207m. LIberian flag. A baby, really.
But shame, there was at least something going on (look carefully for the box in transit, which moved so fast I almost missed it), even though the port(s) apparently closed early today because of an “unexpected union meeting.”
(This was a little blow for Chad, whose box of Farmina pet food was disembarked from Santa Teresa only today, after he had to watch the thing sitting by Robben Island for 5 days or so. The union meeting means no transport of the goods now on terra firma until Monday morning, after which the vets still have to come and inspect/clear the load to be dispatched to shops, warehouses, and people like us who have persuaded our cats to eat the stuff.)
To the “optimism”!
I missed some local piece on a recent port “success” (as reported by J; only paraphrased here). Apparently enough of a story to get the attention of The Loadstar:
Much of interest – main talking head Jacob van Rensburg of the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) confirming a serious lack of equipment (vs. a lazy labour force), and the WINDS!
More NB:
(If it’s true that the govt./ruling party/friends of people who used to hang out at Shimmy Beach Club drinking Johnny Blue rejected foreign monies to make stuff happen fast, like it does in Rotterdam where they even have electricity to keep working, that’s pretty, pretty fucked up.)
The Loadstar goes on:
So the impromptu union meeting on a Friday afternoon could be a rainbow rather than a hailstorm, eg. if there is suddenly lots of money, and people just need reassurance that change is good, and they will not lose their jobs.
Or it could be because they’re starting to get embarrassed about being media donkeys. That, and likely not getting paid either for every hour they can’t work because of shitty machinery and the WINDS (which ‘halted work for 65 hours one week’)!
Winds are the worst.