South Africa Helped By Suez Closing

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31763, 21 August 1968, Page 18

South Africa Helped By Suez Closing

(N.Z.P. A.-Reuter—Copyright)

JOHANNESBURG.

The two main ports of South Africa, Durban and Cape Town, have already earned about s64nt from shipping diverted from the Suez Canal since last June—and there seems no end to this steadily mounting windfall.

The closing of the canal has also had an important political effect as world attention focuses on the strategic value of the Cape sea route. Almost 4000 ships have called at Durban and Cape Town. The larger port, Durban, has taken the greater share.

The official receipts have not yet been broken down into their component parts, but bunkering costs, harbour dues and revictualling fees are estimated to amount to about s64m.

This figure does not take into account the large income gained on shore from the many thousands of sailors and liner passengers. Long Hours

Durban and Cape Town dock staff are under heavy pressure handling the many ships which nose daily into harbour. The harbourmaster at Durban (Mr T. MacKinnon) has said the work load on harbour staff is almost trebled. For example, Durban has handled 58 ships in one day. At Cape Town the harbourmaster (Mr A. Natson) said: “It's been a tough year, plagued by illness among overworked staff, as more and more of their leave was cancelled to handle the influx of shipping."

Both ports are working round the clock to cope with the stream of ships, from gigantic oil tankers to small coastal freighters, and no immediate let-up is forecast. The political importance has been in the awareness of the strategic value of the Cape sea route, and in South Africa's ability to play a big part in keeping the shipping lanes open. Evidently South Africa’s role in the Western alliance is being reviewed. Ships from Communist States, rarely seen in South African waters in the past, have become commonplace. x

Oil Stocli

Apart from the large sum of money she has earned and the revitalising of her harbour industry, South Africa has benefited in other ways. Ship repairing has now become one of the country’s major money-earners, and oil industries have b-en forced to increase their reserve stock 900 per cent. This will help South Africa should the United Nations enforce oil embargoes against her.