Mossel Bay - Transport - Harbour

Harbour

The Port of Mossel Bay (34°10′48″S 22°08′46″E / 34.180047°S 22.146034°E / -34.180047; 22.146034) is the smallest commercial harbour on the South African coast. It caters mostly for the oil industry (off-shore gas was discovered in late 1980s), and for a small fishing fleet, and is owned and managed by the Transnet National Ports Authority, which falls directly under South Africa’s Department of Public Enterprises.

The depth of the entrance channel is 8 metres, while the maximum permissible draught inside the harbour is 6.5 metres. Pilotage is compulsory from a point 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) northeast of Cape St Blaize.

Bunkering is available on the jetty and at quays 2, 3, and 5. Quay 4 can accommodate vessels of up to 130m, with a draught of 6.5m. A ship repair slipway can accommodate vessels of up to 200 tonnes. Ship chandler and stevedore services are available, as are diving services for hull cleaning, underwater inspection, salvage, etc.

The harbour has two offshore mooring buoys inside port limits: a catenary buoy mooring that caters for ships of up to 32,000DWT (maximum length 204m, draught 12m); and a single point mooring (SPM) marine tanker terminal that’s connected to three hoses for the export of products from PetroSA’s gas-to-fuel refinery, which is situated inland (about 13 km) and directly west of Mossel Bay. The SPM is located off Voorbaai in an open, unsheltered roadstead in about 21 metres of water.

During the 2008/09 financial year Mossel Bay served 1,567 vessels (mostly South African trawlers) with a combined gross tonnage of 3,317,364-gt, and handled a total of 2,014,185 tonnes of cargo (1,940,310t of bulk cargo — mostly oil products — and 73,875t of break-bulk). 773,267 tonnes of cargo was landed, and 1,240,918t was shipped.

15000 people worked on the synthol & refinery plant in Mossel Bay from 1998-2002 from all over the world - changing the landscape of the perception of South Africa Garden Route & giving major credence to South Africa & multi-relations to the world.