Boat tour puts Cape Town’s maritime history on display

For a different view of Cape Town, try Culture Connect’s harbour boat tour. It’s a fascinating and relaxing sightseeing trip that’s packed with historical information and views of awe-inspiring ships as well as the landmarks that have made the docks what they are, ending with an optional visit to the Ship Society headquarters.

The tour leaves from Quay 5 at the V&A Waterfront and lasts for about an hour and a half. Luckily on the day I went, the Mother City presented one of those perfect early autumn days — dead still with a blue sky and the sun beaming down warmly. A previous tour had been delayed by fog, which is apparently common over Table Bay and the West Coast at the change of seasons.

After meeting at 9.15am, our group of about 20 boarded the double-decker motor cruiser Southern Cross and set off at 9.30am.

The tour was led by Brian Ingpen, a maritime historian who before retirement in 2019 was involved in maritime education. He was instrumental in founding the Lawhill Maritime Centre at Simon’s Town School and has published nine maritime histories, including South African Merchant Ships, Mailships of the Union-Castle Line and his latest, Cape Town’s Dockland.

Culture Connect’s founder, Kate Crane Briggs, had sent us maps and diagrams of the docks. Provided by Ingpen, they were a good introduction to the tour, showing the structural changes from 1854 to 2000.

It’s fascinating to observe the harbour’s progression from 1854, when it consisted of three rudimentary wooden jetties for landing cargo as well as passengers, to the vast facility it is today. By 1870, Ingpen says in his notes, Cape Town Harbour had been completed to shelter ships from the westerly winter gales and swell and to provide proper harbour facilities for the growing number of ships that were calling. “The diamond and gold rushes rendered it too small for the huge influx of ships, and a further extension became necessary.”

By 1917, Victoria Basin had been completed to accommodate increased shipping traffic after the diamond and gold rushes of 1867 and 1888, respectively. Victoria Basin had become too small for the number and size of ships on the SA trade route, and in about 1937 a start was made on the new basin that became known as Duncan Dock.

“Duncan Dock was completed in 1945. In the process, a vast area was reclaimed from the sea to form the present Cape Town Foreshore. Sturrock Dry Dock was opened in 1945. It was designed for the largest merchant ships and largest warships of the day, but it is too narrow for today’s largest ships and oil rigs,” he says. 

The tanker basin was completed in 1963 and the container terminal (Ben Schoeman Dock) was opened in 1977, leading to the sophisticated set-up of today, where huge tankers and other ships can dock and myriad containers are loaded and unloaded. The boat tour went through Victoria Basin to Collier Jetty, into Duncan Dock and the container basin, returning to No 5 Quay.

Ingpen kept up a commentary for the duration. He noted that quay 5 was part of Cape Town’s first harbour that centred on the Alfred Basin, which was mostly hand excavated by convict labour from about 1860 to its completion in 1870. Then it was through the Cut, the entrance to Alfred Basin spanned by a swing bridge. It is comparatively narrow, though some of the largest ships on the Cape trade route passed through there, he said.

We putted past Collier Jetty, viewing the former import jetty for British coal in the days of steamships, steam locomotives and the widespread use of coal. Ingpen said that from 1924, when the grain elevator — now the Zeitz MOCAA Museum of Contemporary Art and the luxurious Silo Hotel — and conveyor system had been completed, Collier Jetty became key to grain exports from the Orange Free State, the Overberg and the Swartland. “As the country became a grain importer, grain exports ceased, leaving the fishing industry to use Collier Jetty. Two of its four grain-loading hoppers remain on the jetty, relics of a bygone era.” 

The past and the modern day rub companionable shoulders throughout the tour. Best of all, you can sit back and take it all in with a drink in your hand from the well-stocked bar.   

As we passed South Arm 4, Ingpen explained that it was once the berth for southbound Union-Castle mailships. It and the surrounding berths were later used mainly by Durban coasters. “Now South Arm and Elbow form a major centre for the fishing industry, with modern trawlers landing their catch where coasters once discharged sugar, paper and detergents from Durban.”

From close up we were able to view the feeder ship MSC Himanshi working containers at A berth, once the departure terminal for the northbound mailship each Friday and Wednesday. “Once the mail service ceased in 1977, the berth became a significant oil rig maintenance centre, bringing millions of rand into the local economy,” he said.

“Although the port once accommodated three rigs simultaneously, each bringing mega-dollars for maintenance work, no rig has been here for years, depriving the local ship-repair sector of major revenue and hundreds of jobs.” 

Two modern, well-found bulkers, inward from Argentina, were discharging grain. Alongside one, road trucks lined up to be filled while at another, a diesel locomotive hauled a long train. These were probably headed for grain silos in the Swartland or further afield, he said. A Chinese bulker had brought cement for local markets.

At F berth and inward from West Africa was MSC Sophie VII, poised to sail the next day to the Port of Ngqura 20km northeast of Gqeberha. Huge cranes overshadowed this berth. The harbour has been criticised for its inefficiency and, writing in a column for Cape Times after the event, Ingpen said he believed the continued use of slow, cumbersome cranes to handle containers at F and A berths was problematic as both accommodated smaller containerships and relieved pressure on the main container terminal.

“Suggestions to strengthen the wharf and quay wall so that proper container gantry cranes can be installed — and thereby speed up cargo work — seem to fall on deaf ears. Although such work will be costly, using gantries will save time and therefore will reduce costs. In a port that is criticised for delays, let’s do it to increase efficiency!” 

Looking up at huge ships from the vantage point of a smallish launch was exhilarating. On board were diminutive figures going about their business, and many of them waved frantically. From his view as a maritime expert, however, our guide said that having three large ships in the container basin was now a regular occurrence and the line of container berths needed to be extended.

‘Interesting callers’

Next came L berth, once the discharge berth for Witbank coal that had been railed to then Lourenco Marques (Maputo) and shipped in railway colliers to Cape Town for steam locomotives, tugs and power stations. “This berth has interesting callers,” Ingpen noted.

“The Namibian diamond recovery vessel Grand Banks that arrived on 15 January is undergoing a major refit. These vessels provide work for numerous subcontractors and, judging by the number of cars parked in the vicinity during the refits, literally hundreds of people work aboard the vessel, while upstream contractors supplying parts, equipment and other services will also employ large numbers of people.” 

He wrote in Cape Times that to encourage these refits in Cape Town, the port authorities should offer reduced port dues and dry-docking charges, otherwise the work would go to Walvis Bay in Namibia, “leaving local folks on the beach”.

It was encouraging that transport minister Barbara Creecy had indicated a move towards more private sector involvement in the transport sector. “Fresh ideas, vision and an injection of real oomph into the ports will be welcome,” Ingpen said. 

At the end of the tour, Ship Society vice-chair Philip Short extended invited everyone to meet for coffee at headquarters. As it was a day of all things maritime, I was keen to take him up on the offer. We walked briskly across the Waterfront to a small venue in Duncan Road, on the edge of the vast shopping and dining complex. 

On show was a selection of shipping memorabilia, including an impressive collection of model ships. 

After coffee and chocolate biscuits, Short gave a brief talk, explaining how the Ship Society had been founded in Cape Town in 1953 by a group of shipping enthusiasts. “It is perhaps unique in the world in that we have our own rooms in a working harbour,” he said, adding that they met twice a week, on Thursday evenings for films and talks, and on Saturdays for a social afternoon.   

For a landlubber like me, the day was an eye opener in many ways.