Case Decision - 197219

The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) would like to thank you for submitting the Background Information Document (BID) for the proposed Sagitta Offshore Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) moored within the port of Saldanha Bay, Saldanha Bay Local Municipality, West Coast District Municipality, Western Cape Province. 
As part of the Environmental Authorisation process a Scoping Report and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) must be completed. The BID has already identified in Section 7 that a Marine Archaeological and Cultural Impact Assessment is to be undertaken as part of the process, and SAHRA supports this. 
In terms of the National Heritage Resources Act, No 25 of 1999 (NHRA), Sections 2 and 35 stipulate that any wreck, being any vessel or aircraft, or any part thereof, older than 60 years in South Africa's territorial waters or maritime cultural zone, is protected and falls under the jurisdiction of SAHRA's Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Unit. These heritage sites or objects may not be disturbed without a permit from the relevant heritage resources authority. 
The proposed FSRU is to be moored in Saldanha Bay which has a rich maritime history with numerous wrecks recorded as being lost in the bay. 
The proposed Sagitta FSRU project (Case ID17144) is being undertaken in conjunction with the gas pipeline network (Case ID17143) linking the ship to the mainland along with a further Cepheus FSRU (Case ID17145) and associated pipeline in St Helena Bay. All three projects are being done under a single EIA process but have been uploaded as separate cases on SAHRIS however a single Maritime heritage assessment will suffice to cover all three aspects of the project. 
Due to the possibility that heritage resources may be present in the area of the proposed mooring point for the FSRU, the heritage impact assessment must include a specialist study of maritime and underwater cultural heritage to be undertaken by a suitably qualified Maritime Archaeologist.