22 January 2016 | Comments
The RMS St Helena’s next departure from Cape Town will be delayed – until at least the afternoon of Tuesday 26 January 2016 (she was due to depart on Monday 25 January. This is due to high winds and deteriorating weather conditions which have delayed the arrival of a connecting UK transhipment vessel.
The Dal Karoo cargo ship was originally intended to berth earlier in the month, but when she arrived at Cape Town the port was closed and 21 ships were waiting outside to berth. A decision was therefore taken for the ship to proceed on her onward journey to Port Elizabeth and Durban. The Dal Karoo was, in any case, due back in Cape Town on Sunday 24 January 2016, where she would have offloaded onto the RMS in time for its scheduled departure.
However, the bad weather means that the Dal Karoo will now not berth in Cape Town until at least the morning of Monday 25 January 2016. To compound this delay, Cape Town is currently experiencing more high winds and is behind in releasing containers.
The RMS will wait for the Dal Karoo to offload because she is carrying (in 24 containers) amongst other things, refrigerated foodstuffs and medical supplies.
The RMS will aim to make up at least one day by increasing her speed between St Helena and Ascension (and should be OK for Ascension flight connections).
Further details will follow in due course.
SHG
22 January 2016
Comments