THE ECHO - Ferrostaal

in the projects. This will give a major boost to the economies of
the Western Cape and Saldanha Bay regions. A total of 12,000 new
jobs will be created, 1,500 in the two shipyards directly.
The project is therefore very important to the South-African
government: the country’s unemployment rate is approximately
30 percent. Against this backdrop, the authorities have welcomed
the project with open arms. The planned investments are
well suited to supporting the South-African economy and
further reducing poverty. This project will also fulfil MAN
Ferrostaal’s offset obligations that the company undertook as part
of the sale of submarines eight years ago.
At the official announcement of the project at the Oil Africa fair in
March, Brian Blackbeard, Managing Director of Atlantis Marine
Projects said that the new oil fields to be developed off the west
coast of Africa meant an increasing demand for new platforms
and for the maintenance of existing production facilities. Since
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the existing shipyards in Europe, Asia and North America are fully
booked up, he expects the two new shipyards in South Africa to
receive orders immediately. He estimates that annual sales will
initially be approximately 840 million rand (90 million euros).
The shipyards are scheduled for completion in 2007.
The long-term prospects for the project are also good. Given the
tensions in the Middle East, the United States wants to reduce its
oil imports from that region by 75 percent by 2025. At the same
time, US companies are also in the process of diversifying their
supply relationships for the purchase of oil worldwide. Africa is
very much in focus in this regard. American oil imports from
Africa are set to rise in the next 10 years from 16 to 25 percent.
Investment in this sector is accordingly and is essential. Experts
predict that US oil companies will invest approximately 10 billion
US dollars in the African oil industry in the short to medium term.
Daniel Reinhardt
01. The A berth in the port of Cape Town:
The future location for a service and
repair centre for platforms.
02. Impression of the planned service and
repair centre.
03. Transporting platforms is expensive.