Damen Shipyards Cape Town has been awarded the repair and maintenance contract to get the South African fleet of Fisheries Research Vessels and Fisheries Protection & Surveillance Vessels operational as soon as possible.
A DAFF spokesman said that there is an urgent focus to get two of the fleet’s vessels operational again - the 83m Offshore Patrol Vessel Sarah Baartman and the 78m Research Vessel Africana.
Sarah Baartman is of Damen design (a Damen OPV 8313, built in 2005), as are the other three patrol vessels. The Lilian Ngoyi, Ruth First and Victoria Mxenge are of the Damen Stan Patrol 4708 type and were built from 2004 to 2006 in Cape Town. They are used to protect South Africa’s EEZ from illegal fishing.
Damen reports that the two Fisheries Research Vessels, the 43m Ellen Khuzwayo (built 2007 in Cape Town) and the 30-year old Africana, will soon be ready to resume their tasks. These comprise research programmes on how to maintain and restore the productive capacity and biodiversity of South Africa’s marine environment. The programmes are part of DAFF’s policy to protect human life and promote the conservation and sustainable use of marine living resource.
