Gangway No.1 Spring 1976 - BlueStarLine.org

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Richards Bay - Soulh Africa's major new port Springbok column New agency appointment Following a visit to Genoa by G G H Jefferys in November, Compass Line have been appointed Chief Representati ves for Ignazio Messina of Genoa, Italy, for the Republic of South Africa, South \Vest Africa, Rhodesia, M alawi, and Mozambique. Messina Line operates a monthly service in both directions between Mediterranean, South African and Mozambique ports within the Conference, and their port agents (except at Beira) are Freight Services. From January onwards, Compass Line (which is managed by Blue Star Line of South Africa) will coordinate and control the Messina Line Agency throughout the area mentioned, and we are looking forward with great enthusiasm to this new responsibility. Visitors Mr and Mrs A G Cooper (Mr Cooper retired from Blue Star Line in 1974 and was well known over many years' service as a Purser/Catering Officer) wi ll once again be visiting South Africa to spend about six weeks with Jean a n d Cecil Crocker in Durban. Readers will recall that the Coopers stayed with the Crackers about a year ago. Cecil Crocker is a regular contributor to our house magazine and maintains contact with his many friends in the company, made over the best part of thirty years' service with our Agents in South Africa. Cecil's uncle was a Master with the company many yea rs ago. Departure Derrick Newson, who has looked after passenger bookings and travel in Cape Town for several years and who was previously with the Passenge r Department in Lower Regent Street, left us in November to return to the U K. Derrick has become keenly interested in horticulture in recent years and will soon decide whether to continue in travel or take up horticulture as a career. We are all sorry to lose Derrick, but hope to see him back in Cape Town in the not too distant future. Overseas holiday Elfr ida E dmunds returned to Cape Town in September after an extended holiday in Europe and the U nited States with her husband and daughter. Her visit to London was reported in an earlier edition of Gangway. She also called on M r Ar chie Gilber t in San Francisco. 20 Rapidly taking shape on the East Coast of South Africa, approximately 180 km to the North of Durban, is Richards Bay, a massive harbour and city development. Only a few years ago, Richards Bay was a flat Virgin stretch of seaboard, but in the not too distant future it will rival the Port of Durban itself. There will be a city of over half-a-million people, providing employment for thousands of africans from the nearby Kwazulu Homeland. The lagoon has twice the water area of Durban harbour, and by effective planning and optimum utilisation of the si te, more facilities) longer quays, and deeper berths than those in Durban Harbour can be provided in a roughly equal area. Export contracts The Port Captain is established in office) and the new coal appliance will be ready to welcome the first vessel in April. Comracts have already been signed for the export of millions of tons of coal : the largest single comract is with Japan for the delivery of 27 million tons of low ash coal over a period of eleven years. Export contracts have also been signed with France, Italy, Germany, and the USA. Originally, Richards Bay was designed as a port for bulk traffic only, but it has now been decided that general traffic will also be handled there. The bulk traffic will include bituminous coal, amhracite, coking coal, petroleum products, sugar, maize, alumina, chrome ore, and various other minerals. The overseas trade for bulk cargoes is highly competitive, and fo reign markets can only be obtained if raw materials can be exported in bulk in large ships so as to gain the advantage of reduced rates. Because of this, the harbour will be dredged to provide a depth of water of 19m, which should be sufficient for ships of 150,000 tons deadweight; with further dredging to a depth of 23m the harbour will be capable of handling ships with a dead weight of up to 250,000 tons. Since harbour developments will take place over several decades, there will, at the beginning, be large undeveloped areas of the bay. Should the need arise, and the cost be justifiable, provision could even be made to allow fo r ships of 300,000 tons dead weight to enter the port. The hard rock below the bay is mostly located at a great depth so there would be no insurmountable problems in providing the necessary clearance for large ships. The port could also be extended to the Western portion of the lagoon at a later stage with access gained by means of a suitable opening. To prevent any possible damage to harbour workings from flood water, flowing from higher ground areas into the undeveloped part of [he lagoon, a drainage system will be installed with outlets to the sea. At present, the water level inside the lagoon is hardly affected by tidal movements, but once entrance works arc built and the entrance channel is dredged the level will naturall y rise and fall. Olympic yacht course When the harbour was planned, recreational areas were not fo rgotten, and already aquatic sports take place on the lagoon. The total area available for aquatic sports will be the size of an olympic yacht course -and a yacht club has already been formed. Numerous factories are under construction, and many companies have already opened branches in Richards Bay. \'\lork will begin shortly on a big hotel, and large numbers of houses for employees are also under construction. The township is developing alongside the harbour, and it is estimated that by 1980 40,000 persons will be living in Richards Bay. The city centre will be made up of three large blocks, with commercial activi ty centred on one block for the next 15 years or so while the other two blocks accommodate service industri es, and municipal, provincial, and administrative activities. There will be a total integrated shopping complex with approximately 18,000 square metres of selling space. The problem of keeping traffic away from pedestrians will be solved by building a system of tunnels under each block for the circulation of service trucks. There will be a system of airconditioned malls leading from the parking area to the heart of the complex. The first vessel will arrive in the new harbour in April. The Richards Bay development is just onc example of the way South Africa is preparing for the tremendous growth she expects to achi eve during the next decade. Cecil Crocker
