The vessel is being built by Sandock Austral Shipyards, which is situated close to the Salisbury Island Naval base in Durban harbour. Operations at the harbour were disrupted for several days and roads leading to the port were extensively damaged following flooding in April this year.

Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of Sandock Austral, Prasheen Maharaj, said because of the triple setbacks delivery will probably only take place towards the end of 2023 or the first quarter of 2024.

Delivery of the vessel had been expected in April 2023. During the Covid pandemic, it was not only the local situation that impacted construction work.

“Whenever there was a wave in the northern hemisphere our supply chain was interrupted. Then there was a wave in the southern hemisphere and we got interrupted. With social distancing, we could not do optimal production,” Maharaj said.

“We are still moving full steam ahead with the production of the vessel. The project is progressing well and the Navy is very happy with the quality and the suppliers who are not affected, have been very considerate,” he added.

“In the end, the Navy will get a great product. It is the largest and most complex hydrographic survey vessel currently under construction in the world.”

The SAS Protea, which is nearly fifty years old, currently performs hydrographic surveys. Once the new vessel is operating, SAS Protea will be retained for a training role only.

The vessel was designed by Vard in Canada and the design was chosen because the company had previously designed the hydrographic survey vessel for the British Royal Navy. The design was then customised for the South African Navy to include a helicopter hanger.

Maharaj said that with globalisation clients often preferred proven off-the-shelf designs. While South Africa does not have an immense ship design capability, the country has less than ten professionally qualified naval architects. As the industry was very small, a small number of qualified naval architects should not be viewed as a disadvantage.

In addition to the hydrographic survey vessel, Project Hotel also provides for several motor boats and the upgrading of the South African Navy Hydrographic Office. Construction of the new hydrographic survey vessel began in 2018.

In the 1980s, Sandock Austral also constructed the SA Navy’s fleet replenishment ship, SAS Drakensburg. This was the largest ship built on the African continent.

What is hydrographic ship?

A hydrographic survey ship is a vessel designed to conduct hydrographic research and survey. Nautical charts are produced from this information to ensure safe navigation by military and civilian shipping. Hydrographic survey vessels also conduct seismic surveys of the seabed and the underlying geology.

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