This week marked the 99^th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Mendi. According to the press over 200 people attended a service at the SA Mendi Memorial in Atteridgeville earlier this week to commemorate the event.

On 21 February 1917 the SS Mendi collided with another vessel, the SS Daro, and sank with 646 South African Labour Corps on board. Most of the victims were black South African troops. It was a major loss of life for the South African military, as well as one of the worst maritime disasters of the 20^th century.

Also in the news this week is the announcement that Grindrod has pulled out of the planned multi-billion rand Saldanha crude oil terminal.

Grindrod chief executive Alan Olivier said, “ Clearly the market conditions, with the fall in commodity prices and curtailment of capital projects in the mining sector, has certainly put pressure on a lot of the projects we were looking at.

“But we always said we would not proceed with capital projects unless we had the underlying volume support to be able to justify these projects.”

The arrival of the French frigate Le Nivose has made headlines this week. The vessel will be at the V&A Waterfront until mid-March and is open to the public.

Le Nivose has been patrolling the French southern and Antarctic territories, combating piracy, illegal fishing and trafficking, with the aim of increasing maritime security in the area.