Cape Town - The Cape Town-made JetRIB Sea Ranger received the Innovation Award, at the International Maritime Rescue Federation’s annual celebration earlier this week.
In a statement released on Friday, mayoral committee member for economic opportunities and asset management Alderman James Vos welcomed the news.
“This week, I had the opportunity to inspect this revolutionary boat at the Bellville shipyard of Droomers Yahama, who partnered with Admiral Powercats in designing and producing the JetRIB.
“It was made especially for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), which has decades-long experience in conducting rescues along South Africa’s notoriously treacherous 3 000km coastline,” Vos said.
He called Cape Town’s boat builders industry leaders when it came to innovation, design, and quality, and it is the primary driver in helping the Western Cape become the largest marine manufacturing centre in the country.
Vos said this industry has generated more than R2.3 billion, in 2018, in export revenue, and the province houses about 45% of South Africa’s boat builders.
He said the City of Cape Town’s boating exports have grown by about 20.5% year-on-year, since 2014, attracting a trade balance of about R1.042 billion annually.
The industry has also supported more than 11 000 jobs in Cape Town.
“One of my proudest moments as a mayco member was the launch of the City-funded BlueCape, which is working closely with companies to expand on the benefits of Cape Town’s ocean economy, and provide jobs and social upliftment.
“BlueCape and its partners will focus on three growth areas: marine manufacturing (boat-building, surfboards, kites, sailing apparel, wetsuits, etc); superyacht production and maintenance; and ocean sports (recreation, events and adventure tourism),” said Vos.
IOL