Port pilotage service is costly

AFTER trying for some time tried to obtain information on the status of the port helicopter marine pilot transfer service, response was given to this newspaper on Friday.

As readers will know, vessels moving in and out of the Port of Richards Bay do so under the pilotage of local marine pilots, who are obviously more familiar with the harbour intricacies than are the foreign ships’ masters.

Richards Bay made headlines by being the first port to use a helicopter to effect the pilot transfers –a practice now common at ports worldwide.

The system has functioned well, saving many hours of time compared with the laborious and dangerous system of transferring pilots from a small pilot boat, up a ladder, and onto the deck of the large ships.

Time equals money, so port users have enjoyed having the chopper service available.

However, at the end of January the chopper pilotage service contract expired.

A tender for a new service provider was published last year, with the successful new provider due to be announced at the end of January with a view to take over and resume the chopper service by 1 April.

So far, for reasons unclear, the new company has not yet been named – but the assurance has been given by Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) that the April deadline will still be met.

TNPA, the owner of the helicopters, logically wants to take complete ownership of the entire system, including training its own chopper pilots and technical ground crew: good news in a country where these skills are seriously lacking.

In the meantime, the chopper stands idle outdoors, with concern that serious engine damage could result from the hydraulic fluids and fuels not having been properly drained prior to ‘hibernation’ at the end of January.

And the use of pilot boats has reminded us of the reasons the choppers were brought in, in the first place: they are unable to operate in poor sea conditions – unlike the choppers.

Just this week, a passenger cruise liner was forced to proceed to Durban in inclement weather, depriving the city and region of valuable tourism income.

And – despite assurances to the contrary – costly delays to port users are being experienced daily due to the inefficiencies of the pilot boat system.

All eyes will be on TNPA to see when the chopper service is renewed, and who has been given the contract.