She's probably done more sea miles than a sperm whale, and battled more waves than a pro surfer.
South Africa’s “Old Lady”, the S.A. Agulhas, has just embarked on a second life as a charter vessel, the latest chapter in the adventure story of one of the country's most famous ships.
SA Agulhas 1, built in a Japanese shipyard in 1977, was for years the linchpin in South Africa's National Antarctic Programme, connecting the mainland with both the country's Antarctic base and its research bases on Marion and Gough Islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean.
She then became a training facility for maritime recruits when her Antarctic role was usurped by the more modern research ship, SA Agulhas II. However, budgetary constraints saw her gathering seagulls most of the time at Cape Town harbour.
Now, having been bought last year by German company J*S Maritime Partners, SA Agulhas is sailing the high seas once again, now on her way to Port Louis in Mauritius.
“After successful sea trials in Table Bay on 17 January the 'Old Lady', with her new lease of life will be back on the high seas of the Southern Ocean and Antarctica,” J*S Maritime Partners said this week. “The round trip will take the ship from Cape Town to Mauritius, the Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, Antarctica and back to Port Louis. She is expected to arrive back in Cape Town in May 2025.”
Her maiden voyage under new ownership is a charter involving the Indian NCPOR marine and polar research institute. The ship's crew is South African, and there are four South African maritime students aboard, as per the conditions of sale which sought to entrench the ship's training function, for the benefit of maritime students worldwide.
However, unlike its mandate under government ownership, the ice-breaking ship will also now welcome tourists wishing to visit some of the world's remote icy corners.
Capt Stefan Bülow, J*S Maritime Partners MD, said the company had invested about R100m in equipping and refurbishing the ship for her new role, with all work done by local contractors. Many of the 40 crew members were inherited from the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa), the previous owners.
Bülow said the company hoped to expand the ship's training role, with cadets drawn from shipping companies and tertiary institutions worldwide. He envisaged up to 600 cadets per year, a significant increase from that of the Samsa era. “We could scale this up significantly, to do more,” Bülow told TimesLIVE Premium.
By providing maritime training the company also hoped to contribute to job creation within the maritime sector, particularly in South Africa where jobs are in short supply. “You have a very high unemployment rate of the younger generation. Therefore, we have a wonderful possibility to not just educate these young cadets, but they can later on contribute to the needs of the maritime industry in South Africa.
“South Africa has the longest coastline on the continent and the most important ports,” he added.
The SA Agulhas hoped to plug the gap in vocational training to bolster the so-called “blue economy”.
Bülow was relieved by the success of the project which had been threatened by various challenges. These had been overcome with help from the company's partners, notably the South African and German governments which are collaborating on tourism, seafarer training and scientific research linked to the ship.
Over the years the SA Agulhas has featured in several adventures, including the 2002 multinational rescue of the Magdalena Oldendorff that became trapped in ice in severe weather. Two South African military helicopters airlifted 79 Russian scientists and 11 crew safely onto the SA Agulhas before returning to Cape Town.
A decade earlier, the SA Agulhas was rescued from Antarctic pack ice after rudder problems.
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