Planned SA boatbuilding hub back on the cards following new appointment

Newly appointed Nelson Mandela Bay Maritime Cluster chairperson Faisal Sultan intends revitalising a plan to establish a new South African boatbuilding hub in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth.

Sultan, the Port Elizabeth Port senior operations manager, was appointed last month to drive the NMB Cluster’s mandate to grow the maritime economy in the Eastern Cape province, which historically has lagged behind the Western Cape in ship repair and boatbuilding. Sultan told IBI he hopes to help close the gap between the two regions by attracting a bigger share of investment to the Eastern Cape, which has two world-class ports in Algoa Bay (Port Elizabeth and Ngqura).

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality incorporates Port Elizabeth and the nearby industrial towns of Uitenhage and Despatch. Port Elizabeth is also the supply and service centre for St Francis Bay, home to two of the country’s top leisure catamaran producers – Nexus Yachts/Balance catamarans and St Francis Catamarans.

Sultan said the NMB Cluster hoped to grow its share of both the leisure and commercial boatbuilding sectors. “In the recent past we have had a number of interested parties wanting to build a boat building facility in the port but for some reason this could not be materialised,” Sultan said. “Although we have all the specialists and expertise in our region there is a shortage of business acumen to develop and grow such an industry that needs incubation nurturing and extensive equipment that all requires major funding.”

The NMB Maritime Cluster would seek to address this shortage in order to forge ahead with development plans, he said. “We the leadership of NMBMC feel that our aspirations are very valid and it can materialise if we tackle it as a team but it will require an exceptional amount of dedication and expertise to take it off the ground,” Sultan said.

The boatbuilding ambition would complement the Port of Port Elizabeth’s current strategy plan of establishing a cruise terminal and waterfront area. Said Sultan: “We would propose this [boatbuilding] project as one of our incubation projects in the cluster to take it forward to boost the Eastern Cape economy as it links to leisure and recreation industry including tourism.”

He said government plans to recapitalise the country’s fishing fleet, and grow the new small scale fishing sector, could also spur investment in the sector and serve as a catalyst for the growth of a regional boatbuilding hub.