Who we serve?
Fishing Industry
The South African fishing industry comprises of both commercial fishing vessel and leisure of sport fishing vessels.
Work Boats
Work boats are locally based vessels that do not trade in international waters
Leisure Marine
Also known as weekend warriors. These are mainly light marine vessels but could include yachts, and power boats.
Naval
The South African Navy owns and operates a number of sea going vessels. These are deployed to service the African needs .
Aids to Navigations (ATON)
A regulatory requirement for most commercial ports. This includes inland waterways marking and control as well as Vessel Traffic Management systems.
Land Communications and Tracking
Through the acquisition of Ozone Communications, MNS is able to offer Marine tracking and land communications.
Fishing
South Africa’s maritime border extends from the Orange River in the West to Punta do Ouro, Mozambique in the East. A coastline of about 3 000 km and along which its marine resources are spread. These shores are particularly rich in biodiversity, with some 10 000 species of marine plants and animals recorded. The productive waters of the west coast support a variety of commercially exploited marine life, including hake, anchovy, sardine, horse mackerel, tuna, snoek, rock lobster and abalone to name a few. On the East Coast, squid, line-fish and a wide range of inter-tidal resources provide an important source of food and livelihood for coastal communities.
Wild capture fisheries include three distinct components : Commercial fishing, Recreational fishing and Subsistence fisheries.
With the skills and experience gathered over the years MNS is able to provide the fishing community with tools that enable them to navigate safely to their fishing grounds and arrive home safe.
Over the years fishing has moved from being a art but also a science. The introduction of a number of acoustic devices that aim to find fish quicker and help reduce the amount of time spent looking for fish. MNS is able to serve the fishing community with technological offerings that help to track and locate the fish. These items include, Sonars, Sounders and fishing Buoys,
Workboats
Workboats are essentially platforms for seafarers to execute their daily duties. These workboats vary in size and form, depending on their use. In the South African context MNS is mainly involved in three types of vessels that operate in South African waters.
These work boats consist of:
- Tug Boats – Used in mooring or berthing operations. Tugs are also used in towing, pushing and emergency situations. Tugs can also be used in line handling operations.
- Fisheries Monitoring Vessels – The South African coast is monitored by a number of vessels, owned by the Department of Fisheries. These vessels help to curb illegal and unregulated fishing around the South African coast.
- Dredging Vessels – Used to maintain a safe depth around the ports of South Africa. The South African National Ports Authority owns and operates a fleet of trailing suction hopper dredgers, a grab dredger a bed leveling tug and various hydro-graphic survey craft. These vessel help in the maintenance dredging of dams, sand traps, entrance channels, quay walls, turning basins channels etc.
MNS is a trusted maritime service provider to both the National Ports Authority and the South African Fisheries Department, servicing the Navigation, Communication and Safety needs of these vessels. Our work forms part of the vessel’s per-surveys, rectification of faults, repairs and maintenance of Radars, Navigation equipment as well as communication equipment.
Naval
SA Navy Hydrography
The aim of the SA Navy Directorate for Hydrography is to provide a professional hydrographic service to the maritime community in order to aid safe navigation. The directorate provides the following specific services and products to local and foreign mariners in its area of responsibility:
- Navigation charts
- Training charts and fishing plotting charts for specific requirements
- Navigation publications, such as the SA Sailing Directions, the SA List of Lights, the SA Tide Tables, the SA Catalogue of Charts and Publications and the SA Symbols and Abbreviations.
- Coastal navigational and NAVAREA VII warnings, which are issued for transmission via coastal radio stations.
Search and Rescue
The search and rescue area of responsibility is vested in the country by conventions of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the IMO responsibility.
The area stretches from a position on the coast at the international border between Angola and Namibia in the west around to a position on the coast at the international border between the RSA and Mozambique in the east, a maritime region of some 5,57 million sq nm (17,2 million sq km). South Africa is expected to carry out search and rescue operations in this vast area in which some of the roughest seas in the world are found.
The South African Search and Rescue organisation (SASAR) is faced with the primary task of searching for, assisting and rescuing vessels in distress as well as survivors of aircraft and maritime accidents.
Leisure / Light Marine
Leisure or Light Marine is a term used by most people to indicate the boating or water sports industry. The term is mostly associated with recreational boating be it power boats, sail boats or man powered boats (paddle boats). As more and more people spend their leisure time around the coast, boating and leisure marine has become more prominent. Leisure boating can be focused on just traveling by boat of directly linked to leisure fishing, commonly known as sports fishing.
While MNS does not participate in the market segment directly, we distribute to a number of dealers in the South African market. Our quality products backed by our countrywide support enables leisure customers to enjoy their leisure time without worrying about their equipment failing.
MNS is the distributor of the Summit VHF brand as well as the largest distributor of Shakespeare Antennas.
Visit, our Dealers page to find a MNS dealer near you.
Aids to Navigation (ATON)
South Africa is a Member State to the United Nations (UN) where in the the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is a specialised agency of the UN and its main task includes the maintenance of a comprehensive regulatory framework for shipping. IMO is responsible for a number of maritime related treaties, including the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, as amended. SOLAS Chapter V addresses Safety of Navigation, and in particular, Regulation 13 addresses Aids to Navigation (AtoN) – refer to Annex A for the full text of Regulation 13.
South Africa is therefore a Member of the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) and therefore has the duty to observe and implement IALA recommendations, as reflected in SOLAS Chapter V.
These Aids to Navigation can be any sort of signal, markers or guidance equipment which aids the traveler in nautical navigation. Common types include, lighthouses, buoys, fog signals and day beacons.
MNS with its relationship with Tideland offers a complete solutions to Ports and Harbours that includes traffic separations schemes, outer sea buoys, channel buoys, inner harbor buoys and jetty lights. To compliment the system offering, MNS also offers lighthouse systems, range lights and meteorological / hydro logical buoys.