~ iNews hom Ihe Amazon Visitors John Nickels, General Manager of Booth Line, paid a visit to the Amazon area in November for discussions wim Agencias M'undiais Management about the Booth Line Service and associated matters. Mc Nickels took the opportunity of holding shipper functions in both Manaus and Belem where he met the principle exporters and importers in the Amazon basin. From Belem he travelled (0 Rio de Janeiro for various conference meetings, accompanied by Robin BurDett, Vice-President of Agendas Mundiais, and Freddy Tate, General Manager of Cemil in Rio, who had also been present at the discussions held in. Manaus and Belem. Phil COXOD of Cemil also paid a very brief visit to Belem and Manaus. We hope to see more of him in the future when our respective Travel departments merge. It is not very often that our colleagues from the South venture North and we hope they will come more often. We also welcome Alao Stevens who has joined us in Belem after spending a number of years as Supercargo Engineer aboard Atahualpa. Alan has taken up the position of resident engineer of the Workshops (or rather Estaleiro Padre Juliao) as we now prefer to be known. Robert Sulzberger arrived in Belem on 13 November after a long trip down from England. He travelled from New York on the Booth Line vessel Gyrii, which called at Miami, Rio Hiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Castries, Vieux Fort, and Barbados. Unfortunately, owing to visa complications he had to discontinue his voyage at Barbados and return to Miami by air to complete all the necessary documentation requirements for his entry into Brazil. He was successful in getting a two year visa and completed the journey from Miami to Belem by air; needless to say, he was very much relieved when he finally arrived and was glad to have a permanent roof over his head once again. He has settled down to his new way of life in Belem after suffering from the usual new arrival problems occasioned by change of environment and different types of food. David Bungard, Manager of the Belem office, recently completed a onc week trip to Porto Vclho in the Brazilian Province of Rondonia, and Riberalta in Bolivia, to investigate the facilities at those ports for an anticipated large shipment of cargo to Bolivia in the near future. Macapa office We are happy to report that construction of our new office is now well under way and that it should be ready by the beginning of March. Although called the Macapa office, the new office is in fact situated 25 kms away in the port of Santana, so we shall be nearer to our work and life should be easier for all concerned. Manaus office Our new office in Manaus should be ready in August. Being on the 15th floor, the view over the city and port is delightful. The manager, George C larke, has already moved into the new manager's residence completed in November and appears to be comfortably installed. Sports News Our five-a-side football team has taken full advantage of the new sports centre and we must congratulate Waldemir Carvalho and Gilberto Sena for the work they have put in organising tournaments. We are not quite ready for the big time just yet, but with further practice we hope to enter a local minor league before very long. Christmas party 19 December was a relatively quiet day compared to our normal agency activity, with only one grain ship in port together with two American ocean-going tugs, so there was nothing to interrupt the festive atmosphere of our annual Christmas party. This was the second year that the usual routine of drinks and canapes served in the office had been changed. As in 1974 we reserved a section of a local Churrascaria Bar-b-que, and the staff, together with wives, husbands, or llamorados turned out in full. The ambiente was light-hearted and the food plentiful, with slices of succulent meats served from huge joints on typical barbeque swords, plenty of cold beer, or wine if preferred, and ice cream made from tropical fruits such as bacuri, capllacll, and passion fruit. After dinner we had the customary exchange of presents known as amigo illvisivel (invisible friend) whereby each member of staff buys a present for some other member and the name of the giver is not revealed. All in all, everyone enjoyed themselves and it was a good opening for the Christmas festivities the following week. Not quite the 'Blue Star Ball', but nevertheless a happy occasion with a real family atmosphere. For the record Agencias Mundiais of Belem attended 206 vessels during 1975-any challengers? Facts that astound the visitor to Belem The city of Belem was founded on 12 January 1616, not as a trading post or town for exploiting the interior, but as an operational base to be used for putting out the English, Irish, and Dutch from the Amazon. That accomplished, it became a trading post and a town for exploiting the interior. Today Belem, the largest city of the Amazon with a population of over 800,()(X), successfully blends its colonial inheritance with the airs of a modern city. The caboclo who populate Para State's interior (to many, authentic aborigines) are a mixture of indian and white blood that has not been re-mixed in over 250 years. 65 per cent of Para's population is mixed indian and white blood; 15 per cent is indian and black; 25 per cent is black and white and only 5 per cent is considered pure-Portuguese, English, Lebanese, Japanese, German, American, Spanish, I talian and others. The term caboc/o, which for city inhabitants describes native dwellers in the interior, is used in turn by the caboclo himself to describe an Indian. The Amazon River is responsible for 20 per cent of the river water of the world and from its mouth flows 3,400,000,000 gallons per minute or 7,500,000 cubic feet per second. Try to imagine that! The giant piranha, five times larger than its ferocious red cousin, is in fact, less dangerous. Brazil nuts are supposed to be one ofthe most nutritious nuts in the world, coming in third place after the Pecan and Walnut. SlOp Press South American Trade We have reached agreement with Furness Withy to work together in the South American Trade. The UK-East Coast of South America services of Lamport & Holt, Blue Star Line, Royal Mail Line, and Houlder Bros will be combined and operated as a joint service. A Management Committee from the two Groups, chaired by Mr D A Barber, will supervise all aspects of the servic! . The management of the Blue Star South American service will shortly be moving to Liverpool and Mr \'(Iortley will be retiring, 21
Page 2 and 3: Gangway Number 7 Spring 1976 Journa
Page 4 and 5: The COl wins The f ollowing is the
Page 6 and 7: Hadley's having a much younger wife
Page 8 and 9: 'SIarman Express; .. Starmall conti
Page 10 and 11: • Hamish M cKean beside his Cessn
Page 12 and 13: Holl 0 Century wilh Blue Slor line-
Page 14 and 15: The ever-growing share of world tra
Page 16 and 17: Colonel U A Vowling was one of the
Page 18 and 19: The artist at sea " CA Jackson, a B
Page 20 and 21: Amanda Miller. a 66.000 dwt oi/ tan
Page 24 and 25: Blue SIar line AFRIC AMERICA ANDALU
Page 26: lamporl I Holl line RAEBURN RAPHAEL

Gangway No.1 Spring 1976 - BlueStarLine.org

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