The drive for South Africa to maximise its participation in the global “blue economy”, was strengthened with the launch last night of the South African International Maritime Institute (SAIMI) in Nelson Mandela Bay.
Founded as an initiative of the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), in partnership with Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), the institute will promote and coordinate maritime education, skills development and research to support South Africa in harnessing the potential of its mostly untapped maritime resources.
Government’s recent launch of the Operation Phakisa Ocean Labs initiative to develop the plans required to unlock the economic potential of the country’s oceans – which it is estimated could contribute R177-billion to GDP and create a million jobs by 2033 – has placed the maritime economy firmly on the national socio-economic development agenda.
Similarly, the African Union adopted the 2050 Africa Integrated Maritime (AIM) Strategy in January 2014, with the vision to develop an environmentally sustainable and integrated blue economy across the continent.
NMMU Vice-Chancellor Prof Derrick Swartz said both Operation Phakisa and the AIM strategy provided “a unique opportunity for the education sector to contribute to stimulating a maritime economy that is sustainable, efficient and globally competitive”.
“We live in the age of the knowledge economy. We need a new generation of skills, knowledge and technological innovation to develop the industry and enable South Africa to identify its unique niches in the global maritime economy.
“We need to stimulate bright young people to pursue careers in the maritime industry, and we need to ensure the right qualifications are in place to provide them with a career pathway, and knowledge and skills that meet the needs of industry into the future,” Prof Swartz said.
The institute will initially be hosted at the NMMU in Port Elizabeth, with a network of maritime centres in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, and a vision to become a fully-fledged maritime university.
SAMSA CEO, Commander Tsietsi Mokhele, said the vast potential of South Africa’s more than 2 500km of coastline extended beyond “fish and food” into tourism and marine leisure activities. The areas with the most potential for maritime economic development, he said, were marine transport and shipping, oil and gas, fisheries and aquaculture, and maintenance.
He said the establishment of SAIMI formed part of SAMSA’s strategy to “unlock the potential of South Africa’s oceans and position the country as a leader in all things maritime”.
“SAMSA remains focused on promoting South Africa’s maritime interests by bringing together role players in industry and facilitating programmes that will benefit South Africa’s economy,” Mokhele said.
On the selection of the Eastern Cape and NMMU as the initial host of SAIMI, Mokhele said: “The Eastern Cape is well-positioned. They’ve got maritime and transport infrastructure. They are very strong on marine sciences. They’ve got a lot of projects in the water supporting marine sciences, and very active leadership.”
The institute, which has already garnered strong support from the maritime industry and education providers across the country, was launched at the gala dinner concluding the African Maritime Domain conference held in the city from 10 – 12 November.
As a first signal of SAIMI‘s international partnerships and industry support, the Vice-President of Finnish global ship power company Wärtsilä, Aaron Bresnahan, handed over a R6.2-million ship engine to SAIMI at the event at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
The engine, to be housed in NMMU’s Engineering Faculty, is supported by training material and 3D ‘walk-through’ technology to give maritime engineering students the opportunity to gain theoretical and practical knowledge of the latest in ship engine design and technology, Wärtsilä Ship Power Development Partner for Africa, Greg Davids, said.
“Wärtsilä welcomes and supports the formation of SAIMI as a milestone initiative to develop the knowledge base, skills development and capacity for technological innovation that will stimulate the maritime economy and enable South Africa to become a leading maritime nation,” Davids said.
Key stakeholders in maritime education and economic development have formed the steering committee to guide the strategic direction of SAIMI. In addition to SAMSA and NMMU, the steering committee has representatives from the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Department of Science and Technology, Transnet and the Transport Education and Training Authority (TETA).
Editor: Quite fitting that the South African International Maritime Institute acronym is SAIMI is a name of Finish origin and normally one given to a girl. Present at the Africam Maritime Domain Conference and last night’s launch were representatives from Finish companies that built the Agulhas II and donated the ship’s engine.
At the official launch of the South African International Maritime Institute held at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on 12 November 2014 representatives from SAMSA, Transnet and NMMU had their handprints encased in clay for prosperity.
L-R: Commander Tsietsi Mokhele (SAMSA) Professor Derrick Swartz (NMMU) and Tao Morwe (CEO of TNPA).
Alan Straton
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