, according to a report released in July by the International Maritime Bureau.

The report said Somali pirates, who are responsible for 60% of global attacks, took 361 sailors hostage and kidnapped 13 in the first six months of 2011.

Attacks are disrupting Africa’s movement of crude oil and flow of goods, which heavily depends on trade by sea, Sisulu said. SADC leaders must take protection of southern African waters into their own hands to safeguard the nations’ economies, she said.

The consequences of attacks are heavy. Aside from costs of goods potentially lost, trading routes must be altered, insurance premiums must be increased and ransoms must be paid. In 2010, pirates intercepted a $162 million tanker of crude oil traveling to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia, and a $7 million ransom had to be paid for release.

Ransoms are higher than they were five years ago, Sisulu said. But more than that, oil and chemical tankers are being attacked by automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade launchers. A few years ago, pirates were just as likely to use a knife as a gun, the IMB report found.

-By Jenny Gross, Dow Jones Newswires

“The Forward’s deployment to our neighboring continent of Africa further reinforces our service’s commitment to strengthening partnerships across the globe,” said Vice Adm. Robert C. Parker, commander of Atlantic Area. “From coast to coast and one continent to another, building partnerships helps achieve common goals around the world.”

During the three-month mission, the 270-foot medium endurance cutter and its crew will serve as the primary AMLEP platform visiting and working with such countries as Sierra Leone, Cape Verde, Liberia, Guinea and Senegal in support of the Navy’s 6th Fleet. Through various activities and exchanges they will focus on offshore operations in support of the host country’s efforts to stem illicit maritime activity and bolster maritime security and safety.

Forward conducts a 76mm gun shoot while underway May 29, 2011. The crew regularly conducts training to remain proficient in case of a real emergency. Coast Guard photo by Fireman Mark Krebs.

During the next few months the crew of the Forward will share their stories with you on Coast Guard Compass – check back soon to follow their travels.

This post was originally written by LT Connie Braesch for the Coast Guard Compass blog.

The BBC Tells us:

A 500-year-old ship-wreck laden with treasure has been discovered off the coast of Namibia.

The country’s diamond company, Namdeb, says it found the wreck during operations on the sea bed.

The company said the find included three bronze cannons, thousands of Spanish and Portuguese gold coins, and several tonnes of elephant tusks.

There were also human remains and navigational instruments. Excavations in the area were halted immediately.

Archaeological experts have identified the cannons as coming from early 16 Century Spain.

Reuters news agency says company sources are speculating that the ship may be linked to Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias, who went missing in 1500 after becoming the first European seafarer to round the Cape of Good Hope. Continue Reading…

Here’s an interesting story brought to us by The New York Times.  They tell us:

In a slap to Zimbabwe, its longtime ally Angola announced Saturday that a Chinese ship bearing arms for Zimbabwe would not be allowed to unload the weapons while it docked in Luanda, the Angolan capital.

The “ship of shame,” as the Chinese vessel An Yue Jiang has been nicknamed in African newspapers, has become a powerful organizing tool for trade unions, religious leaders and civic groups trying to stop state-sponsored brutality against Zimbabwe’s opposition. Any delivery of its weapons could well make that crackdown even more deadly.

Angola’s decision — it said it had allowed the ship to unload cargo meant for Angola, just not the weapons — brought the latest and the most surprising evidence of success in the international pressure campaign against the Zimbabwean government. Continue Reading…

BBC News tells us:

The French military are continuing to track a luxury yacht seized, with its crew, on Friday by Somali pirates.

There has been no contact with the Ponant since it was boarded. French officials said they wanted to avoid using force.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said: “Our priority is to protect the lives of the people on board.”

Somali coastal waters are among the world’s most hazardous, with more than 25 ships seized by pirates in 2007.

CNN tells us:

There were no passengers on board the 87-meter (288-foot), three-masted yacht when it was hijacked Friday, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

There were 30 crew members on board — about 20 of them French and the rest Ukrainian, the spokesman said.

France flew a helicopter over the yacht on Friday but has had no contact with anyone on board, the spokesman said.

The white yacht, named The Ponant, has 32 cabins and four decks. It has lounges, a bar, and a restaurant. The yacht sails on luxury cruises around the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea, according to its Web site.

Ship Specifics:

For more information view the full UN PDF , Live Piracy Map or a good video about piracy HERE.

UPDATE:

The La Ponant crew has been rescued, Lloyds List tells us:

SIX of the pirates who took over the French cruise ship Le Ponant have been arrested by French forces following the liberation of the vessel’s 30 crew members.

The head of the French army Général Jean-Louis Georgelin said that the pirates were arrested after having gone ashore about one hour after the freeing of the crew of the Le Ponant.

“We were able to track the pirates, which made it possible to intercept about half the commando through a helicopter action,” he said.

The operation was carried out with the authorisation of the Somali authorities, according to General Georgelin, who indicated that warning and interception shots were fired but said that there had been no direct firing on the pirates themselves.

The arrested pirates were being held off the Somali coast on the helicopter carrier, Jeanne d’Arc, according to a senior French navy spokesman. Continue Reading…

This post was written by John with Piracy map information provided by Richard of Bitterend. Did you know we accept article written by YOU?