Teach Yourself As you read through the article, you will find reference to MACS (Maritime Carrier Services) GAL (Gulf Africa Line) and TAL (Trans-Atlantic Line) Now make a note of major events in the life of this interesting company; trades on which each Line operates; the type of ship operated on the various trades; and…
The building that houses Cape Town’s Port Control Office (the glassed area near the top of the tower) as well as the offices of the Harbour Master, Harbour Manager and several other administrative functions. A harbour for merchant ships usually has two divisions : The Marine Division is responsible for the safe movement and mooring…
After the successful rounding of the Cape by Portuguese fleets in 1487 (commanded by Batholomias Diaz) and 1497 (commanded by Vasco da Gama), several other fleets also came this way. Besides the Portuguese, Dutch and British fleets also came to the Cape, but, in 1652, the Dutch were the first to develop a settlement at…
The following are some of the factors that will be important to study while research is being conducted into the feasibility of the construction of a harbour : The major purpose of the harbour : Is it to be built to export a particular commodity, e.g. a mineral that is to be mined in the area?…
To work their cargoes safely and efficiently, ships need to be alongside a sheltered wharf onto which they can discharge their cargoes or from which they can load their cargoes. Therefore, if a lot of cargo will be moved and a lot of ships will call to load or discharge cargo, a harbour needs to…
Reasons for dereliction of harbour areas, and reasons for rejuvenation Case Study: Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town The Alfred Basin (completed 1870) and then the Victoria Basin (completed 1917) were the main harbour areas for Cape Town. Ships once crowded these areas to embark and disembark passengers as well as to load and discharge cargoes. However,…
The International Date Line (Date Line) is one of the strangest aspects of a study of time zones. Although it follows the general course along the 180O Line of Longitude, it does not run through any country, but runs only through the ocean in that area. As it avoids passing through any land to avoid…
Universal Standard Time (UST) is the sun time on the Greenwich Meridian. Countries work out their Standard Time relative to the position of their longitude west or east of the Greenwich Meridian. As South Africa takes its time from 30˚ East of Greenwich and therefore two hours ahead of UST, South African Standard Time (SAST)…
As there is a time difference between South Africa and Australia, someone living in South Africa who wants to watch a televised cricket match in Australia will have to get up very early in the morning. A match in Sydney (Australia) may start at 11:00 Sydney time, but in South Africa it is 01:00. Because…
Lines of longitude run from the North Pole to the South Pole. They are “labeled” from the Greenwich Meridian which has the value of 0˚. Lines of Longitude on the eastern side (to the right) of the Greenwich Meridian increase in value until 180˚ E. Lines of Longitude on the western side (to the left)…