SA charging too much for oil bunkering: expert

Speaking at the SA Maritime International Conference on Wednesday‚ Fitzmaurice was referring to the fact that only a small fraction of the 1700 to 1900 ships off the coast at any one time actually called in at a local port.

Fitzmaurice said the major fact was the price of SA bunker oil that was currently priced at USUS$660 per ton compared to USUS$580 in the European port of Rotterdam‚ or at around US$600 per ton for Singapore or the US port of Houston.

"I have noted a worrying trend that the overwhelming amount of maritime traffic does not call at our ports. If we cannot attract ships to call at our ports we will fail to transform our maritime sector. The basic need of ships is fuel and so bunkering is an obvious service‚" Fitzmaurice told the conference.