World - GAC

GAC WRAPGAC trio securemajor refitWhen Chevron Shipping Corporation needed to find an African drydockfor a major refit of its LPG FSO ‘Escravos’, a trio of GAC operationsin Nigeria, Netherlands and South Africa provided the answer.The FSO Escravos at her lay-up berth in Cape Town.Chevron Shipping wanted to extend thelife of their 40,681 ton vessel with a generaloverhaul, refit, steelworks, refurbishmentof quarters and survey. For that it neededa big dry dock and facilities to handle thejob.Chevron Superintendent BrianGoldman and GAC Nigeria’s Key AccountManager for Chevron, Thomas David,worked together to find a solution. A drydock in Cape Town, run by DORMAC, hadwhat was needed, so they contacted DavidHitchman, MD of GAC South Africa, tohelp.That was just part of the story. Therefit also required shipping a 150-ton turbogenerator and other essential equipmentand spares from Europe. That challengewas handled by David den Broeder, GeneralManager of the GAC Netherlands Logistics& Maritime Service Centre in Rotterdam.A Nigerian crew travelled to CapeTown to help with onboard tasks while indock. Ashore, workshops in the port werebusy performing hundreds of tasks for therefit.GAC South Africa’s David Hitchmansays the project was a huge success,despite the magnitude of the job and tightdeadlines.“Everything was carried out in linewith Chevron Shipping’s strict safetymantra: If it can’t be done safely, it must notbe done at all,” he says. “It was the talk of theport and Chevron Shipping’s commitmentto safety is an important legacy of the timethe ‘Escravos’ spent in dry-dock here.”David has also been busy this yearhandling a sizeable increase in port calls.These have risen because more vessels areavoiding pirates in the Gulf of Aden androunding the Cape of Good Hope instead.STS debut atnew SA portWhen the first Ship-to-Ship (STS) transferoccurred at the new port of Ngqura(Coega) in South Africa’s Eastern CapeProvince, GAC was part of the team thatmade it happen.GAC South Africa and STS specialistsSmit Amandla Marine worked closely withthe client, the national Port State Controland South African Environmental Servicesto transfer approximately 32,000 MT ofunleaded gasoline from the mother vesselto the daughter vessel quickly, efficientlyand in accordance with all regulations.Port ProfileLocated 20 km north-east of Port Elizabethat the mouth of the Coega River, Ngqurawas developed to stimulate the economyand create employment opportunitiesin the Eastern Cape. It is one of Africa’sbiggest maritime civil engineering projectscosting around 10 billion Rand.Operations started in October 2009,catering for container, bulk and liquidcargoes, with convenient links to thenearby Industrial Development Zone andthe rest of the country. It is designed toaccept vessels up to 80,000 DWT.JULY 2010 | GAC WORLD 13