Despite the recent troubles that have shaken Durban in particular, the country aims to continue on its path to sustainable development through its port cities. A new report commissioned by the “Getting to Zero Coalition” has revealed its potential for renewable energy sources and alternative fuels. A company has been mandated by the government to create a “Hydrogen road map”. The country’s ports enjoy an ideal location on the trade route between Africa and South-east Asia, as well as abundant mineral resources and marine energy (wave-power or offshore wind farms). The report points to Richards Bay (uMhlathuze), Coega (Ngqura) and Saldanha Bay as promising cities. A new port organisation is to be formed, separating commercial development from sovereign missions. It will be an opportunity to modernise terminals and attract new private investors.

The cruise sector is gradually restarting all over the world. Canada’s government just announced that the ban on cruises will end in next November 1st, already expecting the recovery of the sector in the next season.
In Italy, the national government approved a decree-law introducing forbidding as of August 1st large cruise from sailing into the centre of Venice. These cruise ships will now be docked in the industrial port of Marghera. A total investment of 157 million € is planned for the necessary adaptations and creation of up to five new berthing points. For the president of port authority these measures will be a double challenge for the port of Venice: managing the transition to Marghera and continuing the operations of one of the global leading destinations. The port authority already launched an idea competition last June for the construction and management of mooring points for cruise and container ships outside the protected waters of the Venetian Lagoon.

The new space, with a mission similar to Port Centers, will include an information point about the port, workshops of the Maritime Museum and two catering establishments. Starting July 30th, visitors will be able to get acquainted with the port of Rotterdam today on large, moving screens, showing how large, diverse and contrasting the port is. In a dynamic projection on a photo model visitors will be offered inspiring tips & trips to explore the port themselves, including cycling routes, tours, attractions, beaches, and nature reserves in and around the port. The Port Pavilion, in the middle of the city, where the port of Rotterdam was once created, will inform and inspire residents and visitors to enter the port and experience its greatness and diversity for themselves. The surrounding public space will also be renovated, in early 2022. We already learnt about the project in an interview with the Port Authority of Rotterdam published last October.