The arrival of the Spring season this year is a welcome relief, especially for those of us down south who have struggled with the cold Cape winter weather.

Before the sense of renewal could kick in though came the sad news that one of our favourite and regular correspondents had suddenly passed away. Roger Field, with whom I spent many a pleasant hour over lunch, was a special man with a big heart, a willing ear and a sense of generosity and passion that touched the lives of his many friends and colleagues, many of whom are familiar faces in the maritime industry. The tribute from his wife, Brenda, and children in front of a packed church, was incredibly brave and left us all feeling that Roger was extremely lucky to have been the recipient of so much unconditional love.

Despite his physical disabilities, Roger lived his life with gusto and by all accounts this was remembered - listen carefully and you can hear his guffaws - at the wake held in his honour. He will be sorely missed.

There are many new recent developments throughout the maritime industry and this issue reflects the deals that have been concluded, the money that is, has or has not being spent, and the work that has been done or is still work in progress. Some of this is in the salvage industry which is featured in this issue of SA Shipping News. As we went to press we heard that the Smit Salvage team had again left for Tristan da Cuhna island. Unfortunately we had still not heard of which company was the successful bidder for the wreck removal contract for the Safmarine Aghulas.

The war in the Middle East is starting to impact on shipping activities and reports have been filtering through that there is a war premium on ships operating in this area of up to 270%. These costs will no doubt have been passed on to cargo owners. Adding to the difficulties is the ongoing fluctuations in oil prices and the fact that some ships heading for South African ports have been turned away because of the lack of bunker fuel supplies. This is to do with the shutdown for maintenance of the two coastal oil refineries, and reports are that they will only be fully operational by mid September.

To conclude I am pleased to note that South African suppliers are realising the value of using this journal to promote their products to the maritime industry.

Your news is always welcome and you can email it (and photos in JPEG format) to me at trachandler@telkomsa.net.

Editor

Cover Story

'Pentow Energy', one of SMIT Amandla Marine's bunker barges in action in the port of Durban. The Pentow Energy has played an integral part in the delivery of marine bunker fuels since going into service in March 1997.

To date she has delivered 4,130,000 tonnes to 11,360 vessels calling Durban. All of this was done without injury to people or damage to the environment.

SMIT Amandla Marine is the leading barge operator in South Africa and operate two barges in the port of Durban and one in Richards Bay. The company has won the BP HSE award for best Global Barge Contractor three times. All barges work on a 24 hour basis, 365 days of the year to ensure customer and client satisfaction.