Welcome to Maritime Branch

South Africa has three thousand (3000) kilometers coastline, correctly positioned along the sea trading route. We have the world's largest bulk coal terminal port in Richard Bay

Durban Port is the busiest in Africa and the largest container facility in the Southern Africa. The Port of Ngqura is the deepest container terminal in Africa. The Port of Cape Town is the biggest refrigerated container facility in Africa. Saldhana Bay is the largest port in Africa by water footprint. South Africa is among the top fifteen (15) countries that trade by sea

South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) is spearheading a cadetship programme with higher education institutions, resulting in 124 cadets being placed on 18 partner vessels

In volume terms, more than 96 percent of the country's imports and exports move by sea transportation. From the 1st January 2014, we have introduced a new shipping tax regime for international shipping which exempts the qualifying ship owners from paying Income tax, Capital gains tax, Dividend tax and Withholding tax on interest for years of assessment

We believe this tax exemption will undoubtedly encourage the South African Ship Register to be sought-after internationally. We have also increased the mortgage ranking for financial institutions supporting the maritime sector - particularly, those that finance ship purchasers. the Port Regulator has also brought great certainty and predictability within our Ports Regulator framework by publishing a multi-year Tariff Methodology and manual on which, for instance, the 2015/16 tariff is to be based. SAMSA has rolled out the Maritime Safety Programme with specific focus on ship safety inspection programmes which have resulted to NO reported ship losses in our waters

National Maritime Security Strategy Basic Documents

• Commandant's Research paper titled "An evolution of threats to the safeguarding of South Africa's Maritime domain"
• Promising signs of Africa’s global leadership on maritime security
• Maritime security and the Law of sea
• African Charter on Maritime security and Safety and Development in Africa (Lome'  Charter)
• African Maritime Transport Charter
• Africa’s Maritime security in the Indian Ocean
• Africa, and the world, need safer seas and shipping
• 2050 Africa's Intergrated Maritime Strategy (2050 AIM Stragety)

Maritime Service offerings

• Research, analyse and develop Maritime Transport Policies and strategies that promote Maritime safety, Maritime security, Environmental protection, Maritime infrastructure planning and Maritime industry development;
• Audit effectiveness and amend related legislative framework;
• Ensure compliance of current policies and legislation with international standards and IMO conventions;
• Evaluate and adopt conventions, multilateral and bilateral agreements;
• Facilitate implementation of the policies and legislation;
• Ensure that the policies and legislative framework promote the economic growth of the Maritime transport industry and create jobs